California Study Finds ‘Toxic Trio’ in Nail Polishes

Formaldehyde is back in the news. This time, the Jekyll-and-Hyde substance has brought along company, toluene and dibutyl phthalate (DBP). 

The three hazardous chemicals make up the toxic trio that more and more clients and salon workers—especially professional cosmetologists, such as those who have, say, a Kentucky Cosmetology CE or a Wisconsin Cosmetology CE, who are knowledgeable about harmful substances found in the salon—are railing against today. 

In a recent random sampling, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) discovered that of 12 nail products that claimed to be free of toluene, 10 in fact were not. Four of the products actually had dangerously high levels of the chemical.

The report also found that five of seven products that claimed to be "free of the toxic three" in reality contained at least one of the chemicals in significant amounts.

"We care about those things because those are hazardous chemicals that can cause harm to people,” said Karl Palmer with the DTSC. “Simply, they cause reproductive toxicity. They cause harm to women who might be pregnant, and over the long term and with enough exposure, they're just bad for you."

The mislabeled nail products, according to the report, can potentially harm thousands of workers and their customers in more than 48,000 nail salons in California.

The agency clarified that the presence of the toxic trio in nail products is legal, but only if properly indicated on the labels. False claims, however, may violate a state law that mandates disclosure of harmful chemicals in consumer products. 

Cosmetologycampus.com, 360training.com’s portal for cosmetologists, offers a fully online cosmetology CE program (leading to a cosmetology license) that provides salon workers updated information on health risks, such as those posed by certain chemicals in nail products.

Florida Cosmetology CE Exam Updates

In Florida this October, a hundred thousand cosmetologists will need to renew their licences to be able to continue practising cosmetology—and to doing your gorgeous waved bob or that oh-so-retro Brigitte Bardot bouffant. It is a ritual (a brutal one for those cheeky enough not to care about the required continuing education) that every licensed cosmetologist who knows her (or, excuse me, his) power eyelash curler from her eyebrow shaper must go through every other year to ensure that the public is protected from, now hear this, “significant and discernible danger to health,” so says the Florida Cosmetology Board, which definitely knows its public responsibilities.

Renewing your Florida cosmetology ce license requires 16 hours of continuing education involving such topics as sanitation and sterilization, OSHA regulations, chemical makeup of hair, skin, and nails, and HIV/AIDS.

You can, of course, take separate courses to cover all the topics. Or you can be smart about it—you don’t want your clients to be waiting, do you?—by taking a package course like the Florida 16 Hour Cosmetology Package from Cosmetologycampus.com and save yourself the time, trouble, and acute dyspepsia that often result from too much rushing from class to class across town.

And in case you don’t know yet, Cosmetologycampus.com also has the NIC Cosmetology Exam Prep Package, which is specifically designed for those who want to become cosmetologists. It’s an excellent cosmetology exam preparation and because it has numerous sample questions, it’s an even better cosmetology exam practice.

Exam, exam!

Sure it’s that time of the year again (October) to renew cosmetology licences. But what if you don’t have your license yet, what’s in store for you?

The long and short answers, fortunately, are the same: cosmetology licensure exam. It’s mandated by the NIC, a.k.a., National-Interstate Council of State Boards of Cosmetology, and whether you’re in Texas or Florida, you need to have a licence to wield scissors and makeup brushes as a cosmetologist.

And how do you make sure you pass the cosmetology licensure exam? The smart way, of course: by attending any of Cosmetologycampus.com’s cosmetology exam prep programs. For instance, for Texas the cosmetology exam practice is called Texas NIC Cosmetology Exam Prep Package.

Also, it won’t do any harm to follow a few tips from those who have already taken the exam.

• Make sure you know the exam coverage. It’s on the Internet.
• Know also the percentages devoted to each content area. That way you get to place your focus on the most important areas.
• Have a plan. If you know you’re weak in, say, scientific concepts, then put emphasis on that during home review, especially if you’re able to allot only a limited time to your review.
• Practice answering test questions. Your cosmetology exam practice should have plenty of that for you to chew on.

Good luck!

Congressional Hearing on Cosmetics Safety This March

Following all-too-real scares in recent months involving lead in lipstick, mercury in face cream, and formaldehyde in hair products (all three substances are known human carcinogens), the House Energy and Commerce Committee finally put its foot down and called an almost-unprecedented Congressional hearing this March on cosmetics safety—the first in 30 years

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Such a hearing not only highlights the crying need for safety at the salon, but also enhances the importance of employing professional salon workers who are licensed and who periodically undergo cosmetology continuing education—for instance, a Wisconsin Cosmetology CE or a Kentucky Cosmetology CE—to update their knowledge of salon safety and safe, healthy beauty products.

“It’s time for Congress to overhaul the 1938 cosmetic regulations that are utterly failing to protect public health. Personal-care products from deodorants, to lotions to baby shampoos contain chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects, learning disabilities, and other health problems,” declared Janet Nudelman, policy director of the Breast Cancer Fund, pointing out that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t even have the authority to recall unsafe products from the shelves.

For instance, it took the California Attorney General, not the FDA, to force the manufacturers of Brazilian Blowout hair-smoothing products to warn consumers of the dangers of exposure to formaldehyde, which the products contained. This March, however, a hidden-camera investigation by Good Morning America discovered that all 16 salons the show visited did not notify their clients of the formaldehyde risk as required by law.

“There is a war on women happening every day in salons across the country, where salon workers and their clients are being exposed to harmful cancer-causing chemicals, and the U.S. government is powerless to do anything about it. Current laws are incapable of protecting consumers and salon workers,” railed Erin Switalski, of Women’s Voices for the Earth.

One concern that may also get some airing at the Congressional hearing is melanoma, a potentially deadly skin cancer, whose incidence rate dramatically increased from 1970 through 2009, according to findings of a population-based study by Mayo Clinic. The study revealed that the incidence of the cancer increased eight times among young women and fourfold among young men during that period.

The study used records from the Rochester Epidemiology Project, a decades-long database of all patient care in Olmsted County, Minn. The researchers included only first-time diagnoses of melanoma in patients 18 to 39 from 1970 to 2009.

Dermatologists, for the most part, confirmed the results, saying the findings mirror what they see in their own practices. They also fingered the popular use of indoor tanning beds as one of the principal reasons for the dramatic escalation of melanoma rates.

"Skin cancer awareness is up, and even though there is lots of information about the dangers of tanning beds, people still use them," pointed out Dr. Jennifer Stein, an assistant professor at the Ronald O. Perelman department of dermatology at the NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. Dr. Stein warned that she herself is seeing many young individuals, mostly young women, with melanoma.

Cosmetologycampus.com, 360training.com’s portal for cosmetologists, offers a fully online cosmetology CE program (leading to a cosmetology license) that provides salon workers updated information on health risks, such as the cancer risks of UV rays from tanning beds.

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Increasing Number of Barber Shops in Maryland

Capital Heights, Maryland (CNN) -- If you're looking for an industry that's thriving even during these tough economic times, look to the hair industry. It may be the closest thing to recession-proof.

According to Census data, the number of barbershops in Maryland rose nearly 11% between 2007 -- when the recession hit -- and 2009, while the number of beauty salons in the state jumped more than 17%. 

Nationwide, there were 18.6% more barber shops and 14.4% more beauty salons in 2009 than in 2007.

"Barbering is definitely on the upswing. We see it in our schools. The enrollment is up," said Derek Davis, a vice president of the National Association of Barber Boards of America. "We've seen an increased number of people taking the exam to get cosmetology license."

Tarsa Scott, a real estate agent turned stylist at Fabulocs, a natural hair salon in suburban Maryland, chalked up the sector's strength to one thing: the desire to look and feel good.

"Most people -- especially women -- even when there are bad times, we want to feel good," said Scott, who got an office job after the housing market collapsed, but turned to hair styling to supplement her income. "We're not going to sacrifice feeling beautiful just because we're in a bad situation."

Janice Washington, who comes to the salon every three weeks or so, said she has stopped spending as much money on shoes in order to keep getting her hair done. "It's a necessity, because I do want to keep my hair looking like it's well-maintained."

Fabulocs owner Nimat Bilal expects business at her salon to remain strong.

Fabulocs owner Nimat Bilal said business has always been strong and is only getting better. It's a job that cannot be outsourced. It has to be done locally.

"I've never felt the economy with the business I'm in," Bilal said.

In another sign of the effect the recession has had on even educated workers in other industries, seven of the nine stylists at Fabulocs have college degrees.

Bilal works just three days a week and makes enough money to survive. She also trains stylists like Scott, with the help of her sister Aisha, who has a master's degree in education. She lost her job at a nonprofit in 2009.

"A lot of the ladies that work here, some of them were clients who lost their jobs and they saw business was good and wanted to know how they could get involved," Bilal said.

Scott began working at Fabulocs after completing a six-month training course. She now plans to quit her office job. She's one of several stylists at the salon who spent years working in other professions before turning to hairstyling during the economic downturn.

Two years ago, as other industries struggled, Bilal moved to a larger space to accommodate the growing number of people who wanted to work with her. She rents booths to the stylists, who use them to run their own mini-salons, building their own clientele and marketing their skills.

"This is the business to be in. It's consistent and it's growing," Bilal said.

Cuts, HIV, and the Cosmetology CE

The risk of blood-borne infections such as hepatitis and HIV via non-single-use instruments commonly used in salons and barbershops was highlighted in a new report presented recently at the American College of Gastroenterology's (ACG) 76th Annual Scientific meeting in Washington, DC, according to news-medical.net.

At the conference, Dr. David A. Johnson of Eastern Virginia Medical School evaluated a report by the Virginia Department of Health, "Assessment of the Risk of Bloodborne Pathogen Transmission in Nail Salons and Barber Shops and Regulatory Requirements in Virginia," and concluded that that there might be potential transmission of blood-borne pathogens if non-single use instruments are not thoroughly disinfected according to state regulations. 

It’s a fair warning to all salon and barbershop technicians across America, including the professionals now working on their cosmetology CE (continuing education)—from those taking Ohio cosmetology CE to those taking Florida cosmetology CE.

Currently, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) does not have specific guidelines for preventing HBV or HCV infection in nail salons and barbershops, according the Virginia Department of Health. 

Several recommendations to eliminate the potential transmission of HBV, HCV and HIV infections in nail salons and barbershops have been proposed, said the Virginia Department of Health report. These include: educating nail-salon and barbershop technicians about the transmission of blood-borne infections and emphasizing principles of good hygiene, antisepsis, and disinfection.

The recent warning against HIV and hepatitis infections in salons and barbershops by the American College of Gastroenterology has highlighted again the need to tighten safety regulations in these places. However, it should not detract authorities, beauty practitioners, and salon habitués from being vigilant against other –and more common—infections, especially bacterial skin infections.

Salon and barbershop technicians across America—from those taking Ohio cosmetology CE to those taking Florida cosmetology CE—are taught in cosmetology CE (continuing education) about the dangers of infection from improperly cleaned and disinfected instruments such as scissors and clippers, and on how to mitigate or eliminate these health threats.

Because of lax implementation of regulations in salons and barbershops bacterial skin outbreaks, unfortunately, are not as rare as the public might think. In 2000 and 2004, bacterial skin outbreaks hit northern California, affecting hundreds of nail-salon clients, who developed severe and recalcitrant sores on the lower extremities even after months of antibiotic therapy. In many cases, scarring could not be prevented. 

The outbreaks were caused by two common and fast-growing mycobacteria, Mycobacterium fortuitum and Mycobacterium chelonae, that previously were typically seen only in infection cases involving surgical or clinical devices contaminated with water from a hospital or the municipal water system. 

In a The New England Journal of Medicine article, the authors said, "We believe that these rapidly growing mycobacterial infections associated with nail salons are under recognized and may increase in prevalence."

Cosmetologycampus.com, a top provider of online health-and-safety-aware training for cosmetologists, delivers a fully online cosmetology CE program that includes the prevention of HIV/AIDS and pathogen infection in the practice of cosmetology.

Cosmetology Continuing Education: Pray, Hairspray

Cosmetology Continuing Education: Pray, Hairspray: This is scary, darlings. Microbiologists, busybodies each one, have finally dredged up the ultimate scare for coquettish (now, there’s ...

Pray, Hairspray

This is scary, darlings. Microbiologists, busybodies each one, have finally dredged up the ultimate scare for coquettish (now, there’s a word for you) estheticians and cosmetology license clients: germs in your hairspray!

Microbacterium hatanonis, the new species of bacteria that contaminate and live in hairsprays, was first identified in 2008 by Japanese scientists and is currently under scrutiny to ascertain its possible impact on health and hairnets. It is related to another microbacterium, the Microbacterium oxydans, which originally (originally because it now lives in hairsprays, too) was found in milk, cheese, beef, eggs, on catheters and in bone marrow, and even in the blood of leukemia patients.

While the jury is out on the health hazard that M. hatanonis poses, as always, the whole cosmetology universe should err on the side of lotion, er, caution. That is, wash your hands thoroughly, then use hair lotion instead of hairspray. As always, our shameless plug for the week: check out the best cosmetology school online, www.cosmetologycampus.com, for the best online courses in cosmetology CE (continuing education). Mwah!

Browbeating Brow Bars

If you live in Texas or Arizona, you may have seen a Shapes Brow Bar and witnessed for yourself the deft depilation done therein. It’s called eyebrow threading, and it has become the hot alternative to both tried-and-true hot-waxing (ouch!) and plucking (ouch! ouch!). Eyebrow threading is exotic (it uses a thin, twisted cotton thread that is rolled over the problem area to pluck the hair at the follicle level), is ancient (it has been practiced in hirsute India and the Middle East for centuries), and is quick (it takes only three minutes).

It is also a bit controversial, having come under scrutiny by state health authorities and state-run boards of cosmetology, who worry about its impact on health and safety. 

Such hair-splitting over a little facial hair! But then in the pink glow of HIV and skin-disease issues, better we be leery than sorry!

So, get yourself licensed (cosmetology license to you, gals, guys, and gayettes), for such is the cosmic life in safety-first cosmetology. To help you do that, there’s the Texas Cosmetology CE if you’re in Texas, the Kentucky Cosmetology CE if you’re in Kentucky, the Florida Cosmetology CE if you’re in Florida, the . . . Oh, deary, just you go visit now www.cosmetologycampus.com.

Cosmetology intro

We have the hair dye, we have the nail polish, and we have the mascara. Wake up and smell the hair peroxide, baby, because this blog’s going where no hairstylist, nail technician, or cosmetology ce expert has gone before!

Cosmetology blog is about getting ahead in the head (and fingers, and toes) business through safe practices as mandated in your state. It is also about funnelling to you info on professional practice, news and updates about your profession and the professional market, and, yes, creative tidbits concerning your craft itself.

Here, we’re going to help you train those eyes look in the right direction for the right career training. Like checking out www.cosmetologycampus.com for a look-see.

This is your blog, so you’re most welcome to agree or disagree with ANY issue we post here. There’s no bad-hair day; but, please, we take issue with hair pulling.

C’est la vie!