Information To Bring To An Allergist

SalonGeek

Help Support SalonGeek:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

naiinerd

New Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2021
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Location
United States
I'll make this short and sweet. I had an adverse reaction to a nail product. I have had allergic reactions to so many things over the last three years--many not beauty related, that my MD is finally getting me into a specialist a big name U in our city. I am very grateful. That said, I am going in with the assumption that Dr. Big Shot doesn't know what in common nail products & want to be able to bring in as much info as possible.

So have the MDS from the items I used the day of my reaction. I wrote a list of everything I used--even acetone, etc. Y'all who have nail product allergies or are educators, is there anything else within the realm of nails that you'd recommend I have them test me for? I am in the US, a licensed cosmetologist -hair; though not currently practicing; did a 360 on my careers when I was younger. Now that I am older, I want to get back in the game & had planned on starting nail tech school, which is separate where I live, after the holidays, and I don't want to start & put my health in peril.
 
Reaction could be down to prolonged exposure. So maybe have a think about any other products you've been exposed to before that flair up as well. Just a thought! Hope the appointment gives you the answers you're looking for!
 
@BobSweden is your man for this, he's EU based but will have a wealth of knowledge to take with you. He also has the Allergies group for information I'm sure he'll point you in the direction of
 
The dermatologist should perform the standard Methacrylate patch test, in addition to testing for many other potential allergies such as nickel, perfume, animal hair etc. The ingredients used in the Methacrylate test are the most common cause of allergic reactions, however there are many other ingredients that are also known to cause reactions that are not tested for.

If you would like to send me the list of ingredients in the products you used when reacting, I will be happy to take a look. It's unlikely that you reacted to acetone as this is produced in the human body.

Allergies to nail product ingredients have exploded the last 8 years. Today, I receive emails and messages every week from students, Tech's and salon clients with allergies who are looking for advice. 10 years ago, it was much more rare and typically only found in Techs who had worked 10 years or longer.

The important thing to know, is allergies can only occur if there is repeated skin contact of uncured or under cured artificial nail product, usually over a longterm. If there is no skin contact, it is impossible for an allergic to develop. This means it is very important to determine how this happened and to eliminate it.

One of the most common reasons is under cured gel polish. It is critical that the LED/UV lamp used has been matched to the product and cured it correctly. Correct curing can only be determined in a lab by a chemist.

The narrative than any LED/UV lamp can cure any gel or gel polish is absolutely false and a dangerous myth. Brands, resellers, educators or Techs who claim this are ignorant of gel product chemistry and do our industry a big disservice.

My advice to anyone with a proven allergy to nail product ingredients, is to :
a) eliminate the skin contact that caused it and
b) only use hypoallergenic products in future (HEMA-free only eliminate one major allergen and is not the same as hypoallergenic. Often the replacement to HEMA is also a major allergen in these products).
 
Hi Bob
That’s great info.
Out of interest…if a gel Polish company claim to be HEMA free, do you know what ingredient they are to replace the methyl acrylate with?
Many thanks
Michelle
 
Hi Bob
That’s great info.
Out of interest…if a gel Polish company claim to be HEMA free, do you know what ingredient they are to replace the methyl acrylate with?
Many thanks
Michelle

Hi Michelle,
The most common is Hydroxypropyl Methacrylate (also called HPMA, although that is not an INCI name that can be used on a product label). HPMA is the #2 allergen in the UK - most probably because of HEMA-free monomer. If someone develops a HEMA allergy from their original monomer and then changes to HEMA-free, they often get a HPMA allergy too because HEMA encourages this. But there are other alternatives - so without seeing the product label, I can't accurately say.
 
Sorry to read about your recent allergy incident.
I was wondering what your reactions manifested as. Blisters, itching?

What was the service? Was this the first service or a repeated service?

I‘m in Texas, y’all.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top