About a month ago I happened to be channel surfing the T.V. when one of those hour long commercials came up and decided to keep watching because the subject was a nail product. If you haven't heard of Haute Polish by now, then you're just not keeping up with the latest DIY trend that's sure to have lots of people trying to save the finish on their kitchen and card tables in homes all across the United States. Haute Polish (they pronounce it like the word HOT, not the French pronunciation which sounds like the word hoe with a t ) is not polish and it isn't particularly hot either, unless you stay under those UV lamps for too long. It is a gel product pitched to consumers assuring all women that they don't need to go to the salon anymore for their hands to look fabulous.
Before I touch on some finer points concerning this redundant pitch I'd like to point out that any product out there that claims to be able to replace getting licensed professional services is nearly always questionable. Do you really want to spend precious time at home trying to figure out how to do work on yourself that is best left to a professional? I know all about gel polish products and quite frankly my experience with such is that it doesn't perform as well, in many situations, as doing a hot oil manicure with the professionals-only base, top and color enamel that I use, not only on my clients but also myself. I can go more than 2 weeks with traditional manicure products on my natural nails without touching-up. Usually, I don't push the letter and do my nails weekly because regular care in a timely fashion wins over any overlay- every time !
You know what I most don't like about gel polish ? It's the removal. You cannot use regular polish remover to take it off. I know women quite well because I've been working on their nails now for many decades. They will first try to see if they can get Haute Polish off with regular nail enamel remover. It will not come off with regular polish remover and the more you continue to try, the more you will dry out your cuticles, nails and the skin around your nails. The special remover pockets they tell you to use aren't any kinder to the same. The foil inside the pockets amplifies the acetone remover inside it and fries anything it touches- namely, the entire ends of the fingers ! The T.V. ad depicts professionals soaking women in acetone remover and I'm sure some have tried to take it off this way. It will come off, still very laboriously and to a great extent will turn your nails into brittle stubs, eventually. There is no easy way to get it off and I'm telling you this with great concern.
Toward the end of the ad a woman who has been supposedly doing her own nails with the Haute Polish system says that she would nick her polish after leaving the salon- which makes me believe she left a bit too soon or something was wrong with the polish applied to her nails. Nicked polish is more likely to chip- professional job or no. On the strength of this bad experience which she must never have brought up to her manicurist, she has taken on the job with Haute Polish. In truth, I have never had to wait longer than fifteen minutes for the professional enamel I use to dry- nick proof. I run through a lot of polish and don't try to keep them past a certain amount of time. Polishes that take longer than 20 minutes to dry will never dry and need to be thrown away and replaced with a new bottle. Furthermore, I've been doing nails so long that polish which is old and needs to be thrown out has a certain smell- like rotten bananas- which only I seem to be able to detect. A brand new polish can dry within a few minutes- all four coats.
Very briefly, during the ad, a 'celebrity' manicurist by the name of Chantalynn is interviewed and she states that Haute Polish is liquid polymer and that is why it must be placed under a UV lamp in order for it to be cured properly. If it is truly a liquid polymer it must be cured with the lamp and any attempt to defeat this with some other kind of lamp will not work. Also, very briefly, they state that it is low exposure to UV light but at that proximity is nothing more than a blatant lie. Caveat Emptor. Using UV light may cause skin cancer under the nails and its appearance is that of hair-thin black, vertical lines which can run the entire length of the nail. Small hematomas can also look like this but can be scraped out from underneath the nail when it approaches the free-edge (white tip). Skin cancer cannot be scraped out because it is embedded in the nail.
I also found that the pitch for Haute Polish is very misleading in other respects. Numerous times the consumer is sold on how easy it is to apply- just like a polish- and how quickly you can dry the polish under the lamps- if you do all the steps correctly as they tell you to do it. The ad states that it will not chip and shows a woman gleefully clacking her nails together as if that was the only impact a nail ever receives. They state that there are no detectable harmful fumes! When I checked out their web site I found that there are no less than 9 videos which they recommend that you watch before you start. They are all on the web site but you may want to spend a good part of an afternoon watching them all if you don't want to end up with problems or a mess which will drive you and the rest of your family crazy. They also state, but not emphatically, that it is healthier for your nails than regular polish. Here again they are caught in a complete fabrication. I would like to get a good look at their MSDS to know that for sure. Gel nails- which are full nail enhancements and not liquid polymer, used like polish- grip the natural nail in a completely different way than acrylic overlays. Natural nails are porous and so allow acrylic to grip inside the pore of the nails but gel nails sit on top of the pore- like a plunger- and remain in place mostly through air-pocket suction, therefore doing less damage once removed. It can appear as though they are more natural and therefore healthier. A manicurist/nail technician who has done her homework will know that even regular polish can do damage to a nail if it is removed improperly. Remember that when we put an invasive finish on the nail it must be removed right in order for it not to do any damage. The easiest way to achieve removal is with the correct product. I have seen women try to pry gel product off of their nails as if they were peeling polish. It appears that this can be easily done. Not so and not without damage.
The last problem I want to address is the chipping issue because it's brought up continually throughout the entire commercial. Chipping can be caused by many things but persistent chipping and in the same areas each time is the result of permanent fissures, damage or corrugations and ridges in the nails. It has nothing to do with the polish at all. The gel polish removal system will aggravate this problem and, after a time, the chipping problem will come back with a vengeance because of the harsh chemical in the removal packets required to be used.
Over and over again the monetary deal offered is also brought up and I'd have to say that the price is minimal- plus they offer a second kit free for you to give away or gift to family or friends. This deal will tempt every woman out there because it's cheaper than what they'll spend on one professional manicure. However, you only receive one or two colors to use and I checked out the club price for additional colors and it is high- $12 each ! There is a detailing wand which helps you get Haute Polish off your skin when you are attempting to do your professional-looking polish job yourself. It's rather pricey as well but they throw in the first one for free. The stated retail value on the system is $119 which is about what a professional manicurist will pay for the materials on her professional gel nails system. It appears to me that the owner of Haute Polish is used to dealing with professional manicurists and decided to undercut them by selling to their clients. They're telling women, in essence, "Why are you paying this person that kind of money to do your nails when you could probably do just as good as them for a whole lot less?" Now, they are hitting below the belt. They are also wrong. They don't think you can even get polish on your nails without dashing it across your cuticles! It insults both the client and the professional. Not nice.
As I watched all these women proclaiming how they have been freed from the time tyranny at the salon I started to think about all the steps I go through in doing a manicure. A manicure is not just four coats of polish. I go through no less than sixteen steps of work while doing my manicures- removal of old polish, clipping, filing and smoothing the nails, soaking the hands in hot oil, hand and arm massage, application of cuticle remover, nudging cuticle back and cleaning it, cutting loose cuticle, cleansing the nail, buffing the nails and finally four steps in polishing. Repairing requires more steps, of course. Mild repairs are generally not charged extra at my salon. This is what takes the better part of an hour. Drying your polish takes almost no time at all in comparison to most of the manicure but apparently this is what women believe they are paying for exclusively.
So, the next time you treat yourself to a professional manicure be sure to tip your manicurist if you think her work is better than your own. You'll be saving money by comparison to the denizens of the Haute Polish revolution !
With care,
The Castle Lady
