What is the difference between a respirator and a surgical mask? Which should you choose and how to choose a supplier?

Seen some acrylic colours that you really like from a different brand? Before you buy, this information may save your career.

A flood of companies have started to sell plastic screen guards for nail salons. Many nail salons already purchased these at a price between 60 to 200 Euro. But do they really provide adequate protection or are these companies trading on fear? 

Chemists recommend that you use the UV lamp supplied by the gel manufacturer. If you don't, in addition to less reliable nails, there is a risk of heat spikes and there is also a greater risk that you can develop an allergy.

The ‘Russian’ manicure – a variation on high-speed microderm- abrasion with e-files, is seen as an effective contemporary method of removing unwanted living skin as part of the prepa- ration process of a nail service. It is seen to negate the need for clipping, removers or wooden sticks. However, there are many concerns surrounding this method.

A recent report incorrectly claimed that UV nail lamps are a source of "high-dose UV-A" and also inaccurately compared UV tanning beds with UV nail lamps. The report, "Occurrence of Nonmelanoma Skin Cancers on the Hands After UV Nail Light Exposure" (MacFarlane and Alonso) 1 , overestimated the exposure of client skin to UV light emitted from UV nail lamps and improperly characterized the effect of these lamps on the hand.

If you are looking for a professional ventilation system for your salon, there are two main possibilities. Either you buy a system that vents the air to the outside, or you buy a recirculating filter system that cleans the air and returns it to the room. Recirculating filter systems have the advantage that they are not a fixed installation, so you can move them around the room or to a new salon if required later. Fixed systems that vent the air to the outside can be less expensive if you have many nail stations, but the running cost are higher, it is expensive to change your room layout and if you move to a new address it usually not economic to take the ventilation system with you.

Why buy two products when one will be enough? That was the thinking when we set out to create the ultimate colour gels. Before we create any new IKON.iQ product we research, research and research. What can we do better? What is missing? How can we improve the users experience? Our goal is to create products which exceed the capabilities of any product of the same type in the market today - we have absolutely no interest in creating "me-too" products.

Following on from our success at Nailympics USA, the Iryna Giblett Competition Team added to their collection of medals at the Nailympics competition in London.