Do I have an acrylic allergy?

• 4 min reading time

Help! I'm allergic to acrylics

Unfortunately, you hear and read more and more about an allergy to acrylates lately. And unfortunately that also means that there is a lot of incorrect information to be found. We would therefore like to clearly explain how it exactly works and which information is correct.

What are acrylics?

People often say that they are allergic to acrylates but that is actually not correct, you are never allergic to all acrylates. There are different acrylates and they are not, as is often thought, only in acrylic or acrylic nails. Acrylates are also used in nail polish.

There are acrylate polymers and monomers. This is an important difference. Acrylate polymers are found in normal nail polish, for example, and are harmless. The problems that can arise only occur with acrylate monomers that are present in artificial nail products. Monomers are separate molecules that still have to polymerize. Polymerization is the hardening of the product. With most artificial nail products, we do this with a UV/LED lamp. With acrylic nails, this is done by combining the 2 components, powder and liquid.

Acrylic monomers can cause allergies if used incorrectly. One of the most well-known acrylic monomers that causes problems is HEMA, an ingredient that you find in many nail products. Fortunately, the problems can be prevented by using artificial nail products correctly.

Avoid skin contact

Artificial nail products are designed to be used on the nail. As long as this is done, there is no problem. Nail stylists with a thorough education have the knowledge to use the products safely. In recent years, however, more and more people (without education) have been applying a layer of gel polish or even another product such as gel, acrylic or acrylic gel/poly gel to their own nails or those of others. It often happens that the artificial nail product unintentionally ends up on the skin or in the cuticle. And for once, that is not a problem, but through regular skin contact you develop an allergy, a so-called contact allergy.

Full curing

What is at least as important is that the artificial product hardens completely. Therefore, always use a good lamp and replace it (with regular use) once a year because the power of a lamp slowly decreases. Keep to the times indicated by the brand you work with. This is the only way to be sure that the product has hardened properly. Please note: you cannot judge the complete hardening with the naked eye. A product can appear hardened but not be completely hardened.

Wear gloves

When applying artificial nail products to someone else, always make sure to wear (nitrile) gloves to prevent skin contact (e.g. with filing dust).

Symptoms of allergy

An allergy is built up. The symptoms become increasingly severe. The most common symptoms of a (contact) allergy to artificial nails are:

• Redness and swelling
• Eczema of the skin around the nails, but also on the forearm or around the eyes
• Loosening of the nails

We often hear people say that they have been using a product in a certain way for years and that they have no problems so that it will all be fine. However, an allergy develops slowly, every time there is skin contact or the product has not fully hardened. If you observe the above rules from the start, you run no risk. Once you have developed an allergy, you will never get rid of it.

Help! I think I'm allergic

Do you suffer from any of the above symptoms and do you suspect that you have developed an allergy? Then remove the artificial product from your nails as soon as possible and make an appointment with a dermatologist for an allergy test. Request SDS sheets of the products used from the store or wholesaler where you bought the products and take them with you to the dermatologist so that he can test specifically.

Do not start testing all kinds of products and brands yourself. HEMA is often the culprit, but that is not the case in 100% of the cases. In addition, you have also developed an allergy to other ingredients due to the contact allergy. Every time you apply a nail product that contains a substance that you react to, the reaction will become more severe. So wait for the result first and use the result of the allergy test to look for a suitable product. You can also always send us an email with the result of your test, then we can advise you which of our products you can safely use.

I am allergic to HEMA

Have you already had an allergy test done and are you allergic to HEMA? Then Pretty Polish is the right place for you. We have a large assortment of HEMA-free nail products. In any case, all products from our own brand By Djess are HEMA-free.

For the safety of yourself and your potential customers, we recommend that you always take basic training before starting to work with artificial nail products.