HEMA Allergy ‘UNCOVERED’

HEMA Allergy ‘UNCOVERED’

If, like me, you have been driven to breaking point with ‘HEMA HYSTERICS’ over the past 6-7 years…if you have switched brands from your trusted supplier to another based on their ‘FBM’ (fear-based marketing), if you are so sick of the chats and fights and scaremongering that you literally have considered packing up nails as a career, then this blog post is made for YOU! I will tell you straight…if I was still doing nails day in, day out, I would have removed myself from socials years ago! Show me new designs, exciting products and tips to perfect my art and gain new clients…leave the chemistry for the chemists and the regulators!

HEMA (2-Hydroxyethyl Methacrylate) is a monomer (chemical) that has been used for decades in professional nail products, primarily UV gel & gel polish. It has various qualities with some brands adding it in large concentrations 20-30%+ mainly for the purpose of adhesion. We have it in some products at very low levels, with it averaging out across ranges at around 4%. When you consider the maximum permissible amount to be 30% then we class ourselves as a HEMA FREE -low HEMA content brand.

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We specifically use it, not for adhesion, but simply to regulate the viscosity of a gel product. Gel is produced via a reaction of monomers, so what better to regulate the viscosity (texture) of a gel than a simple monomer? Compatibility and product stability are perfect.

So…. for more than 10 years we have had small amounts of HEMA in our products and have had ZERO (0) problems regarding allergic reactions etc. The allergy epidemic that began some years ago passed us by! Clients with severe HEMA allergies (allergy tested) continue to use our products without issue.

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HEMA is offered for sale in a variety of options with most producers offering 2 types, ‘Standard’ and ‘Low Impurity’. We use the more expensive ‘Low Impurity’ HEMA. This exact component is used in the production of contact lenses! If you, or anyone you have ever known, have ever used contacts, it is simply polymerised low impurity HEMA placed directly in the eye!

Ok, a little recap…HEMA is legal up to 30%, INK use it and have no issues, people place a polymerised form in their eyes…Why on earth did this drama almost bring down the world of professional nails? Why???

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"It must be bad because I was tested and told I am allergic!!!" True, people, I mean most people will be confirmed as allergic should they be tested. However, testing for a ‘HEMA Allergy’ means smearing an amount directly on to your skin in its pure 100% concentration. HEMA is not used that way, maybe 4% within a gel that is then professionally cured on to your nail plate is a world apart from a patch test using possibly a low-quality HEMA. Don’t get me wrong, without doubt some people will have an allergic reaction to it in any setting or concentration.

THE TRUTH: HEMA is dead to us here at INK! All products are being reformulated to remove any traces of HEMA (& TPO). HEMA FREE products are the future! HEMA was tried, sentenced and executed on social media. Its death was used for profiteering by certain brands, and it was also used to make insignificant people a little more significant as they spread fear amongst hard working nail technicians in the search of fame and recognition.

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What I can tell you is that they got the wrong product! HEMA was never an issue and still isn’t. The guilty party was its evil cousin ‘HEA’ (Hydroxyethyl acrylate). Generally, a methacrylate is like diet-cola, and acrylate is more like a full-fat cola (not all acrylates are evil, but this one is the devil).

HEA is exclusively for use in industrial products, NEVER to be used in cosmetics. The warnings alone on a canister with the skull & crossbones tell you it is not for cosmetic use!

Used in bases, polishes and specifically ‘no wipe top coats’, HEA is the most effective thing ever. Strong, smooth, ridiculously shiny, scratch resistant, it is awesome…yet deadly! I truly believe that brands were unaware that their producers subbed HEMA for HEA. The problem is when reputable brands demand a lower price point and unrivalled brilliance, many producers cannot afford to say NO. So, they do what they can and then have to prepare documentation. They cannot put ‘HEA’ on an INCI list or in any part of a PIF (product information file), so they simply write ‘HEMA’!

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The in-depth analysis of cosmetics is so expensive that most regulators avoid it, we do it on very rare occasions such as this, which confirmed our suspicions (Non-UK based brands). In future, trust the brand, whichever brand it may be that serves you faithfully! Don’t get caught up in social media traps full of people looking to lead you away from what you do best…nails!

The great news for you is clear! As your progressive favourite nail brand continues to transition you will find many products such as SOBIAB, iLac, Fusion, iJel, JELLY PRO and many others at discounted rates in our ‘on sale’ and ‘clearance’ sections.

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Chrissy xxx

Director

See our current HEMA Free offerings HERE