Are Gel Manicures Going to Give Me Skin Cancer?
Recently, I quit getting gel manicures. I pretended the reasons were virtuous, even ambitious— to save money, and maybe to become an Instagram-famous nail artist in my own right. I told myself the trendy no-makeup makeup look applies to nails, too, and bought a basically-clear polish that cost so much I can’t talk about it. But the real reason I abandoned my gel manicure habit in favor of self-righteousness was more or less the same reason I give up most unnecessary indulgences I once loved: I became convinced it would give me skin cancer, and worse.
It started with a, and then . To quote the latter: “We receive so many warnings about the dangers of sunbeds, but they're no different than the UV lighting we use to set our gel manicures.” Well, except of the amount of skin exposed. And the strength of the lights used. But I knew what the writer meant. Still, this wasn’t enough to scare me off. What got to me was that UV-A radiation, like that used in gel manicures to harden the nail polish and thus make it less likely to chip, “cause(s) signs of premature aging like dark spots and wrinkles.” No bodily function causes me more useless anxiety than ‘premature aging,’ and I know I’m not alone, because I read women’s magazines, which are almost single-mindedly devoted to its prevention.
