Dodgy Nail Products with Industry Support in 2023
I was kindly given a free subscription to a magazine that I used to ensure religiously arrived to me each month to help my career in the beauty industry.
Glorious professional nail storage company Roo Beauty had closed its internet ordering doors for the final time in 2022, and their parting gift was the magazine I would usually receive whilst working the job I once loved.
It was sad to hear that Roo were closing, they had the only decent storage solutions and their nail polish bottle rolls were something that the majority of my clients wanted in their lives.. and not just mine and their fillings every few weeks or so.
I have received four editions of Scratch mag so far, and in the last few weeks about fifteen emails regarding Scratch Stars and their nail competition themes, lovely, but what I also received was an email promoting (insert gel Polish product name here) - a product which towards the end of my old business in 2018 was quickly becoming known amongst pro nail technician’s as something that was causing clients natural nail plate and natural nails to separate away from each other on a rapid scale.
People were mentioning it constantly so I decided to trial this product myself along with another popular gel that was circulating on social media as a gorgeous looking subscription box. The latter did come across as a non pro product, I mean it was sent with little packets of fizzer sweets and pom poms, the owner tried to rip me off photography fees and lied to a magazine about her paid advertisement, but the range meant that a way cheaper alternative could be offered to clients who fancied something from their social media feeds, more affordable, and well really, bin’able, since most colours were in tiny 7ml bottles, and some not always available. Trends are just that, they pass quickly. It was a bit like the Primark of Gel Polish, only really shit with dreadful end results.
Soon after my trial, I experienced exactly what others had been reporting with the nail separation between the nail bed and the natural nail plate on my toes. I was devastated. It took almost a year to recover from it and plenty of sunshine on my feet, even though I newly wanted to keep them covered from the world.
“These products are not professional products, and not supported by the industry as so”. - that is what I thought back then. I had faith that the popularity of these social media trending products would go on to cause so much damage in a short space of time that they would be banned.
Fast forward to 2023, a chance browsing of my old nails account in youtube had the algorithm throw me up a video showing what had been happening to peoples nails, multiple snap shots with damage after using the very same products, going a couple of years back to recently. That’s between 2018, and now, 2023.. and just a small section of people out of all of the potentials in the world.
The problem here is that in the Nail Technicians world, it is similar to other trades - a poor technician might blame her tools, although in this game there is space on the market for poor quality tools today, and there are tools that harm. What is supa bad about this is that clients will be blamed, and nail technicians will be blamed, when the thing that is actually at fault is the dodgy product. The product is not being held accountable for the harm done.
If there is one thing that I enjoyed most about my job it was explaining to clients how I have products in my nail case that were well known, had been fully tested for the market and had transparent MSDS with no unknown or untested ingredients in the mix. I paid premium for training and products, and passed these on to all of the lovely people who booked me. It gave me confidence in my work and that confidence was passed on to my clients, returning to me tenfold on repeat business and word of mouth bookings. It was a beautiful thing.
If today’s nail technician can be promoted towards such a poorly performing product through trusted sources like a professional nails magazine, products that will go on to harm a clients nails, trust in the industry, and potentially leave them for life with a nail allergy (and that bit is both client and tech), then what hope does the industry even have?
For years it has been argued that Nail Technicians in the UK should be regulated. At the moment, the industry has gone down a murky road where, based on their social media clout, the introduction of some fairly nasty products has clouded what was once a fairly easy product arena to manage.
God help everybody’s nails in future, except for me. I got away lightly and will never dip my toe into the dodgy nail gel side of things ever again. I hope that anyone reading this will consider that being a nail technician is one thing, but we should never be supplied products that harm people.
If you know a product has harmed others, either through your own use or by seeing other peoples reviews, think twice before providing it on your price list. It could take you down with it.
Sending love to all, Rachel @nailsinwales
Some (but not all) trusted nail brands,
EzFlow, OPI, CND, Mavala, INM, Essie, Crystal Nails, Nail Artists Academy, Mystic Nails,
