What’s not to love about manicures, pampering, and beautiful nails? Well, potentially a whole wealth of hidden issues if you don’t go into your appointment fully clued up.
1. Beware of hidden fees
2. Don’t have a pedicure if you’ve just shaved your legs
This might sound bizarre, but when you shave your legs, you are creating incredibly small invisible openings in your hair follicles. These openings are an open invitation to bacteria in a potentially unsterile environment.
3. Watch out for slack sterilization
Incidents of contracting horrible infections from unsterile tools at nail salons are the exception, not the rule. But it’s something to watch out for. Proper sterilization is actually really hard to practice outside of an operating theater.
4. UV lamps are not harmless
If you’ve ever wondered whether your skin could be at risk under the magical blue light of a UV lamp, well, it’s possible. Skin cell damage could build up over many nail appointments and put you at a slightly increased risk of skin cancer.
5. Warts? It could happen!
Fungal infections are unsightly and uncomfortable, but did you know that it’s also possible to contract warts from a pedicure session? Warts happen if the skin is infected with a virus that improperly sanitized salon equipment could be carrying.
6. Leave calluses alone
It’s tempting to want your feet to look as smooth and baby-soft as the day you were born, especially when sun, sea, and sandy beaches require minimal footwear. But while calluses look a little rough and can even be painful, they are doing their job properly: protecting your skin!
There’s an additional reason for asking your nail tech to leave those calluses alone. Using a credo blade, the tool most often used to shave away hard skin, is illegal in most states for anything except licensed medical procedures.
7. Leave cuticles alone, for that matter
8. Nail techs rarely say “no”
Finally, you’re at the salon to have a nice relaxing time, right? So is everybody else, but unfortunately, some people will attend the nail salon when they really shouldn’t. The staff are there to earn a living; they will rarely turn a customer away, even if he or she clearly has a fungal nail infection.
Knowing this, it’s your responsibility to pay attention and ask questions. And if you’re the one who has an infection, then be kind enough to stay away until it’s cured!
Remember these eight useful dos and don’ts and keep living your best nail life. Now you know what to watch out for at your next nail salon appointment.