What you need to know about mixing brands at the nail desk

Dani Bailey, nail educator & Scratch Stars finalist for The Shooting Star Award 2024, begins her online article series by sharing her career story and exploring concerns around mixing nail brands.

I’ve always been a self-confessed nail nerd. I’ve devoured nail scientist, Doug Schoon’s work and after completing the NailKnowledge diploma in 2021, I fell more in love with nail theory. On a visit to Brazil last year, I realised that there was a vacuum of this information. After speaking to NailKnowledge expert & trainer, Marian Newman, we delved into translating the course for Brazil.

After a trip to Paris in June 2023 to learn from Doug Schoon, I realised that I had found my true calling. So, I enrolled on a Chemistry degree with the Open University at the age of 44, while running a fully booked salon and the business in Brazil. It’s been the most incredible rollercoaster ride.

Mixing nail brands

We have all been there: after struggling with product adhesion, you ask for advice on a social media group and someone says: “You should you use brand X’s primer“. Or a company releases a product that your current brand doesn’t offer. It’s so tempting to purchase it, but unfortunately it’s not so simple.

Advice in the industry during the last few years has been clear: do not mix and match products. Believe me, it’s not a marketing ploy to keep you tied to a particular brand.

During formulation, the science team behind a brand creates a chemical jigsaw puzzle, and tests all the pieces to make sure they fit together. When we decide to join pieces of different puzzles, the final picture will never be perfect – and that can show in adverse reactions or service breakdown.

There are several types of monomers, oligomers, photo initiators and pigments that a brand might choose to use – and not all of them will be compatible. Not only that, depending on the percentages of each in a formula, the results can be different. I’ve heard people say: “I read the ingredients list and they are the same,” but a product label does not list all ingredients or their percentages. Even if we compare Safety Data Sheets (SDS), they do not grant us access to the type of raw materials used, and two products with the same ingredients can differ depending on the quality of the raw materials used.

Let’s look at the liquid & powder system, for example: the liquid monomer and polymer powder are made to match perfectly to each other. Any alteration in the percentage in the thermo initiator that covers each powder sphere will throw the chemical reaction of polymerisation off, and the product will not cure properly. The same is true for UV curing products and even more relevant for adhesion promoters, like primers and base coats. These products are made to match each other, as a primer serves as an ‘adaptor’ between the base coat and nail plate.

Have you ever tried using a power socket abroad with the wrong adaptor? It simply doesn’t fit. But differently to power sockets, where the worst case scenario is a non-working appliance, when it comes to nail products and uncured chemicals, safety is paramount.

It might seem tempting to buy the best products from each brand, but what if it goes wrong? Which brand do you ask for help if something does happen? Does your insurance cover in that event? Once we have a better understanding of how nail products work and how intricate the formulation process is, we can work more safely.

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