Why it could be handy to take off your nail polish before bed
Otherwise, discovers SARAH VINE, there could be some painful consequences!
How long do you keep your make-up on?’ asks Bastien Gonzales, fixing me with his rather beautiful chocolate brown eyes.
‘Er, a few hours?’ I say. ‘Precisely,’ he sighs, returning his attention to my big toe. ‘ So please tell me, why is it that women wear nail polish for weeks on end. It is make-up for the nails. It should be only for special occasions.’
I must confess I have never thought of it this way. Like millions of women, I am a convert to long-wear gel nail polish, the kind of high- shine stuff that lasts for weeks and has to be melted off with acetone, tin foil and elbow grease.
The kind you can get in nail bars across Britain, that has, in a fundamental way, transformed the way most women look.
Like all things that are easy and convenient, one tends to ignore the downsides. Gel nails are the manicure equivalent of ready meals: quick, convenient, tasty-looking, but not exactly good for you.
It’s not just the fact that they dry under UV light — at best ageing, at worst cancercausing — it’s also that they contain an array of potentially harmful ingredients.
There have been questions about the toxicity of gel nails ever since they became ubiquitous a few years ago. The UV lamps which are used to dry the nails can, say some experts, cause as much damage as sunbeds — in fact there have been several documented diagnoses of skin cancer on the hands of frequent users.
Added to that is the potential for infection as a result of keeping product on the nail for extended periods of time and the fact that the removal process contributes to a thinning of the nail and, if done badly, can also damage the nail bed.
But perhaps the aspect that worries Bastien the most is the potential for absorption of toxic chemicals through the nail itself, which is porous, and the surrounding cuticles.
The British Association of Dermatologists recently warned that gel polish is a leading cause of methacrylate allergy ( methacrylates are a type of plastic polymer used to form the gel), which can cause irritation, itching and swelling on any part of the body.
MEANWHILE, in 2015 a study found triphenyl phosphate, a powerful hormone-disrupting compound found in nail polishes (it helps the colour adhere) was higher in women who had regular manicures.
There is no empirical evidence to say this substance is toxic in humans, but the same chemical caused mice testes to shrink in tests. And formaldehyde, toluene and dibutyl phthalate are standard ingredients in most polishes, gel or otherwise.
‘It’s like chocolate mousse,’ says Bastien. ‘ A delicious treat now and again, but not good for you if you eat it everyday.
‘nail colour should be worn for special occasions, and then — take it off, like a beautiful dress or a pair of shoes. The rest of the time the nail can be beautifully natural, healthy and shiny. no need for polish.’
As someone who does not have the most elegant extremities, I can’t say I’m immediately sympathetic to this argument. In fact it’s fair to say — toxic or not — I’m a bit of a fan of gel polish, not least because its the only way I’ve ever managed to get my nails to grow even vaguely long.
And as a lazy dresser who spends most of her life in shades of black, my nails are usually all I can muster by way of colour. Pedicurist to the stars ( his clients range from Gwyneth Paltrow to Cate Blanchett, naomi Campbell to Robert Deniro), Bastien has been plying his trade since 23, after injury forced him to shelve his dream of being a competitive skier. Thanks to his background he already had a keen interest in foot health — so when his sporting career ended he decided to train as a podiatrist. Against all advice from friends and family who thought him dangerously optimistic about his prospects, he opened a small clinic in a fashionable part of Paris. here he pioneered his signature ‘dry pedicure’ method, (no water involved) a unique combination of medical and aesthetic techniques designed to, as he likes to emphasise often, ‘cure’ the feet. word spread of his ability to transform trotters into tootsies, and before long he was welcoming
le tout Paris, from supermodels to captains of industry.
Bastien has an extraordinary presence, a confidence that comes not only from the knowledge that he is the best in his field, but also that what he does is not something frivolous, but very professional.
HE TOUCHES my feet with the reverence of a maestro stroking the keys of a piano, wields his tools with the precision and concentration of Antonio Pappano leading the orchestra pit of the Royal opera house.
There is an artistry to what he does. he is about as reminiscent of your average high Street pedicurist as lumpfish caviar is to beluga. In other words, no comparison. working alongside, on my hands, is his mini-me, Pierre, who heads the new Bastien space at London’s Mandarin oriental Spa. It is here that I sit, as the pair of them whittle away at the jagged edges, ragged cuticles and rough surfaces of my extremities.
Then, using a fine paste not dissimilar to the one deployed by dentists to polish teeth, my nails are buffed to a high, healthylooking shine and a series of sweet smelling emollients applied.
The buffing, Bastien explains, was taught to him by his grandmother, an elegant Frenchwoman who, once her eyesight prevented her from applying polish, took to buffing her nails with a chamois leather to keep them shiny.
‘She was in her nineties, and her nails were perfect,’ he says. ‘The buffing process not only improves the appearance, it also helps keep them healthy by stimulating blood circulation to the nail bed, which in turn keeps them strong and helps prevent breakage.’
Pierre then dims the lights and I find myself being massaged hand and foot by two French gentlemen in what I can only describe as divine synchronicity.
These old plates of meat will never be the same again.