I bet you didn’t know that contact lenses and UV gel nail products can share ingredients??
It’s a fact that is commonly overlooked, that UV nail gels and medical/dental products often share certain ingredients. The reason for this is that both fields rely on polymer science for creating durable and flexible materials. Understanding the overlap between the nail and medical worlds, in terms of ingredients, is the key to ensuring that nail techs and clients alike understand the importance of safe practices within the nail industry and the potential ramifications of developing an allergy to nail products.
Lets now look at the crossover ingredients…
Acrylates and Methacrylate’s
As we know, acrylates are some of the most important chemicals used in UV/LED nail products and form the majority of the base formula, in short without acrylates the products wouldn’t work
- In UV Nail Gels: Used as the base for gel formulations. They polymerize under UV light to form a hard, durable surface.
- In the Medical Field: Commonly found in dental fillings, contact lenses, drug delivery systems, adhesives (including in plasters), and bone cement due to their biocompatibility and strength when polymerized.
Some of the commonly used acrylates/methacrylates that you will see in both UV nail products and the medical world are chemicals such as HEMA, , HPMA, PMMA, Ethyl Acrylate, Ethyl Methacrylate and Triethylene glycol dimethacrylate.
There are also several other ingredient crossovers within the medical and nail world…
1. Photoinitiators
These are a key part of the UV/LED gel nail formula, without a photoinitiater the product would ultimately not be able to cure.
- In UV Nail Gels: Trigger polymerization when exposed to UV/LED light, allowing the gel to harden.
- In the Medical Field: Used in light-curing dental resins, coatings, and adhesives.
2. Silicones
- In UV Nail Gels: Sometimes added to improve flexibility and reduce brittleness.
- In the Medical Field: Found in medical-grade adhesives, prosthetics, and wound care products due to their skin compatibility and flexibility.
3. UV Stabilizers
- In UV Nail Gels: Protect the gel from degrading or discolouring under UV light.
- In the Medical Field: Added to light-sensitive medical products to maintain their integrity.
Shared Applications
The shared chemistry of medical and nail products allows for cross-industry innovation, however, the medical field requires rigorous biocompatibility testing to ensure safety within the human body, a standard not as strictly applied to cosmetic products. In addition, when these products are applied in the medical or dental field they are done so by professionals with years of schooling in the subject, whilst wearing appropriate PPE to protect both the patient and operator applying the products. Again these standards are not as strictly applied in the nail industry.
In conclusion, the crossover between the dental/medical world and the nail industry, clearly demonstrate to us that developing an allergy to nail products could negatively affect you in the future should you require certain procedures. As nail technicians, we must be vigilant in protecting ourselves and our clients as best as we can.