Beautiful and neat hands are each woman’s pride. For that reason, no one should be surprised by the fact that women want to wear both long-lasting and impressive manicure done by a professional. And such a procedure might cost a fortune. Unfortunately, gel or hybrid manicure may cause damage to health. Why? Can acrylic be unsafe?
Numerous urban legends circulating through the Internet describe catastrophic effects that can be brought out by gel manicure. Internet forums seethe with stories about onychomycosis that is developed just after the procedure, about nail plate destroyed by aggressive substances included into composition of nail styling products, and, what is the most frightening, about falling-out of nails (because of acrylic). How much truth is in these reports? Definitely, some stories are real yet we have to be selective to get factual information concerning danger which can be triggered by acrylic.
Can we enjoy beautiful fingernails without exposing our health to hazard?
Yes, we can, however, it is suggested to shun all possible substances that may harm us, like for example, methyl methacrylate (MMA). This substance is now withdrawn and cannot be used as a constituent of cosmetics any longer (it used to be a main ingredient of acrylic manicure). Although MMA is considered as a cancerogenic substance, it remains inactive in some forms. The greatest danger is posed once the substance has direct contact with skin yet it does no harm when inhaled or consumed. When manicure is being done, natural protective barrier of nails and skin around is weakened (i.e. because of filing). Similarly, fingernails are exposed to damages during acrylic nails removal procedure. Fortunately, MMA is now replaced with EMA, which is a substance approved for use – in other words, EMA does not constitute a threat to a human organism.
How can we know that our manicure does not contain acrylic?
The only sensible advice is to pick the products which are of top quality. Such cosmetics are characterized by clear composition (all the ingredients are enumerated on the label). Thanks to this, we are positive on what we put on our fingernails. If you prefer getting manicure done in a beauty parlour, you can always ask a beautician to show you packages of the products she uses for the procedure. Only then will you be sure that the products do not contain MMA. Obviously, you can also follow the conviction: ‘the more expensive equals the safer’. One can be taken for granted, high quality products are not cheap, and therefore, manicure procedure that is dubiously cheap is probably not the one you would like to coat your fingernails with.
