My name is Clare and I run an online business called lovely hands, I am asked these questions a lot.
28th January 2022 – Exciting update, I will have the new Protein Formulas for Nails range mid next week! You can pre order and pay on my website now, follow this link. Click here for new Protein Formula for Nails.
Lovely hands is based in the UK and I get my information from the former UK distributor for nailtiques and I do my own research. The last time the distributor was able to supply me with genuine stock from nailtiques in Florida was February 2020. Since then, in 2020 the price on ebay and amazon went crazy high. In 2021 I would say the prices have started to come down a bit but customers who have bought it have told me that ‘it’s not the same and their nails were worse after using’. During this time I have been offering Orly and Jessica treatment products and a range of nail conditioners. Click on the links to see my range of nailtiques substitute products. There will also be a new product launch aiming to fully replace nailtiques in the New Year, January 2022, email me to register for my mailing list, [emailprotected].
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….but is the nailtiques you see on ebay and amazon genuine nailtiques?
This photo shows the most recent packaging for UK stock, if the box does not look like this then it is older than when I started selling nailtiques in 2017. The distributor told me that there was lots of empty packaging for display purposes in the beauty trade worldwide and they suspect that ‘product’ could have been put into these empty bottles and boxes and sold on as nailtiques. The other factor is why would nailtiques be actively selling without a UK distributor? They worked with a distributor for 30 years, and after all the production and supply issues would need one again. No brand of this stature would sell without a distributor. So whether very old product or not a genuine nailtiques formulation, this might explain why the nailtiques available to buy is not as effective as the nailtiques you have known in the past. Buyer beware.
What is happening with nailtiques? Will it ever be available in the UK again?
As nailtiques do not communicate about their circ*mstances I have to investigate and draw my own conclusions to share. In my opinion if nailtiques ever becomes available again then it will be a very different formulation to what you have used and loved in the past.
Nailtiques had an enviable reputation for solving many issues we have with our nails ranging from peeling, splitting, slow growth, too weak, too soft, need strengthening, need protection, dryness, increasing flexibility, restoring nails after acrylic / gel treatments that had caused damage. I wonder if the key ingredient they had in their armour that worked was Formaldehyde (labeled as Tosylamide Formaldehyde resin, and / or Formalin), and that they were facing issues with how much could be used in their protein formula recipes in different areas of the world as a result of widespread bans.
There has been a lot of things written about ‘nasty’ ingredients in nail polishes and nail hardeners, the ‘nasty’ ingredients are Formaldehyde, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) and Toluene. With the exception for formaldehyde, nailtiques formulations did not contain the other main ‘nasty’ ingredients that many brands have had to work to eliminate.
Reformulating established products happens all the time, to the point that regular consumers eventually notice the product seems different or that perhaps it doesn’t suit them anymore and they assume they have changed not suspecting that the product did. I am sure nailtiques have reformulated a bit over the years, the products were launched in 1990 and available for 30 years. However if the head office including production facility was destroyed by a hurricane in 2019 as I was told and if at the same time there were complicated reformulation demands from different world markets then a small company could easily be overwhelmed.
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Removal of the key ingredient, formaldehyde.
Formaldehyde has been banned in EU cosmetics since 2019 but formaldehyde releasers were still widely used and had to carry warning labels when formaldehyde concentrations were found above 0.05% in the final product. Since 7th May 2021 the limit on total free formaldehyde is 0.01% to protect those people who have been sensitised to formaldehyde, typically they would have suffered from contact dermatitis. Please peruse the article below for more information.
SCCS: Threshold for ‘contains formaldehyde’ warning in cosmetics not low enough.
The European Commission’s Scientific Committee for Consumer Safety (SCCS) has issued scientific advice to lower the threshold for warning labels on cosmetics containing formaldehyde releasing substances to better protect sensitised consumers.
by Kacey Culliney, 1.6.21. Link to article below.
What is formaldehyde?
I would like to credit the following website with this information. https://www.compliancegate.com Link to article.
Formaldehyde is a naturally occurring organic compound. The pure compound is a colorless gas that has pungent smells. When formaldehyde dissolves in the water, the result is formalin, which is used to preserve some kinds of food, medicines, and cosmetics, or serve as an industrial disinfectant.
Formaldehyde is widely used in construction materials like pressed-wood products, such as particleboards, plywoods, and fiberboards. The use of formaldehyde helps create stronger, more durable finished building materials. Funny to compare our finger nails to MDF but this is the truth.
Additionally, formaldehyde-based resins enable the recycling of wood waste resources, which reduces the consumption of woods from the forests.
Cosmetics Products: Regulation (EC) 1223/2009
TheEU Cosmetic Regulationsets up the maximum allowable formaldehyde content in cosmetics and personal care products. It also set exceptions for oral products and nail hardening products, as it follows:
- Nail hardening products < 5%
- Oral products < 0.1% (Free formaldehyde)
- Other products < 0.2% (Free formaldehyde)
Note that nail hardening products that are designed to inhibit the growth of microorganismsare exempted. However, in this case, the specific functionality of the product shall be clearly explained in the labels and presentation of the product.
Warning Labels
The regulation also requires that all finished cosmetic products containing more than 0.05% of formaldehyde or formaldehyde compounds must be labeled with the warning text:
‘Contains formaldehyde’
The following warning shall also be used:
‘Protect cuticles with grease or oil’
From 7th May 2021 these limits have now been reduced from 0.05% to 0.01% in nail products.
The human body creates and processes formaldehyde internally, however there must be a difference between this and external compounds and concentrations that causes the EU concerns and for them to legislate on our behalf. It’s interesting to compare the use of formaldehyde to bind small bits of waste wood together to form MDF wood products and its use on our finger nails, again to bind the surface to create strength and protection that enables growth. Formaldehyde is still permitted to be used, but maybe the quantity in nailtiques needed to be reduced to such an extent that it caused formulation issues. Nailtiques formulations did not contain the other main ‘nasty’ ingredients that many brands have had to work to eliminate.
Where does that leave nailtiques customers whose nails only respond to nailtiques protein formulas?
Its unlikely that nailtiques are producing product, and unlikely that they have since the hurricane in 2019, more than 2 and a half years ago as I write now in December 2021. The product you might find available is either old or fake, and on top of that either a previous formulation now not permitted in the EU or a reformulation that is not as effective. Not much of a choice. What else can you do?
I’d say its time to move on and try to find something else that suits your nails now. Check out my current range on the link below and /or register for the new January 2022 launch of the range of nailtiques alternative formulas. [emailprotected]
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