When working with chemicals be mindful to reduce unwanted hazards. Nail products can have a smell, which is overpowering if used in a small area. Ensuring you have good ventilation systems helps. Some nail trolleys come with a built-in extractor, great for reducing the smell and taking away dust.
Always read and follow the manufacturer instructions. Some products should not come into contact with the skin, and if they do, removed the product immediately. Watch for reactions from your clients. If their skin becomes irritated, they may have an allergy to the product, or something within the product.
Many companies now provide a chemical hazard fact sheet with their products. This is a great tool to have at hand if needed.
A little knowledge of chemistry can help understand the chemicals used in nail preparations.
Cosmetic chemistry is the study of the composition, properties and effects of substances applied to the skin, hair and nails for the purposes of beautifying and improving appearance.
It is a highly complex field and making cosmetics is not a simple task. It has also evolved to include the field of cosmetic pharmacology, which is an area of pharmacology that deals specifically with medicinal (drug-like) substances produced for their beautifying and anti-ageing effects.
The form and texture of cosmetic products are important. These qualities determine ease of application, ease of storage and convenience to the purchaser, e.g. lipstick needs to be solid for ease of application and storage – liquid lipstick would not be convenient to carry around, and it would be easily absorbed into the skin, defeating the objective of coating the lips.
Different products need to be delivered to different sites to be effective. Some products need to be absorbed to allow active ingredients to penetrate the skin, for instance moisturisers and serums. Other products need to remain on the surface of the skin for them to be effective, for instance sunscreen and make up products.
To enable a nail technician to know why and how products and ingredients work, and how they may react with one another or on the skin, an understanding of the chemical processes involved in making cosmetic products, the ingredients included, and the associated terminology is needed.
Most cosmetic preparations are made up of a combination of the following groups of ingredients
1. Base (or vehicle)
This is the part of a product that provides a ‘vehicle’ for more active ingredients and acts as a spreading agent. They do not necessarily alter the skin’s appearance, but provide the body of a product, e.g. emulsions, water, surfactants, and oils.
2. Active ingredients
These are chemicals or ingredients added to the base, which cause physical changes in the skin’s appearance, or alter the skin’s appearance is some way. Different active ingredients are used for different effects, e.g. essential oils, plant/herbal extracts, vitamins.
3. Additives
These are chemicals or ingredients used to support the product in different ways. They may increase the longevity of a product, increase appeal for customers or adjust the structure of the product, e.g. dyes, fragrances, preservatives, thickeners.
Colourants
Added to make cosmetic products more appealing to the customer by altering the colour. Also used in makeup, in the form of pigments, to create different coloured makeup products e.g. nail polish colours, lipsticks, eyeshadows.
The three main types of colourants used in cosmetic products are
Inorganic pigments
- Insoluble compounds based on metal ions.
- They have good stability and widely used in eye and face makeup.
- They include inorganic oxides such as yellow ochre, raw and burnt sienna, natural red oxides and ambers.
Organic pigments
- Bright coloured pigments, but less variety of shades.
- Include insoluble colourants such as carbon black, vegetable black and bone black.
- Divided into the following
- Lakes (water-soluble dyes absorbed on alumina) – least stable
- Toners (organic barium or calcium salts)
- True pigments – least popular
Dyestuffs
- Used primarily in toiletry cosmetics e.g. shampoo, lipsticks.
- Include synthetic chemicals such as acid dyes, solvent dyes and xanthene’s dyes.