Why is MMA harmful to nails?
“The very same things that make MMA good for some purposes make it bad for nails,” explains Eric Schwartz, CEO of OPI Products, Inc., and chairman of the Nail Manufacturer’s Council Safety Standards Committee. “It is so strong and so difficult to remove that if your hand suffered a trauma, you would risk losing your natural nail along with the enhancement.” According to OPI’s co-director of R & D, Paul Bryson, Ph.D., it is also very penetrative, so it can provoke sensitivities in skin and cuticles. Are there other drawbacks to nail enhancements created with MMA? Because MMA adheres poorly, you must vigorously roughen, weaken and damage the natural nail to make it stick. After curing, though, it becomes so strong that a break or chip could damage or even tear off the nail. Plus, it has poor solubility. MMA nails won’t come off unless you soak them in acetone for three-to-four hours! (This encourages the bad practice of filing or chipping off the MMA enhancement.) A good nail enhancement
