UV Gel Manicures Proper Removal for Continued Nail Health

According to a new informational brochure from the Nail Manufacturers Council on Safety, UV gel manicure products should only be applied to healthy nail plates and are best avoided if nail plates are overly thin, weak, or damaged. Clients who desire frequent color changes (every few days) should be encouraged to use traditional types of nail polish.

The report, titled “UV Gel Manicures: Proper Removal for Continued Nail Health,” goes on to explain that in order to safely remove gel-polish, nail techs should avoid exerting force to remove the coating. “Forceful scraping or prying techniques, even with a wooden pusher, can dislodge many layers of nail cells to leave large numbers of tiny pits on the natural nail’s surface which collectively can give the appearance of surface white spots of varying size and shape,” says the report.

Manufacturers’ removal instructions indicating how long a particular gel-polish should be soaked for proper removal should be regarded as minimum soak time, not the maximum. Gel-polish often requires additional soaking time to safely remove, particularly when it has been on the nail plate for longer than the manufacturer’s recommended time because as the coating ages it becomes more resistant to solvents.

You can read the NMC’s informational brochure here  http://files.nailsmag.com/Handouts/RemovingUVGels.pdf