Safety and allergies
What is in the gels that go onto your nails, and how we prevent an allergy.
Gel allergy is common with home kits and rare when the work is done professionally. The difference is not luck but two things: what the material contains, and whether it stays on the nail. Both are explained here, plainly.
What a gel allergy is
Nail gels are acrylates. When uncured material touches the skin repeatedly, the body can become sensitised: allergic contact dermatitis. It shows as itching, redness, small blisters or swelling next to the nail or on the fingertips, and sometimes elsewhere you touch with your hands, such as the eyelids or face. The first signs can appear only after months or years.
Once you are sensitised to acrylates, it stays, and it can also affect some dental and medical materials that contain acrylates. That is why it is worth preventing rather than treating.
HEMA-free and TPO-free gels
Every gel we use is HEMA-free, the ingredient that most often causes allergy to nail products, and TPO-free, a photoinitiator the EU has not allowed in cosmetics since 1 September 2025 (Regulation (EU) 2025/877). Since 2021, HEMA may be used only in products for professional use, labelled as possibly causing an allergic reaction (Regulation (EU) 2020/1682).
HEMA-free lowers the risk; it does not remove it, because other acrylates can also cause a reaction in sensitive people. That is why the next two rules matter just as much.
The material never touches the skin
Most reactions happen because product ends up on the skin beside the nail. Here the material stays on the nail and does not touch the skin. It is part of the precise work along the cuticle that you can also see in the finished edge.
Every layer cures all the way through
Uncured gel is what sensitises. So we apply thin layers and cure each one under a lamp matched to the system we work with. Gel and lamp from different systems do not always match; ours do.
If you have reacted before
Tell us before your appointment, even if it was years ago or somewhere else. We adapt the material, or we tell you honestly that we advise against the appointment. If you notice burning, redness or swelling around a nail after your visit, call us on 064 277 047; with a stronger reaction, please also see a doctor.
UV lamps and your skin
Curing lamps emit UVA light. Dermatologists consider the risk from normal use small but not zero, and research is ongoing. If you would like to be careful, apply SPF 30 or higher to your hands about half an hour before your visit, or bring fingerless UV-protective gloves. The advice matters most for fair skin and for anyone with skin cancer in the family.
Pregnancy
We work in a ventilated room. If you are pregnant, let us know: some clients prefer gel polish to extensions during that time.
Why home kits are not the same
Among people using at-home gel kits, 54% report skin reactions, rising to 80% among weekly users. The usual cause is not an ingredient but the application: product left on the skin, and a layer that does not cure fully under a weaker lamp. Which products we use, and the rules we follow, is on the products page; how we prepare our tools is under hygiene and sterilisation.