Marian Newman BEM on… changes to nail product regulations for 2021

Marian Newman BEM, nail industry veteran and chair of The FNP, reveals the changes to cosmetic products that will be evident in 2021…

Originally posted at www.the-fnp.com

“We will be seeing a lot of changes in 2021 with regards to cosmetic products including nail products. This has some connection to the UK leaving the European Union but also in response to the allergies in evidence – especially in the retail sector. 

“From 2021, HEMA and di-MEMA will be banned from all retail products. As these are ingredients in the vast majority of retail UV gel polishes kits, the sale of which has proliferated over lockdown, they will not be available. These will not be banned in professional products but labels must have the wording ‘for professional use only’ and ‘can cause an allergic reaction’. This suggests that the products are in safer hands with professionals! But are they?

“The incidence of allergies is an ever growing problem in the professional sector.”

“There is a project well underway at government level to discover if there is any problem with the products themselves. But we are all aware that part of the nail industry refuses to believe in the importance of using matching systems (i.e a UV nail lamp that has been tested by the UV gel manufacturers) and do not understand the importance in a ‘proper cure’. So many believe that a ‘proper cure’ can be checked by observation and that many years of use ‘with no problems’ is good enough. Both are incorrect!

“Several global UV gel experts called for the total banning of these ingredients (and a few others) but the EU Commission were fearful that this blanket ban would lead to more monomers being banned that do not have such hazardous qualities.

“This step is good to stop the retail sales but really doesn’t go far enough. HEMA and di-HEMA are not so bad when used in a small percentage but, as it is one of the cheapest, the percentages used in many products are dangerously high. Put this together with lack of education and understanding brings us to the situation we have today. There are other monomers that are as bad if not worse than HEMA but these haven’t been considered.

“For those that like to see the legislation in black and white, click here. As this was published pre-Brexit, it will be transferred to the new UK regulations in Jan ’21 when they will come into force.

“Other changes we will see post Brexit will affect labels and possible costs as so much is imported from the EU.”

“Up until the UK regs come into force (and with time for manufacturers and brands to update their products), any product manufactured in the UK or EU just needed to list the country of origin as the EU. From 2021, any product not manufactured in the UK will need to list its country of origin.

“Most of the cosmetic regulations will remain the same and just transferred to the new UK regulations, including a new UK notification portal which is mandatory before any cosmetic product can be placed on the market.

Marian Newman BEM

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