Does my nail polish matter? And Pedicures are Safe, Right???

Why 3 Free Nail Polish?

Simply put, beauty should not come with a price tag of harmful chemicals. The beauty industry has a great divide that has developed over the last several years. The consumer now has access to information right at their fingertips to help them make an informed decision on their purchasing choices.  Nail polishes that are 3 Free do not have Formaldehyde, Toluene or Dibutyl Phthalate(DBP). These chemicals at one time were used to help with the consistency and longevity of a nail polish, but they also have potential draw backs linked to in utero development issues, cognitive function decrease, skin allergies and dermatitis.

Many popular nail polish companies still have some of these chemicals in their polish.  So this leaves the consumer in the very familiar buyer beware situation.

Now that more advances have been made in the development in nail polish, you don't have to have

exposure to these harmful chemicals but still enjoy a nice coat of polish! In our medical spa in our podiatry office our nail technician only uses 3 free nail polish that we have developed and bottled, or she uses Dr.'s Remedy nail polish for a small upcharge.

The Dr.'s Remedy nail polish is very nice and has the great features of being free of the bad chemicals and has the added benefit of being enriched with Tea Tree Oil and Wheat Protein.  This is the polish I always recommend for the patient that is experiencing the white dots and drying of the nail.  I explain to patients that those white dots can be the start of damage to the nail from polish and can lead to nail fungus down the line.  If they insist on painting their nails, I tell them the Dr.'s Remedy polish is the best option,  Plus, this is really nice polish.  It is safe for kids, patients under going chemotherapy, pregnant women and people who care about the health of their nails in general. We sell this polish in our office or it is available through our Amazon Store:


Pedicures are Safe, Right? 

Our little intimate spa is very different from the run of the mill strip mall joint.  We take your safety and luxury very seriously.  Every thing in our Natural Nail Spa is single use and all of our instruments are autoclaved(sterilized), even the nail polish goes home with you. Currently, there are only two states that require instruments to be autoclaved or sterilized in the nail spa industry: Texas and Iowa.  Since these are a long commute from Florida and maybe the state you live in, I wanted to give you some advice from one girl(who happens to be a foot doctor) to another girl!

If you do not live in Texas or Iowa, you need to really re-evaluate the place you are getting your bi-monthly pedicure.  Yes it feels great to close your eyes and get pampered having someone take care of your feet.  You can live your life saying what all people say before bad things happen, "That won't happen to me".  Or you can pull your head out and really look at the environment around you.

I wanted to give you 5 Truths(whether you want to hear them or not!) about the "treat" of pedicures:

1. Fancy does not = Clean: When looking for a place to get you nails done, do not be fooled by a nice imported tile floor from Italy, this will most likely mean they are skimping somewhere else to pay for the floor expense.  Ask where their autoclave is!

2. Just because they keep your instruments in a box and say "it's yours", does not mean they do not use it on someone else! Yep, you can not trust this 100%.  There are countless stories I have heard right out of the mouths of patients who have witnessed this first hand.  Also, I have several patients who have got nail fungus from places who claimed to have never used their instruments on someone else.  TAKE YOUR STUFF HOME EACH TIME.  Also, ask them where the autoclave is!

3. In the water you are soaking your feet in, there is most likely tiny pieces of other people's dead skin! This is really one of the grossest truths I know.  Unless they are using a pipeless tubeless spa pedicure chair and cleaning it appropriately, you are most likely putting your feet into a pool of tons of DNA samples.  Don't put your feet in the water!

4. Liners for the tub do not protect you from the DNA samples discussed above: Just because they put a liner in the tub, does not protect you from the a whole lot of anything.  Once the tub is full the water in the liner is contiguous, or touching, the water on the other side of the liner.  That being said, we use liners in our pipeless tubeless spa chairs in our spa, but I think this may be out of peer pressure:)

5. Most nail salons use the cheapest nail polish, multiple times: When researching nail polish for our spa, I found several cheap alternatives, but they involved putting the client at risk.  The cheap alternatives were shipped from China and were not three free and most likely the cancer rate in the factory where it is bottle is at 99% or higher.  Many salons take advantage of such cheap offers because they are only charging $25 for the service so they can not spend more than 10 cents on the bottle.  Now remember, when you go to the salon you pick your color and then it goes back on that wall to be reused.  I have several patients that go for pedicures and they have fungal nails.  They are not turned away from these fancy salons, even if they do not have an autoclave to kill the fungus on the instruments they just used! Again, ask to see their autoclave!

Check out our link here http://www.nailsnaturalspa.com/id21.html for our best suggestions available on Amazon for an awesome at home pedicure!

Yes, I do take time out of my day to beat up the pedicure industry.  This has a lot to do with all of the damage I have seen to peoples feet from pedicures.  If you have ever had to cut someones toe off after a terrible aggressive bacterial infection that someone got from a pedicure, you too may be a little more intense on the subject matter.  Below is a repeat broadcast of "2 Pods and a Microphone: Is Your Pedicure Killing You?"