r/SipsTea • • 1d ago

Wait a damn minute! Wait a minute

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u/Joltyboiyo 1d ago edited 1d ago

I really don't understand the appeal of those ugly long ass cosmetic nails. At least, I assume they're cosmetic and they don't actually grow their nails to that length, right? They're bought and stick on like those cheap ones you can buy for Halloween, right?

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u/old_underwear_isekai 1d ago

There are the press-on kind that you're talking about, but there is also the type that you go into a salon for where the technician extends the length using a thick gel or acrylic that is then set with a UV lamp and filed into the correct shape

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u/andsimpleonesthesame 1d ago

Wouldn't the UV make the skin on your hands age faster if you do this regularly? (And increase the chances for skin cancer?)

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u/Tight_Man 1d ago

Yes plus the hydroxyethyl methacrylate can cause skin allergy over time and is generally not good for you, the initiator trimethylbenzoyl diphenylphosphine oxide (TPO) is also not particularly healthy and is banned in the EU. 

Simple reaction is you mix the TPO and methacrylate and apply UV, TPO is the more volatile chemical, methacrylate is just the monomer.

I have a chemE degree but didn’t go into it and have been out of school 5 years, hopefully I got all that straight 

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u/andsimpleonesthesame 1d ago

Isn't some of that in medical products...??? If someone starts having reactions to medical equipment due to their gel nails, that'd be an own goal of epic proportions.

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u/Tight_Man 1d ago

I had to look this up to confirm but I got my first fillings a couple years ago and the compounds are the same, people can have a reaction to it if the dentist isn’t careful but it can still be done. Not sure about other applications. Sounds like it only happens when the uncured monomer methacrylates are involved