Why continued professional development is crucial for the beauty industry & consumers, according to social media influencer Kelly, owner of Lavish Skin & Nails.
Vagaro visited Lavish Skin & Nails, owned by Kelly Connolly, who grew her Instagram following to 13.3K by teaching nail art with hypoallergenic nail polish and other nail art products during the pandemic.
A qualified educator and home salon owner, Kelly is clued up about hypoallergenic nail products, having carried out extensive research and professional development into the anatomy & physiology of the nail. In recent months, there have been talks throughout the industry about the “monster pollen” that’s taken hold of hay fever sufferers in the UK, leading to talks of the use—or overuse—of HEMA in salons, which is an adhesive nail product, and the posed risks of using this on skin.
It’s become evident that some practitioners are using nail products with very little awareness of the chemicals in them and what impact this can have on the skin.
So, who is Kelly, what has she studied & why does she feel it's important for nail technicians—both new & experienced—to get in the know regarding the granular details of what chemicals their products contain?
Everyone, Say Hey to Kelly
Kelly is a mother of four, a self-employed home salon owner and has been in the industry for 11 years, beginning her career as a mobile beautician. She offers a wide range of services, including nail art with gel colour, builder gel products, Botox, vitamin B12 injections, the Kenalog injection (being used to treat sufferers of the aforementioned “monster pollen” in the UK this summer), and more.
Plus, Kelly is a Level 4 certified educator, offering training courses in hypoallergenic nail products for beauticians who are both new & experienced within the industry.
“My interest in hypoallergenic nail polish and other nail products came from my own experiences with suffering from a range of different allergies and wanting to be more aware of what I was putting on my skin. I decided to become qualified when I couldn’t find a local beautician who didn’t use MMA (Methyl Methacrylate) in their acrylics, and it spiralled from there! I’d never painted a nail in my life, but I knew I was creative. I studied whilst I was pregnant with my third child, and by the time I’d given birth and was ready to go back to work, all the models I’d practised on had become my client base, so I was ready to go.”
Harmful Nail Products & (a lack of) Regulations
Learnesto.co.uk explains: “Technically, MMA was banned from use in the 70s by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is significantly cheaper than EMA, sets up fast and adheres like no other product. Therefore, some salons continue to use it.” However, MMA is still used in some salons, and by mobile beauty therapists throughout the UK today as it is a much cheaper product.”
Another harmful nail product that Kelly discussed was HEMA, which some salons are at risk of overusing and causing harm to their client’s skin.
This issue saw significant growth throughout the Pandemic, as people were purchasing home kits and tending to their own nails due to the closure of salons.
Kelly spoke on the dangers of at-home shortcuts: “The home kits can be really dangerous depending on the products you buy, and so many people are uneducated on that. We’re talking an A4 page filled with chemicals, and we’ve got no idea what they do to us or what allergies they can cause.”
“I realised I’d been practising for 8 years and essentially didn’t know what I was putting on my clients. The thing is, once you’re exposed to an allergy, that’s it—you’ve got it for life and the complications can be catastrophic.” says Kelly.
There are salons that are non-standardised salons [NSS] and there are no specific legal requirements for becoming a nail technician in the UK, so essentially, the sector is unregulated.
By the end of 2023, it’s estimated that the hairdressing & beauty industry is going to be worth £2.5 billion, with nail care accounting for a whopping 15.4% of that revenue, (as reported by The Market Report for Nail Technicians) so it’s almost dumbfounding that such a lucrative and widespread industry remains unregulated.
“For some reason, the industry is not standardised enough in this country. But I do feel a switch-up happening, and that the industry is getting better. Knowledge is power, and if I can play a part in educating the new generation of beauticians coming through, then hopefully we will grow out of the issues we are experiencing right now in the coming years.” says Kelly.
What Risk Does This Pose and How is Kelly Trying to Help?
“The risk is huge in developing allergies and damage to your skin and nails that sometimes can be permanent.” she explains.
Scratch Magazine goes into more detail of the harmful allergic reactions that can occur as a result of exposure to HEMA. In April, Professional Beauty issued a concerned statement regarding the use of the product in the industry.
On her experience as an industry educator: “A lot of my students are already in the industry looking to improve or expand their craft. I work with a company called Home of Nail Art that specialises in hypoallergenic nail art products. The local college has also reached out to me for my details to pass on to their students, as they don’t offer the services that I do.”
She continues, “I make sure that if I’m going to teach for a brand, I look into those that I believe in and that know what they are putting on their clients’ skin. We are going deep into the knowledge of the ingredients in the nail products, so we understand the risks, the rules about what to do and what not to do, along with the anatomy and physiology of the nail. I believe this is so important for the clients and for ourselves. We aren’t medically trained, we aren’t doctors and we don’t claim to be, but we are just knowledgeable & aware in our field and try and use products that are good for our customers.”
Without continued professional development and the drive to always learn, Kelly would not have all the knowledge that helps protect her clientele, and she certainly wouldn’t be qualified to pass that knowledge on. Knowledge really is power, and it gives her the status that qualifies her to comment on the state of the industry.
Kelly’s students are able to book with her via the Vagaro Pro app, Instagram widget and Kelly also uses Vagaro to book her clients, so why not see what Vagaro can do for you?
