Long before Rosalia, nail care was already a trend . From the basic manicure or false nails, such as gel ones, to convoluted decorations incompatible with any manual activity (except showing off your fingers, of course). And among all this catalog of products, one of the stars is the so- called permanent enamels , which are not really permanent but at least guarantee that the color and decorations remain unchanged for weeks.
However, these enamels have their risks and should be used with caution, not as if it were just another nail polish . If the safety advice is not followed, they can be harmfulfor the nails, which become more sensitive , and the skin that surrounds them, which can burn. There have even been severe cases of fungus due to incorrect application of these products.
For all these reasons, the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (Aemps), a body dependent on the Ministry of Health, has asked the European Commission to limit the sale to the public of lacquers for permanent nails, so that they are only professionals of esthetics those who can use them in specialized salons.
Cases of sensitization
The Aemps request comes after professionals who work with these products have reported several casesof sensitization. Permanent enamels contain acrylates that are very aggressive to the skin and are also present in products such as gel nails or glue for false eyelashes.
However, from the Aemps they call for calm: according to the words of Carmen Ruiz Villa, head of the Aemps Cosmetovigilance department, to Cadena SER, “the products that are marketed in Spain include a safety evaluation of the manufacturers and are safe as long as the instructions are followed . We have only received cases of aesthetic professionals who have been exposed to these enamels without gloves or a mask”.
European Commission survey
The Aemps statement comes after a survey by the European Commission to find out if they had occurredcases of allergy to this type of enamel after receiving several alerts about unwanted effects.
And the conclusion is that these products must be handled by expert people , who know how to work with them and what security measures to take so that neither they nor their clients suffer any harm. For now, no type of problem has been officially reported due to its domestic use , but tutorials abound on the Internet for making products of this type at home and also images with the results of some of these experiments: fungi, loss of nails or burns. on the skin of the fingers.
As in so many other cases, the recommendations are the same as always and can be summed up in one: use common sense. Which translates into not trusting suspiciously cheap products and professionals, of unknown brands or acquired (or applied) in establishments that do not inspire confidence. And also be careful with home labs . As much as we think of them as a support for decorations, nails are part of our body, that is, part of our health.
