Monday, January 31, 2011

UV Lamp: Harmful or Not?

UV Lamp


UV Lamp, is it harmful or not? Some people says it's not harmful while some people say it can kill you. Why is that? You can find it out in this blog.

UV Lamp also known as Ultra Violet Lamp. This is usually used in nail salons or nail technicians to dry their nail polishes or cure gel nails or polishes.

A lot of women nowadays are in the line of trend for gel nails and nail arts or just having their fingernails colored and stand out the crowd. Women are vain thus they always want to look beautiful everyday in every way. But, what they do not know is by using such material, it can give them severe illness thus can cause death if not treated.

According to Dr. Richard Langley, director of research at Dalhousie University's dermatology division in Halifax, "The scientific evidence that UV nail lights used in the dryers can cause cancer are both direct and indirect." He pointed to published case reports of young women with no family history of skin cancer and little evidence of sun damage who developed skin cancers on their fingers around their nails after regularly using UV nail dryers. Lab investigations and clinical studies have also found UV can cause skin cancer, he noted.

UV Lamps are also the same as a tanning bed which can not only make your skin older, it can also give you skin cancer. Women do not think that it is harmful because we just use it for our nails but you do not know is the the UV Light is also going direct to our skin same as the tanning bed.




"The nail drying lights emit UVA rays, which can penetrate the skin much more deeply" explains Dr. Marcy Street, a board certified Mayo Clinic trained dermatologist and first female African American MOHS surgeon in the country. "These lights are considered as dangerous as tanning beds when it comes to the skin. The problem is that not enough has been done to educate the public about them because they are only thought of as dryers for nail polish."

A study last year in the Archives of Dermatology found that two cases of healthy middle-aged women without family histories of skin cancer who developed non-melanoma skin cancers on their hands. The report linked the cancers to UV nail lights. Arch Dermatol. 2009;145(4):447-449.


Doctors say that you can lessen the lights that been projected to your skin by wearing gloves or putting towel or some barriers around your skin. You can also put sunscreen on your skin. But these methods as they say is not enough to prevent skin damage from the UV Light.

Best way is to not use UV Lamps in drying your nail polish. If you really need it, you can use it not too much and remember to protect your skin from the the rays of the UV light. You can always use a fan dryer to dry your nails or just wait until your polish are completely dry.


In general, the more exposure you have, the more risk you have of developing skin cancer from UV Lamps, so again, you decide, UV Lamp: Harmful or Not?





I would like to acknowledge News9 Oklahoma City for the video
Nail Dryers Could Increase Risk of Skin Cancer


I would also want to thank DermTV.com with Dr. Neal Schultz for the video
Are UV Nail Dryers Dangerous [DermTV.com Epi #219]

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Yellow Stains: How You Get It and How To Cure It

Yellow Stains: How You Get It and How To Cure It


Are you worrying about why your nails are turning yellow or discoloration? Well, worry not because I have good news for you. Now, you can remedy those yellow nails in easy steps!

Yellow stains are caused by smoking a lot or by wearing polish for too long. It can also be caused by heredity factors or by health problems.

No one can give any specific reason why nicotine stains on fingernails, maybe the best way, is to stop smoking!

Fingernails plays a very important role in your well being. They say, you can know someone's cleanliness and grooming by just looking at their fingernails. Some people, mostly girls, will die to make their fingernails look the best and stunning compared to their friends. But for those who are always too busy, fingernails is their least attention. We can't blame them though.

As we all know, girls love to put nail polish on their nails. Some girls change their nail polish everyday, some change it every week or twice a week. Some women just don't have enough time to change them and leaves it for months! Now, this is how and where you get your yellow stains.


For girls that love to put nail polish and are to busy to take them off or it's because it's her super favorite color or nail polish, one of the best way to lessen the discoloration of your nails is to apply base coat first or if you don't have, you can substitute your clear nail polish or top coat. Apply the clear nail polish first before you apply your favorite nail polish. This helps prevent the color of your polish go directly to your nails.

You can also use hydrogen peroxide and baking soda in removing stains. Just mix the (1 tbsp) hydrogen peroxide and (2 1/2 tbsp) baking soda together in a small bowl until it appears like a paste. Dip a small cotton or a cotton bud or cotton swap in the paste, then, apply the mixture under the tip of your nails and on top of your nails. Soak it for 3 minutes, then, rinse it with warm water.

Also, you can just get lemon and use it to treat your yellowish nails. Get a whole lemon or calamansi fruit, cut it into half (for calamansi fruit, you might need a lot though), squeeze the lemon/calamansi fruit on your nails. Then, put your fingernails inside the other half of the fruit. Soak it for about 5 to 10 minutes or until the stains are gone, then, wash those juices off your fingernails.

As we all know, lemon and calamansi are acidic in nature and can dehydrate your skin, so, do not forget to moisturize your skin afterwards.

Repeat the procedure every few weeks to prevent your nails from having yellow stains.

If none of the preventions I gave you worked on your nails, try seeking help from your doctor or physician. You might have some health problem. It might be a sign for diabetes or liver problem.

Hope I helped you solving your problem on how to cure your yellowish nails.

For questions and other concerns, you can contact me at biancasantosnailartdecals@gmail.com and I will be very happy to answer your questions and concerns about Yellow stains: how you get it and how to cure it.




I would like to thank Ectropic in sharing their video on
How To Treat Nail Discoloration.