Dilemma-MMA on 14 year old.Wants infills

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SammiG

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 4, 2003
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Location
Bedfordshire,UK
Hi guys!

I have a dilemma.A friend of my little sisters came to see me yesterday. She's 14 and had her nails done in a local NSS 2 weeks ago. She said they hurt when they were being done, they used electric files on her natural nails and were secretive about products. but she was really happy with them as they were only £25. and they looked nice (which they do at the moment).
My little sis (bless her little cotton socks) told her about MMA (which I suspect they might use) and she has asked me to do her infills. She did go back to the NSS yesterday and asked for them to be removed but they got nasty with her and said she should have infills instead (which she nearly did).
In this situation, I would ask the client to sign a form to say I wasn't responsible for the other nail techs mistakes, however, looking at these nails, I am scared to what I might find underneath. My main issue is that she is only 14 and very small - still growing. I wouldn't have given her extensions in the first place but she has already had them done and likes the look of them. Am I insured? should I touch them? I would rather not but hate the idea that she could go back to the NSS or try and get them off herself.
Anyone got any ideas? Her mum will give consent but I'm not sure about insurance. I'm scared!!!

Sam XX
 
God i find this amazing that a salon would do enhancements on a 14 year old in the first place (were they done with parental consent ?). My gut instinct would be to have the nails removed and leave well alone, The problem if they are mma is that they will be difficult to get off, But i wouldn't do any treatments on a child at all.
omho
 
Can they not be reported to the local council?

Is there nothing we can do if someone is using MMA.

These places are spreading like flies. Customers need to be educated about this. Salons should put a notice up in their windows, fliers could be handed out to customers and get them to give to their friends etc, maybe put some in hairdresses for people to see, or local paper.

The average Jo Blocks knows nothing about this do they, so unless we start telling them they will still keep going to these places.

I've printed some info off from the internet as I have tried telling a few people about this problem, but I think it's worth getting them to read some of the reports about the effects it has on nails etc.

Deb379
 
You don't know this place has used MMA. Even if they were reported to the local council and someone turned up and asked to check their monomer, what is to stop them having a bottle of EMA monomer on the shelf for this use - there are lots of threads on here about MMA, NSS and also doing nails on under 16's.

Gigi posted a message about this very topic which certainly made me think - I used to be 100% against doing anyone under 16 but then if I don't do them then someone else will and I am sure that I would not do any damage to their nails with my service so what would be the problem.
 
It isn't illegal to use MMA therefore, no they can't be reported !!
It is v hard to soak off extensions which have been created using MMA - that's probably why they didn't want to soak em off. I've tried soaking off someones extensions who swore blind they had been to a reputable salon and it took over 1 hr 30 mins to get the blighters off !!
We really must stop getting our knickers in a twist over these type of places cos they r here to stay for the forseeable future. All we can do is educate the clients that come to us from these salons and explain why they can't have infills so easy or soak off etc etc. We may gain clients from them which can't be a bad thing.
Use it to your advantage.
 
Another thing......
You can overload your clients with technical jargon and it could result in them catching the wrong phrase and using it to our disadvantage eg: did you know that that salon uses EMA instead of MMA which is bad for your nails.... these things have a habit of getting out of hand. The less clients know the better. I just try to say that I use X brand and this is how it should be used. And I give them an after care leaflet. This is enough for clients to know I reckon.
Just my humble opinion....
 
Like you said - we cannot be sure they are using MMA but I have removed nails from adults that have had nails done there and all the signs are there.
No - she didn't have parenal consent. She just walked in there and they did them. She doesn't even look older!
This particular NSS is the reason I started to learn nails! I had mine done there when I was oblivious to MMA and they are still not right.
The sanitation in there was awful. I think may have recently got done though as the last time I walked past, there seemed to be some sort of sanitising tray in there. From what this girl was saying, the drill bits were not changed or cleaned between clients. It makes me MAD!!! One of my mums nails came right off when hers were removed about 2 years ago.
I hate this dilemma I'm in. I hate the thought of her going back as they are the only place that do them. Is there an actual law that says under 16's cannot have theor nails done without consent from a responsible adult?
I don't want to touch them as she is so young but as they are the only place that will, she will probably go back ... until she has them removed and realises the damage! It creates a bad name for us techs as when clients realise for themselves what NSS's can do, they think ... and tell all their friends never to have acrylic nails as they ruin your natural nails! Aaaagghhhh!!!!

SamX
 
I have found a previous thread about age limits. It is worth reading:

http://www.thenailgeek.com/showthread.php?t=773&page=2&pp=15&highlight=minimum+age

With parental consent I don't think this would be an issue. As you say Sam, if you don't do them then she will go back there so if you are sure that you will not do any further damage then why not take them off for her and do a new beautiful undamaging set for her and maybe you will have a new customer for life and all of her friends LOL.
 
yep i would do what Fiona has suggested, Remove and reapply a decent set for the poor girl.
 
i would be inclined to file the existing product real thin and reapply with your own quality product. if you remove the existing set and the natural nail is mashed underneath, you wont be doing it any favours by removing and re prepping for a new set. like you say, the girl will only go back and have them done again at the nss, so you will be saving her from more possible damage. best to let the old product grow out before you remove alltogether. in the meantime at least you know that you are taking the best possible care of her. if she keeps them to a sensible length and comes for regular maintenance, the old product will be grown off in about 8 weeks, at which point she should have perfectly healthy nails when you come to remove your overlay.
 
I personally would not do nail extensions on someone under 16. If she goes some where else then fine they can take the responsibility if some thing happens. Parental consent should have been sought when she went to the salon being talked about. I think you should take them off and give her nails a break especially if they are hurting her. As for MMA I agree with some of the comments made about educating clients about this perhaps something in the aftercare advice?

Jen
 
You certainly wouldn't mention another salons name to clients that would be totally unprofessional. You simply give them a leaftlet explaining the existence of MMA and signs to look for - eg distinctive smell, difficult to get off etc. You leave the rest up to them. You don't need to overload them with technical jargon that would not be necessary.

I dare say it would be extremely hard to prove these salon use the product as they can easily decant the stuff into a bottle with a different label on. They way they keep popping up like flies make you wonder if its some organised setup - like pimps.

Unless people are made aware of MMA and what is does etc they will keep going back to the salon totally unaware of the damage that is happening to their nail, blissfully happy thinking they are getting nails for next to nothing in next to no time.

Apparently if the nail is moderately damaged it will take a year to recover, that's moderate damage. You only have to read the cases from America.

My local salon had 3 ladies in last week all with the same story, one woman's nails took them 2 hours to get off.

Deb379
 
I wouldn't do the young ladies nails, there has probably been enough damage done, and I wouldn't do anything else with them. She should have the nails soaked off, or grow them out. I think it's true that moderate to severe damage from MMA nails can take months, even years to recover from. Some people's nails are never the same again....I've seen the damage myself. I used to go to NSS and have MMA enhancements before I became a tech, and thank God it only took 4 months for my nails to recover. I agree on the issue of NOT putting enhancements on youngins'.....whether it's legal or not. I wouldn't want the headache, and I don't consider it money lost. Just my opinion.
 
angel fingers said:
i would be inclined to file the existing product real thin and reapply with your own quality product. if you remove the existing set and the natural nail is mashed underneath, you wont be doing it any favours by removing and re prepping for a new set. like you say, the girl will only go back and have them done again at the nss, so you will be saving her from more possible damage. best to let the old product grow out before you remove alltogether. in the meantime at least you know that you are taking the best possible care of her. if she keeps them to a sensible length and comes for regular maintenance, the old product will be grown off in about 8 weeks, at which point she should have perfectly healthy nails when you come to remove your overlay.

This is the best advice offered in this thread in my opinion.

Why on earth subject the nails to more trauma of soaking off? Thin out and rebalance the nails and let any damage underneath grow out naturally in a month or two.

Nails are regularly done in the USA to those who you might consider children, but they are not and this group have a large disposable income.

From what I see every day, most parents allow their young children to dress like adults at a very young age in totally adult styles (short skirts and off the shoulder and tight jeans etc) and don't spare a second thought about it. The youngsters want nail enhancemnets, they can pay for nail enhancements, they love nail art and all the funky stuff, they generally look after them really well.

I don't believe it is our place as professionals to make value judgements for the parents of these young adults. If the parents will consent then why on earth would anyone turn this business down?

I was regularly applying stick-ons from woolworths at 13 (at least when my dad couldn't see them :biggrin: ) I thought I wqas completely adult at that age :rolleyes: And stick-ons have to be the most disgusting unsanitary and potentially harmfull type of enhancement out there ... they should have a hhealth warning on them 'not to be worn for longer than 24 hours at a time'
 
I agree with Geeg here, I would rather encourage a youngster than have her use stick-ons or go to ANOTHER salon. She has parental permission here - don't understand the issue - why are nails different to wearing mascara or having highlights? We are not paid to be judgemental.

Cathy
 
U should defo, file the extensions down very thin and then apply your product on top. if only to protect the nail bed! i've heard of people who had bald spots on their nails from these salons where they have gone thru to the nail bed. so by removing them u cud un-earth no ends of problems! and then she might associate the damage to u as ure the one who discovered it.


I don't think there is ne thing wrong with under 16's getting nails done professionally. Teenagers want to lokk their best and not be bullied for not lookin good, so why have to stress about bad nails, as well as the usual teenage traumas! When i was 14 i used to but the nailene nails, i did soooo much damage to my nails trying to blend them in, i nearly got the nail bed! (just think people trust me with their nails now!!) so surley it's better for young girls to get their nails done by a professional than mangle their nails trying to do it themselfs!
 

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