With consumer safety topmost on so many people’s mind, it’s nice to know you can put clients’ fears to rest on one score: The polish you are painstakingly applying to their nails is safe, no matter how many others used the same bottle previously.

“Organic solvent-based nail polish products (e.g. nail polish, lacquers, enamels, varnish, base coats, and top coats) provide a hostile environment that prevents microbial contamination even when the product and brush are used repeatedly,” says industry chemist Doug Schoon, co-chair of the PBA’s Nail Manufacturer’s Council (NMC). Several independent scientific studies conducted by the NMC demonstrate that organic solvent-based nail polish products aggressively kill any microbes that may be inadvertently picked up by a nail polish brush. This means repeated use of nail polish products does not pose an infection risk for salon clients.

If you’d like to learn more on this topic, check out the report titled “Investigation of the Potential for Microbial Contamination in Nail Polish” at www.probeauty.org/nmc.

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