As Mamamia’s resident Style and Beauty Editor, I often act as an agony aunt to the team.
On a daily basis I’ll get asked anything from ‘How do I get nail polish off my leather bag?’ to ‘Nic, do I need these ridiculous but fabulous shoes?’ (To which the answer is nearly always yes.)
But I was disturbed this week when two of the team separately asked me if getting a gel manicure was meant to “fry” their nails, and since it was “like a tanning bed for my nails”, should they apply sunscreen first or is it pointless since you rinse your hands during a manicure anyway.
As it’s been a while since the research came out, I figured it was worth a revisit as some of you might have the same questions.
First, in case you’ve had a similar experience, no – a frying or burning sensation on the nail bed is not supposed to happen. And yes, dermatologists recommend you apply a (water-resistant) sunscreen 20 minutes prior to getting a gel manicure.
Up until last year, the link between skin cancer and UV-cured gel manicures was inconclusive, but since then it has been found that there is low yet “not insignificant” risk of skin cancer.
This is why dermatologists recommend you apply a “broad spectrum” sunscreen that protects against both UV-A and UV-B rays, since nail drying lights emit UV-A rays and not all sunscreens protect against those.
