Entries from September 2007 ↓

Over the years, we’ve came across many over-the-counter products that can be used at home yourself, without visiting a professional salon.

The Heel Balm is one of such products which you can purchase from your local pharmacy/chemist. We use professional products in our salon which are not generally available to the public.

We’d like to refer to these treatment products semi-pedicure treatment because it is used only for removing cracked heels and common dry skin problems on your feet. A full pedicure obviously involves more than just dry skin treatment as described here.

Cracked heels are most often caused by dry skin and as the problem worsens, the skin will begin to thicken and from a callous in an attempt to protect itself from further damage. Cracks or fissures that occur within the callous and are left untreated may become deep, painful, infected and begin to bleed, in extreme case of neglect.

Whether you are starting to feel the effects of dry skin on your feet, be consistent and use moiturising creams such as Soborleine to rub onto your heel and feet each night after taking a shower. This will prevent extreme callous buildup. Or when your heels are already cracked, get some Heel Balm (they do come in different Brands but the end result are similar) and rub them in each night. It will help rehydrate and revive rough, dry and cracked heels, a very unpleasant and potentially painful problem.

Of course, you can always spend a little time at our nail salon and we will thoroughly treat your condition and provide adequate advice along the way.

We were put on the spotlight with this question on the recent weekend from one of our very dear and loyal clients during a friendly discussion about self -grooming habit of women these days.

We’ve chose to be politically correct and take a neutral view of course … it make business sense for us professional nail artists to take that view obviously.

However, there are two schools of thought when it comes to what people consider as pampering and/or self grooming when they visit nail salons or beauty salons for that matter. For many people who are very conscious about their apperance and self presentation, regular visits to a local nail salon are generally considered as a necessary grooming habit. While for those who hardly ever visit a salon, be it a nail salon or a beauty salon, for various reasons such as lack of time, busy lifestyle etc … they do tend to view such activity as a pampering indulgence.

Whatever an individual’s point of view may be, we believe it is nice to be well groomed, and with the abundant number of nail salons available these days, be well manicured is extremely affordable anyhow! So why not get pampered or groomed. But be sure to choose a quality salon so that you’ll get the best result you deserved!

Occasionally customers would ask what Gel nails are … and importantly, what are the differences between Gel and Acrylic nails.

Gel is a different compound compare to Acrylic. It is thin, clear, flexible and nonporous. It is a great enhancement for your nails if you desire a very “naturally-looking” result. Gel comes in two forms. Liguid Gel and Powder Gel.

Liquid Gel are very flexible and extremely transparent. Application of liquid gel is a simple brush onto your nails (or extended nail tips) and cured under UV lamps. But be aware that it is extremely maintenance intensive if your lifestyle is fairly busy. Liquid gel will lift more easily and it is softer so will break much easier than acrylic. But the advantages are that it is odourless, natural feeling, flexible, thin,  crytal clear and light way. Occasionally, when people with Acrylic nails want their set to look really shiny, we offer to brush a thin layer of Liquid Gel onto their set and the result are gorgeously shiny nails. Great party trick.

Powder Gel has the similar property as Liquid Gel but with the important difference, that is it is stronger. Being a powder form however, you’ll still experience some odour from nail liquid application with the powder gel.

From our experience with clients, this form of nail enhancement is the most popular service simply because powder gel offers better durability but at the same time it will give you the best natural-looking and flexible nails. Cost wise, it is also much cheaper than liquid form.

Now that the weather is getting warmer in our part of the southern hemisphere, as Spring has officially arrived, it is time for those feet to come out of hibernation! You know what we’re referring to right? You’ll need a good pedicure to groom those beautiful feet again and ready for the shows.

Summer is a geat time to show your feet with those stylish open shoes and sandals, or even the good old bare-feet outings at the great Australian beaches. Why not get noticed with those bright colours on your toe nails. You’ll definitely turn a few heads for sure!

In recent months, Methyl Methacrylate or MMA has been receiving a healthy interest from the media and the community regarding its use in the nails industry. It is worthwhile examining what MMA is and how it has been used, to clarify the usage and to educate the general public about its health risk. Media sensationalism tends to create many so-called “experts” or “people-who-knows-a-litte-bit” to be dangerous and often paint a very negative picture of an industry that been around for years and years, unfortunately.

The fact is that MMA had been banned in the US within the nails industry for a good few years now but it is not so here in Australia. We do not know personally if anybody still use them these days, but at Manhattan Nails, we have never used them, solely because of the potential health risk to our customers. Beside, MMA omitts a very strong odour which isn’t something we’d like within our premises.

See below, an extract published by the Department of Health, Western Australia in 2006, regarding MMA.

“Over the past few months there has been media and community interest in the use of Methyl methacrylate or MMA in the nail industry. MMA is a bonding agent used in artificial or acrylic nail products and is becoming increasingly popular in cosmetic nail preparations used in nail and beauty salons throughout Australia.

MMA sets much faster and adheres very strongly to the nail more so than other products, and is much cheaper in comparison to other products. However the use of MMA has been associated with adverse health effects.

Industrial use of MMA has been known to cause irritation of the eyes, nose, throat and respiratory tract. Persons repeatedly exposed to significant levels of MMA commonly complain of drowsiness, light headedness, dizzy spells and trembling of the hands. Its use as a nail product may contribute to nail damage and deformities in nail growth. Repeated contact with MMA can also cause allergic skin sensitisation/dermatitis with symptoms such as skin redness, itching, rash and swelling.

While consumers who use products containing MMA may be at risk of suffering adverse health effects, the risk is much higher for nail technicians who are frequently and normally exposed to the products during work activities. MMA is not a banned substance in Australia because it can be used safely.”

The Environmental Health Directorate has also developed a fact sheet on MMA that can be viewed on-line [PDF].