For those you who hate repainting your nails every week after the polish chips off, nail shellacs are the answer. The chip-resistant and fade-resistant nail polish lasts for fourteen days and keeps your nails looking chic and healthy.
The shellacs are pigmented polymers that are painted on and bonded to the nail by UV radiation. They are polymerized in three layers with each layer hardened by exposure to the UV light to secure the pigmented polymers of the polish onto the nail. However, there are significant concerns about the safety of UV radiation. The blue/ purple color in the UV lamps at the salon has a wavelength in the visible and UV range that is poorly filtered by the eye and can reach the retina. Over time, this wavelength diminishes the lutein antioxidants stores in the eye, leading to macular degeneration, which impairs vision in the elderly.
Also, there is always a risk of skin cancer from any UV source. However, according to new studies, those concerns are unfounded. Researchers have found that there is a very low risk of squamous cell carcinoma with the UV radiation in the nail salon machines. Actually, only one person in tens of thousands will develop skin cancer because of nail salons’ UV radiation sources.
- So if your nails are in need of a touch up, don’t hesitate to use shellacs, but here are some tips to keep you safe.
- Ingest lutein vitamin supplements or eat more egg yolks, which are full of lutein, to prevent macular degeneration
- Apply sunscreen to the back of hands to protect against the UV rays
- ….even wear your sunglasses to the salon!
