Patch tests, and what they are actually for

Let us be straight about this, because a lot of salons are not: a patch test is largely there to cover us, and by doing that it covers you too. It is worth understanding how, because it is not the same thing as a guarantee.

What it does not do

A patch test does not prove you will not react. The amount of product you are exposed to during a test is small, and it may simply not be enough to trigger a response, which means you can pass a patch test and still have a reaction at your appointment. Anyone telling you a patch test makes a treatment risk free is overselling it.

What it does do

It reliably picks up the serious reactions, which are the ones that matter. Finding that out on your arm rather than on your eyelid is the entire point. Provided it is given long enough to show.

It also means we have demonstrably reduced the risk before treating you, which is what our insurance requires. That is the part clients do not usually hear, and it protects you more than it protects us: if you did have a reaction and needed to make a claim, the insurer will only pay out if the salon followed the rules. A salon that skips patch tests to be accommodating has quietly left you with no recourse if something goes wrong.

Extensions and tint are not the same risk

These get lumped together and they should not be. A reaction to lash extension adhesive is normally fairly mild. Some swelling and itching, uncomfortable and worth telling us about, but not dangerous. There are no recorded cases of anaphylaxis from lash extensions.

Tint is different. Reactions to lash and brow tint can be severe, and they are treated with a great deal more caution as a result. If you are having any tinting done, the patch test is not a box ticking exercise and the forty eight hours are not negotiable. This is the treatment the rules were written for.

How it works here

We apply a small amount of the product you will be treated with, and you wait.

Forty eight hours is the minimum our insurance requires, but we recommend leaving longer than that. A reaction can take up to five days to show, so a test that has only had two days to work is not telling you as much as it could. If you are booking your first appointment, get the patch test done the week before rather than the day before.

Tests stay valid for six months. After that, or after six months without a treatment, we test again. Sensitivities develop over time, and having had a treatment before, here or anywhere else, tells us nothing about how you will react today. We cannot treat you without a valid test, regardless of where you have been treated previously, and that is not a rule we can bend on the day.

Should I be worried about nail allergies?

This comes up a lot, and it is a reasonable question. Reactions to gel and acrylic products are real, and they are almost always caused by uncured product touching skin, usually from home kits without a proper lamp, or from a treatment applied without care around the cuticle. Once a sensitivity develops it does not go away, and it can rule out gel nails permanently.

What prevents it is application technique and curing properly. That is a skill issue, not a product issue, and it is the reason we do not rush nail appointments. If you have had any reaction to nail products before, tell us before we start.