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Is Your Salon Safe? (What to look for)

Licensure:

First and foremost, is your nail technician licensed? While licensure varies from state to state, it is illegal for any person to work on a client without first going to an accredited school and passing the state board examine to become a licensed manicurist. 

This license must be clearly displayed in the salon. If you cannot find it on the wall, ask for it.

Cleanliness: 

Are individual work stations clean? Is the place well kept? This is your first clue. If the place is un-orderly and there is excessive dust or trash around, then how confident can you be in their sanitation procedures? 

Where you asked to wash your hands? Before the manicurist touches you at all, he or she should wash his or her hands and ask you to do the same. Some nail technicians may chose to use a spray or gel sanitizer instead, just make sure your nail tech uses something. 

Ask your manicurist how the instruments have been disinfected.  

It is required by the state board of cosmetology that all porous object, since they cannot be soaked in a disinfectant, must be discarded and replaced between each new client. Non-porous instruments must be cleaned and disinfected with a hospital level disinfectant. 

After being disinfected, implements must be dried and placed in a sealed container. Watch where your manicurist gets his or her implements from.  

Examine the disinfectant jar. If the solution inside is cloudy or discolored, the disinfectant is overdue to be changed and is no use.   

After the manicure, watch what your manicurist does with the implements. They cannot go directly into the disinfectant solution; they must be wiped down or scrubbed with warm, soapy water and rinsed clean before being submerged in the solution.

Acrylic Services: (Read about the safety of our acrylic services)

Are they using legal products?

Ask to see a labeled bottle. Look for the word "acrylates". This is what the acrylic is made up of, but there are many different forms of acrylates. What you do not want to see, if the pre-fix "methyl" before the acrylates, the safe and approved form of acrylic is Ethyl. Methym form of acrylic are illegal in many states and not recommended in any. They are usually used in discount salons because of the significant cost difference.

 If your nail technician does not keep his or her product in a properly labeled bottle, that is a red flag in itself. This is against safety regulations in most states, and you have the right to know what you are being exposed to. 

If you want more information about the product being used, ask to see the MSDS for the product, which stands for Material Safely Data Sheet. This will give you more detailed chemical information on the ingredients of the product. Most state laws require salons to keep these sheets on hand.

Does the salon have an overpowering odor?

Though some artificial nail products can have an unpleasant odor, they are not harmful to breath in, unless in excessive amounts. Overexposure to any fume can occur when there is inadequate ventilation.

Ask what your salon does to reduce the risk over overexposure, and how often they change their trash receptacles. Maintaining clean trash receptacles is important because large amounts of chemicals can build up from polish remover-filled cotton and acrylic smeared paper towels, and should be kept covered. 

Safety with an electric file:

A new disinfected drill bit (the removable metal tip that does the actually filing) should be used for each client. These metal pieces should be treated in the same way as described above for metal implements. Or in the case of sanding bits or cloth buffing bits, which are pourus and therefore not disinfect-able, and therefore need to be disposed of between each client.

You should not feel any pain or burning. If you ever do, tell your nail technician immediately. If the electric file is used properly, you should n feel any discomfort.