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Home · Nails

From The Pros: The Secret Dangers of Nail Salons and How to Avoid Them

Beware the next time you pop in to your neighborhood nail salon for a $20 mani-pedi.  Bargain-priced nail services can come at the expense of dangerous care practices, according to Cassondra Hughes, senior nail artist at UltraViolet Nail Lounge. Read on for Hughes' tips on what you should look out for.

By Nicole Marie Melton · July 13, 2015October 27, 2020
01
Red Flag: An uneasy feeling

The first step to avoiding nail salon dangers is to be aware of your surroundings and listen to your gut. “If something feels creepy or you get bad vibes, that’s your intuition telling you that something is not right,” says Cassondra Hughes, senior nail artist at UltraViolet Nail Lounge in Atlanta. Don’t hesitate to leave and find another salon for your services.

02
Red Flag: Messy work stations

If the nail stations or sinks are messy or cluttered with several polishes, tools or other items, this can be a red flag.  “A neat station is a clean station.”  Each nail stylist should remove tools and towels from her work area between clients.  This ensures that each client gets a new set of instruments for her service.

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03
Red Flag: Tools are not in a sealed sterilization pouch

Your nail artist should pull a new set of clean tools from a sealed pouch before your manicure starts.  “Instruments should be cleaned with soap and water then placed inside the barbicide for 15 minutes. Then, the instruments are placed inside the autoclave which exudes steam heat to kill bacteria. Once the instruments are properly cleaned and fully dry, we place them in a self-sealed sterilization pouch. Once it’s in the sealed container, it’s ready for another single use before the cleaning process starts over,” says Hughes.

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04
Red Flag: Pedicure sinks attached to hoses

“In some salons, the water runs into the sink from the same hose used to drain the sink.  As water from the previous client drains out of the hose, bacteria can build in there.  At our salon, we don’t have hoses, we have ceramic bowls where the water comes in through the faucet and out down a drain,” says Hughes. Your salon should also fully clean the sink between clients. “We fully sanitize the bowl with hospital-grade disinfectants between each customer. We also use disposable liners inside the bowl for each client.”

05
Red Flag: Polish that is caked on the bottle

Never get your nails painted from a bottle that has settled polish or is caked onto the rim of the bottle. This could indicate that it was not closed tightly, allowing air to lessen the quality of the polish.  “In general, it’s perfectly safe to use a polish from the wall because by the time a client is ready for polish, we have thoroughly examined her nails to detect any fungus and we’ve cleaned her nails to prep them for color,” says Hughes. If you still have doubts, it’s perfectly fine to bring your own from home.

Getty Images
06
Red Flag: Reusable nail files

“We pull a fresh file out of the pack for each client. Afterwards, we give the nail file to the client to take with her once we are done so she knows it’s only been used on her.”  If your salon does reuse nail files, take a peek to see it’s been sanitized.  “There are some nail files that can be sanitized and reused, but they are very clearly labeled ‘sanitizable’ right on the file.  Look out for that.”

Getty Images

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