Methacrylate allergy report in BBC
- Thread starter knysna
- Start date
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Luckily mine are all well versed in the horrors of non matched products, I preach to them endlessly about their safety so they're reading it knowing some of it is misinformation, however, it's going to be rough on us again. Not what we need in this current climate
Georgiamayb123
Member
In the last 6-8 months I’ve been using The Manicure company Gel products that you can get from capital. Recently found out that they’re not HEMA free. But they are ISO certified and products are fully compliant with the EU cosmetics legislation and are registered within Europe via the CPNP and via the UK CPNP. They are also fully transparent online with their ingredients as they have all their MSDS online for everyone to see.
I love this brand and have never had any problems on myself or on my clients.
Don’t want to have to stop using them.
What do you think?
I love this brand and have never had any problems on myself or on my clients.
Don’t want to have to stop using them.
What do you think?
@knysna Don’t be worried! It’s a great opportunity to educate clients on the dangers of using at-home gel kits by brands manufactured in China where ingredients are unregulated, NSS, techs using white bottle companies, etc.
I had always thought it was sad that people don’t understand the dangers of the at-home kits and these conveyor-belt salons, and me warning them probably sounded to them like I was biased. So now that it’s been made public it’s a great opportunity for us to reassure, educate, and increase our client base/make money
What brand do you use? I mostly use Ikon.iq products which are hypoallergenic (and vegan and cruelty-free which is important to me).
@georgiamayb23 you could have a look on the Nail Tech Awareness group on Facebook about The Manicure Company. Hema is safe in small amounts (around 2%), it’s just the Chinese manufactured brands that use tons of it and so overexposure is the issue. The report was confusing as it was talking about acrylates, not just hema. I’m sure if used correctly TMC is perfectly safe, but do some research anyway just so you can reassure your clients and for your own piece of mind
Edit: just saw a post on Nail Tech Awareness saying TMC are manufactured in China. I would contact the company and ask for clarification.
I had always thought it was sad that people don’t understand the dangers of the at-home kits and these conveyor-belt salons, and me warning them probably sounded to them like I was biased. So now that it’s been made public it’s a great opportunity for us to reassure, educate, and increase our client base/make money
What brand do you use? I mostly use Ikon.iq products which are hypoallergenic (and vegan and cruelty-free which is important to me).
@georgiamayb23 you could have a look on the Nail Tech Awareness group on Facebook about The Manicure Company. Hema is safe in small amounts (around 2%), it’s just the Chinese manufactured brands that use tons of it and so overexposure is the issue. The report was confusing as it was talking about acrylates, not just hema. I’m sure if used correctly TMC is perfectly safe, but do some research anyway just so you can reassure your clients and for your own piece of mind
Edit: just saw a post on Nail Tech Awareness saying TMC are manufactured in China. I would contact the company and ask for clarification.
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Yes thanks for your reply. I think the report was completely misleading and did contain incorrect information but didn’t stop my clients panicking…. Like you said it’s a good time to re-educate our clients.@knysna Don’t be worried! It’s a great opportunity to educate clients on the dangers of using at-home gel kits by brands manufactured in China where ingredients are unregulated, NSS, techs using white bottle companies, etc.
I had always thought it was sad that people don’t understand the dangers of the at-home kits and these conveyor-belt salons, and me warning them probably sounded to them like I was biased. So now that it’s been made public it’s a great opportunity for us to reassure, educate, and increase our client base/make money
What brand do you use? I mostly use Ikon.iq products which are hypoallergenic (and vegan and cruelty-free which is important to me).
@georgiamayb23 you could have a look on the Nail Tech Awareness group on Facebook about The Manicure Company. Hema is safe in small amounts (around 2%), it’s just the Chinese manufactured brands that use tons of it and so overexposure is the issue. The report was confusing as it was talking about acrylates, not just hema. I’m sure if used correctly TMC is perfectly safe, but do some research anyway just so you can reassure your clients and for your own piece of mind
Edit: just saw a post on Nail Tech Awareness saying TMC are manufactured in China. I would contact the company and ask for clarification.
I've been educating my clients for years about what to look for when choosing gel brands and to avoid DIY kits.
I am very very glad that it is all coming to the notice of the general public.
I have written a post on my salon FB page along with the statement from Sweet Squared and reassured my clients that the 2 brands I use are safe.
No cancellations, just support and sharing of the post to their friends.
I am very very glad that it is all coming to the notice of the general public.
I have written a post on my salon FB page along with the statement from Sweet Squared and reassured my clients that the 2 brands I use are safe.
No cancellations, just support and sharing of the post to their friends.
Beautiful-you
Well-Known Member
The problem with brands like The Manicure Company, that are manufactured in China, is that you can’t be certain that their safety data sheets are accurate. (If they are still calling them MSDS that is another red flag as SDS replaced them back in 2015). A lot of these brands contain far higher levels of acrylates than they should, which makes them a lot harder to cure, even in the “correct” lamp. Nail techs won’t necessarily know the gel isn’t cured properly as it sets hard at just 50%, but any under cured gel can leech through the nail plate and cause reactions at some point. Registering them on the CPNP is all well and good, but that’s all it is. It’s not proof that they’ve been independently tested by someone with the equipment and expertise to identify the ingredients. Mostly the “brand” just takes the word of the manufacturer, who also provides the SDS.In the last 6-8 months I’ve been using The Manicure company Gel products that you can get from capital. Recently found out that they’re not HEMA free. But they are ISO certified and products are fully compliant with the EU cosmetics legislation and are registered within Europe via the CPNP and via the UK CPNP. They are also fully transparent online with their ingredients as they have all their MSDS online for everyone to see.
I love this brand and have never had any problems on myself or on my clients.
Don’t want to have to stop using them.
What do you think?
toxicnailbar
New Member
My advice would be, make sure you are mitigating the circumstances by protecting yourself with a proper vapour mask. Think about ventilation, as acrylates are harmful. This industry in the UK is largely unregulated. Requiring urgent! Legislative changes. Best regards Douglas@knysna Don’t be worried! It’s a great opportunity to educate clients on the dangers of using at-home gel kits by brands manufactured in China where ingredients are unregulated, NSS, techs using white bottle companies, etc.
I had always thought it was sad that people don’t understand the dangers of the at-home kits and these conveyor-belt salons, and me warning them probably sounded to them like I was biased. So now that it’s been made public it’s a great opportunity for us to reassure, educate, and increase our client base/make money
What brand do you use? I mostly use Ikon.iq products which are hypoallergenic (and vegan and cruelty-free which is important to me).
@georgiamayb23 you could have a look on the Nail Tech Awareness group on Facebook about The Manicure Company. Hema is safe in small amounts (around 2%), it’s just the Chinese manufactured brands that use tons of it and so overexposure is the issue. The report was confusing as it was talking about acrylates, not just hema. I’m sure if used correctly TMC is perfectly safe, but do some research anyway just so you can reassure your clients and for your own piece of mind
Edit: just saw a post on Nail Tech Awareness saying TMC are manufactured in China. I would contact the company and ask for clarification.
The BBC report was specifically about home gel polish kits, not professional salons.
We in the industry, of course know that the same products are also sold to professionals, from the same factories in China, but with different labels and brands. But salon clients mostly don't know this - although with many more of them developing allergies at the nail salon, some know this already.
I don't think this issue will go away. I don't believe that any government investigation will be meaningful - after all, since 2012 the budget for Trading Standards (who would ultimately investigate), has been reduced by more than 50% and they are extremely short staffed - to the point where each time I called them, no-one knew anything about cosmetic regulations.
Meanwhile, the sales of gel polishes produced in China and relabelled by brands (in some cases claiming made in UK, USA, etc), is increasing - and are probably making most of the sales in the UK and other countries.
So we are going to see more and more allergies - which I predicted more than 10 years ago. And that means the potential for nail salons to be tarnished will also grow - so those of them using these high risk products, need to consider this very carefully.
They also need to consider their financial and legal position. All it takes is for one salon customer to develop lifelong allergies and to sue, and for sure the salon will find out that their insurance is invalid, that the insurance investigators will sit on the side of the customer so they can prove the nail salons negligence and not payout. Then if negligence is proved, any financial damages, can even put their home at risk.
So my advice, as a former nail salon owner myself, is that salons need to be totally sure that they can trust the product and the brand - because the financial and legal consequences can be devastating. And that also includes the risk that they develop allergies and lose a career that they love.
Also, anyone considering HEMA-free products, please be aware that many Chinese factories either offer these now or will do soon.
The best choice to protect yourself and clients is to invest in USA or EU products, from a trusted brand that demonstrates that you performed "due diligence" as a business owner. Claiming that you were unaware that Chinese products cause allergies, is unlikely to be an effective defence in Court - given the widespread information that is available.
I accept that there may be "good" Chinese nail products - although personally, every MSDS(!) that I have seen is clearly inaccurate - but any nail salon using products from China runs the risk of being tainted by this and future scandals caused by rogue factories and brands.
We in the industry, of course know that the same products are also sold to professionals, from the same factories in China, but with different labels and brands. But salon clients mostly don't know this - although with many more of them developing allergies at the nail salon, some know this already.
I don't think this issue will go away. I don't believe that any government investigation will be meaningful - after all, since 2012 the budget for Trading Standards (who would ultimately investigate), has been reduced by more than 50% and they are extremely short staffed - to the point where each time I called them, no-one knew anything about cosmetic regulations.
Meanwhile, the sales of gel polishes produced in China and relabelled by brands (in some cases claiming made in UK, USA, etc), is increasing - and are probably making most of the sales in the UK and other countries.
So we are going to see more and more allergies - which I predicted more than 10 years ago. And that means the potential for nail salons to be tarnished will also grow - so those of them using these high risk products, need to consider this very carefully.
They also need to consider their financial and legal position. All it takes is for one salon customer to develop lifelong allergies and to sue, and for sure the salon will find out that their insurance is invalid, that the insurance investigators will sit on the side of the customer so they can prove the nail salons negligence and not payout. Then if negligence is proved, any financial damages, can even put their home at risk.
So my advice, as a former nail salon owner myself, is that salons need to be totally sure that they can trust the product and the brand - because the financial and legal consequences can be devastating. And that also includes the risk that they develop allergies and lose a career that they love.
Also, anyone considering HEMA-free products, please be aware that many Chinese factories either offer these now or will do soon.
The best choice to protect yourself and clients is to invest in USA or EU products, from a trusted brand that demonstrates that you performed "due diligence" as a business owner. Claiming that you were unaware that Chinese products cause allergies, is unlikely to be an effective defence in Court - given the widespread information that is available.
I accept that there may be "good" Chinese nail products - although personally, every MSDS(!) that I have seen is clearly inaccurate - but any nail salon using products from China runs the risk of being tainted by this and future scandals caused by rogue factories and brands.
Absolutely...spot on, totally agree
