WEBVTT - Full Set: Nails – Lab 070 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:02.719 You know what I feel like is fading out as 0:00:02.759 --> 0:00:06.520 like the top accessory. What handbags. I feel like people 0:00:06.600 --> 0:00:08.360 really carried handbags and that was like part. 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:08.640 Of your look. 0:00:08.800 --> 0:00:11.879 Yeah, I don't ever carry back These days, you really 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:15.440 maximize the pocket and I don't have fockets on my outfit. 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:18.079 It's quiet for me because what am I gonna do 0:00:18.160 --> 0:00:20.239 with all this stuff? And you know, I never wear 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:23.119 ear rings. My friend don't. She don't need them. She'll 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:26.600 have the glasses on. She's got that mold popping, she's 0:00:26.600 --> 0:00:27.000 got it. 0:00:27.320 --> 0:00:30.040 But I think the new accessory, when I say it, 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:34.080 you're going to remember, mm hmm, it's nails, honey. 0:00:34.520 --> 0:00:37.760 Nails are having a renaissance right now before you go 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:40.920 on the red carpet. Everybody's nails is like short, maybe 0:00:40.960 --> 0:00:44.360 a color, and now the longer the better. They're all 0:00:44.479 --> 0:00:48.879 jeweled out on three D and on everyone. Day to day, 0:00:48.920 --> 0:00:51.400 people like me and you, yes are doing their nails. 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:53.800 I've watched over the course of the pandemic, my friend 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:55.920 Monique started doing her own nails. 0:00:56.000 --> 0:00:59.280 I said, I don't think you are authorized to do that. 0:00:59.520 --> 0:01:03.600 People are going on Amazon giving themselves full acrylic sets 0:01:03.760 --> 0:01:04.240 at home. 0:01:04.360 --> 0:01:05.160 Yeah, it's wild. 0:01:05.360 --> 0:01:09.920 But that really made us think about the science behind nails, 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:15.000 but also the social science of the nail experience. So 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:18.559 that relationship that you have with your nail technician. 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:21.600 Yes, even the relationship with self when your nails are done, yes, 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:24.360 because I mean, everybody feels good when they can click 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:25.560 clack clack claque. 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:27.160 Let me drinking my water like. 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:34.480 I'm t T and I'm Zachiah and from Spotify, This 0:01:34.560 --> 0:02:00.640 is Dope Labs. Welcome to Dope Labs, a weekly podcasts 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:03.920 that mixes hardcore science, pop culture, and a healthy dose 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:04.600 of friendship. 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:08.880 This week, we're talking all about nails now tt. 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:12.280 We have gone through it all, from acrylics to those 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:18.079 little stickered things yep, to press on, jail nails, jail nails, 0:02:18.280 --> 0:02:19.760 you name it, we've tried it. 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:22.480 But we really wanted to know more about the history 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:26.359 and culture of nails, going to the salon, and some 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:28.840 of the health and safety issues that come with working 0:02:28.880 --> 0:02:29.520 in salons. 0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:32.640 So let's dive right in and get into the recitation. 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:46.560 What do we know TT, Well. 0:02:46.400 --> 0:02:49.360 I think we know from experience that getting your nails 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:51.400 done is a form of self care. 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:55.600 Yes, they're also becoming a lot more popular in mainstream 0:02:55.720 --> 0:02:56.399 culture too. 0:02:56.880 --> 0:02:59.200 Yeah, you think back to the met Gala when you 0:02:59.200 --> 0:03:02.040 were looking at every one's nails and how lots of 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:05.400 folks were wearing really long nails that match their outfits. 0:03:05.560 --> 0:03:08.520 That is something that I feel like is very new. 0:03:08.800 --> 0:03:11.359 Yes, but we also know there's a lot of different 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:16.160 chemicals and materials and even drying and curing processes involved 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:17.280 at the salon. 0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:18.880 To get those beautiful outcomes. 0:03:19.000 --> 0:03:21.040 Absolutely, so what do we want to know? 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:24.400 Like you mentioned, it feels new what we're seeing in 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:26.680 this mainstream culture, but let's take a look back at 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:29.560 the history of nail art and how it's evolved over time. 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:31.560 I want to know the underpinnings there. 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:36.080 I'm really curious about the relationship of nails to the individual, 0:03:36.400 --> 0:03:39.920 but then also to the nail texts, the communities and 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:43.800 the neighborhoods more broadly, so, how are salons a part 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:44.680 of community? 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:47.800 And I think we also want to explore the health 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:51.800 and safety issues in the industry, especially since those issues 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:55.680 mainly impact women of color and until the past couple 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:58.320 of years have been kind of brushed aside by the industry. 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:08.000 All right, let's jump into the dissection. Thanks our guest 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:10.520 for Today's lab is Crystal Kayiza. 0:04:10.680 --> 0:04:15.080 I'm Crystal Kayiza and I'm a filmmaker based in Brooklyn. 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:19.320 Crystal's film See You Next Time highlights the intimate relationship 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:22.039 between a nail tech and her client and the nuance 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:24.960 that goes into this ritual of self care. The film 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:28.600 approaches nail art and nail styling as a creative collaboration 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:31.400 between women of color. But before we get into the 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:34.640 dynamics of that collaboration, we wanted to learn a little 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:36.720 bit more about the history of nail art. 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:39.360 In twenty twenty two, nail art has become this huge 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:42.040 pop culture phenomenon, but I didn't necessarily grow up with, 0:04:42.120 --> 0:04:44.720 you know, people on red carpets talking about who their 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:47.080 nail artists were and all of those things. 0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:49.839 Yes, we've seen a huge shift in the culture around 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:52.880 nails and nail art in our lifetimes, but people all 0:04:53.040 --> 0:04:55.920 over the world have been creating art with their nails 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:57.479 for a very long time. 0:04:57.560 --> 0:05:00.880 You can take this back to ancient Babylon men who 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:03.599 used coal to paint their nails, and so that's thirty 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:07.039 five hundred BC. Okay, that's a long, long, long come ago. 0:05:07.680 --> 0:05:09.640 And so they were using black for the upper class, 0:05:09.640 --> 0:05:11.960 while green was used for the lower classes. 0:05:12.120 --> 0:05:16.080 And in ancient Egypt, queens Cleopatra and Nephertiti were known 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:19.400 for painting their nails red using hennah, and Chinese royals 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:23.640 painted their nails in the Ming dynasty using egg whites, wax, 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:25.480 plant dyes and other materials. 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:28.760 Now fast forward a little bit in France in the twenties, 0:05:28.800 --> 0:05:33.120 people began experimenting with using high gloss car paint to 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:35.039 paint their nails. They're like, this is gonna be shiny, 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:38.359 all right. And then we saw some innovation in response 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:41.600 to that from Revlon who came out with nail formula 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:44.960 that was using pigments instead of dyes, which allowed them 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:46.160 to have a lot more shades. 0:05:46.560 --> 0:05:51.000 Modern manicures became popular among celebrities, and nail polish became 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:55.360 increasingly available in drug stores, which led to more mainstream 0:05:55.480 --> 0:05:56.400 use of nail polish. 0:05:56.760 --> 0:05:58.960 Now, when we think about going from just adorning our 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:01.919 natural nails then going to artificial nails, that came along 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:05.120 in nineteen fifty four when the first artificial nails were 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:08.600 invented by a dentist who broke his nail. Talk about 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:11.840 all the cosmics dentistry feels like cosmetics and it's right 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:14.080 there with nails, right And that led to the invention 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:17.599 of acrylic nails that we see today, and the popularity 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:20.800 and widespread adoption of acrylics began in the seventies and eighties, 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:24.120 and acrylic nail art continues to thrive today with new 0:06:24.160 --> 0:06:27.760 trends and technology and of course social media. And I 0:06:27.800 --> 0:06:30.479 think when we consider all of this, especially the rise 0:06:30.560 --> 0:06:33.279 of acrylics, it feels important to credit black women with 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:36.600 pioneering the culture around acrylic nails. Black women have been 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:39.600 wearing acrylics and creating new styles for decades. 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:41.760 Yes, one of the first people that pops into my 0:06:41.800 --> 0:06:46.279 mind is flow Jo Yes, Florence Griffith Joyner. She is 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:49.000 an Olympian who was also a hairdresser and a nail tech, 0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:52.719 and she wore six inch acrylic nails while she was running. 0:06:52.839 --> 0:06:55.080 It caused a lot of drama, people looking at her 0:06:55.120 --> 0:06:57.640 and saying, oh my gosh, how is that clean? But 0:06:57.720 --> 0:06:59.599 she was really making a statement. 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:02.479 Yes, she might be the first to pop in your mind, 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:04.880 but she's not the last. When we think about the 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:08.640 legacy of Black women in their nails is incredible, But 0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:13.080 along with that legacy comes a lot of racism and stigma. Absolutely, 0:07:13.480 --> 0:07:17.800 Black women's nails have often been looked at as low class, unclean, 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:22.040 or over sexualized and subject to public comment and critique 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:25.560 in the media. And it's so interesting because now acrylics 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:28.680 are like way more popular. They're accepted in mainstream culture, 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:31.480 and we see a lot more white celebrities wearing them 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:34.160 with you know, Ti Die and different art and stuff, 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:36.360 and it's like, oh, look, how nice. But Black women 0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:39.800 are still leading the movement for nail right and innovation. Lizzo, Yeah, 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:44.280 KRTI our GIRLI our KARTI our good since Rihanna and 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:48.240 Megan thee Stallion, yes, too many to day and their 0:07:48.320 --> 0:07:51.120 nail artists are becoming celebrities in their own rights too. 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:52.120 As they should be. 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:54.520 So while we might not be getting manicures like Rihanna 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:55.360 ORCARTI b you. 0:07:55.280 --> 0:07:57.800 Know, getting your nails done can be kind of this 0:07:58.200 --> 0:08:01.000 staple for self care for Black women, and it has been, 0:08:01.040 --> 0:08:02.360 I think for quite a few years. 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:05.600 We both know people who regularly get their nails done. 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:09.680 Absolutely, yeah, every two weeks, they're in the salon with 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:10.320 that feeling. 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:12.680 But sometimes, you know, I'm a person I'll do a 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:16.440 little bit of both. Tt you're a DIY person now, absolutely. 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:19.840 I am at home buying stuff off Amazon. Press lines 0:08:19.920 --> 0:08:23.640 have been my thing. Okay, if you see anything done 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:26.240 to my nails, just no, HiT's a press on and 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:28.600 don't do anything too crazy because they will fly off. 0:08:30.640 --> 0:08:32.560 And we want to know where everybody else is on 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:36.760 the nail spectrum. Are you getting elaborate designs weekly, every 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:39.360 other week, once a month, or are you somebody who's like, 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:40.440 I'm not worried about it. 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:43.720 I'm just slipping my nails manny patties every once in 0:08:43.720 --> 0:08:46.040 a while. Yeah. If you check the app right now, 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:46.760 you'll see a poll. 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:47.480 Take the ball. 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:56.240 Let us know what are y'all into. Crystal has personal 0:08:56.280 --> 0:08:57.920 experience getting her nails done too. 0:08:58.360 --> 0:09:00.880 I grew up in a household were having your nails 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:03.040 painted was a very particular thing. You had to be 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:05.800 of a certain age, you could only have certain colors, 0:09:06.000 --> 0:09:08.440 certain designs, And my mom was a nurse, so like 0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:10.719 she had to have her nails a certain way and 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:12.760 could only have certain types of designs, or could I 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:14.520 have her nails painted at a certain time. I just 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:17.319 remember growing up not being able to necessarily paint my 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:18.000 nails red. 0:09:18.080 --> 0:09:19.520 That was a huge rule in my house. 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:21.920 And my mom also had a thing about winter colors 0:09:22.040 --> 0:09:25.319 versus spring colors versus summer colors. I remember coming home 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:27.760 from college and having like dark nails in June, and 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:29.480 my mom was like, why do you have dark nails 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:31.000 in June this summer nail season? 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:31.959 Like do something bright. 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:34.080 So all of these things are kind of embedded in 0:09:34.280 --> 0:09:37.600 my understanding of these like random arbitrary rules for myself. 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:39.360 But it was something that was very individual to me. 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:41.000 But then as I got older and started talking with 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:42.760 my friends, it's like, no, I wasn't allowed to paint 0:09:42.760 --> 0:09:44.640 my nails red at thirteen, and like show up and 0:09:44.720 --> 0:09:46.160 act growing and all of those things. 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:48.719 I had some similar experiences to Christal. I don't know 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:52.320 about you, red nails. It's like, girl, where do you 0:09:52.360 --> 0:09:55.080 think you're going? But even more than red nails, you 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:58.440 had to be a certain age to wear tips, like yeah, 0:09:58.480 --> 0:10:00.320 like yeah, that was a thing. 0:10:00.520 --> 0:10:02.160 The first time I ever got my nails done, I 0:10:02.240 --> 0:10:03.719 was a senior in high school. I couldn't get my 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:04.480 nails done before then. 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:07.280 It had to be like four brom That was the 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:10.600 only time I was allowed to and it was life changing. 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:15.720 For Crystal and many black women, nails have been an 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:19.040 entry point into self expression and part of our stories 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:21.439 of coming of age and really coming into our own. 0:10:21.760 --> 0:10:23.480 For me, it was. 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:26.040 Always something that felt like a bit of right, a 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:27.920 passage of being able to go to the nail salon 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:29.920 with my mom and be able to decide for myself 0:10:29.960 --> 0:10:31.920 what I wanted my nails to look like. And it's 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:33.960 something that I think as a young adult I returned 0:10:33.960 --> 0:10:36.760 to definitely when I moved to New York City for 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:39.320 the first time and you know, was figuring out what 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:41.679 to do. One of the routines that brought me comfort 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:43.600 was just sitting in the nail salon and just taking 0:10:43.600 --> 0:10:45.880 a break after work and having that moment of peace. 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:48.320 A lot of people feel like the salon is a 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:51.320 place where you can go to reset. If every two 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:53.880 weeks you do a little something that makes you feel good, 0:10:54.320 --> 0:10:56.960 that is absolutely an act of self care. 0:10:57.360 --> 0:10:59.800 Crystal talked about time at the salon as a ritual 0:10:59.840 --> 0:11:02.240 with in the context of self care in her film 0:11:02.280 --> 0:11:03.120 See You Next Time. 0:11:03.600 --> 0:11:05.800 The term self care still feel very new. 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:09.079 I think through the process of making the film really 0:11:09.240 --> 0:11:11.319 rethought the term self care. And really thought about it 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:13.440 as a ritual because it's like you're going to see 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:16.440 the same person every two weeks. Like the relationship is 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:21.360 so specific to that space, and oftentimes, I think, particularly 0:11:21.400 --> 0:11:23.640 for working class women, it's like one of the only 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:26.079 spaces where you can sit back and have someone else 0:11:26.160 --> 0:11:28.400 take care of you. You don't have to worry about 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:30.160 all the things that are happening outside of the nail 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:30.880 salon space. 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:34.360 I think this whole idea is really important because thinking 0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:38.599 about the salon as a ritual of self care dignifies 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:42.840 the process as something that is intentionally habitual. And it's 0:11:42.880 --> 0:11:46.800 also different from doing your own nails, you know, like 0:11:46.840 --> 0:11:49.600 Crystal said, part of the self care is allowing somebody 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:52.520 else to take care of you through a really intimate 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:56.040 relationship with a neltech or artist, and I think those 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:59.959 relationships are really important to the conversations around nail style 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:00.800 and art. 0:12:01.080 --> 0:12:03.880 There are all of these economic exchanges that happen throughout 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:06.839 our day, but they're also simultaneously relationships that are being 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:10.400 built as well. One thing that I learned is that 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:14.200 the relationship in the space is very complex, and the 0:12:14.240 --> 0:12:17.199 images and conversation I had with both of the women 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:20.520 in the film only scratched the surface when everyone's experience 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:23.040 is very individual to them and unique and complex in 0:12:23.080 --> 0:12:27.040 the sense of how black women are seen and understood 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:29.080 in that space, but also complex in terms of on 0:12:29.120 --> 0:12:31.200 the other side of the table, a lot of particularly 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:32.960 Asian women that are doing a lot of the labor 0:12:33.000 --> 0:12:33.680 in that space. 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:36.840 Yes, when we're talking about the industry, we need to 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:40.280 talk about who's doing that work and how they are impacted. 0:12:40.559 --> 0:12:43.000 There was a study at a Cornell University that showed 0:12:43.000 --> 0:12:46.040 that almost three quarters, so seventy three percent of nail 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:50.280 salon workers were Asian or Pacific islander and about a fifth, 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:54.040 or twenty one percent were LATINX. The vast majority are 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:57.880 also immigrants. Eighty eight percent were born in other countries 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:00.480 beside the US. You also have to ow overlay the 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:02.160 economic aspect as well. 0:13:02.559 --> 0:13:04.600 You know, people are trying to make a living wage. 0:13:04.760 --> 0:13:07.360 The average wage for nail workers in New York City 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:10.720 in twenty twenty was thirteen dollars and seventy four cents 0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:14.360 an hour. Okay, so that's thirteen seventy four an hour 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:18.240 for nail workers. The living wage for a single adult 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:20.520 in New York County which covers Manhattan. So New York 0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:24.000 City is twenty five dollars and forty two cents an hour. 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:26.840 So already there's a gap there. 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:27.640 Huge gap. 0:13:27.840 --> 0:13:30.040 Yeah, you're not meeting the living wage. 0:13:30.400 --> 0:13:33.120 And when we say living wage, we're not talking about 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:36.320 really living We're just saying that only includes your basic needs. 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:39.440 It doesn't include any money to eat out, unpaid vacations, 0:13:39.480 --> 0:13:43.200 emergency expenses, or future planning like savings or any type 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:46.559 of retirement. That model is really only a small step 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:47.440 up from poverty. 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:49.640 So it's important to talk about that other side of 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:50.000 the coin. 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:51.959 For some people getting their nails done, it's part of 0:13:52.000 --> 0:13:54.920 a self care ritual, but it's also somebody's job to 0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:58.720 provide that service. And it's hard work. Is hard angles 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:01.480 for your body, right, and it's long hours, and it's 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:05.640 exposure to a lot of chemicals and in the pandemic people, 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:09.440 and I think that really takes us right into the 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:13.160 health and safety aspect. Tt So let's talk about some 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:16.000 of these materials that people and nail salons are dealing with. 0:14:19.840 --> 0:14:21.680 When you pint your nails at home with a regular 0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:25.400 bottle of nail polish or a laquer, the polish is 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:28.160 made up of polymers, So this is a long chain 0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:32.520 of molecules that can form strong structures. So those polymers 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:35.720 are dissolved in a solvent, and when you paint those 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:38.920 solvents on then they evaporate, so it's a mixture of 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:41.600 solvents with the colors that you see. Then once you 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:44.560 put it on your fingernail, the solvent evaporates and leaves 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:46.960 the color behind as dried nail polish. 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:51.240 Now, okay, one of our friends, Julian, got a manicure, 0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:53.120 and Julian got some. 0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:54.160 Regular nail polish. 0:14:54.360 --> 0:15:00.320 Uh huh chipped very quickly, which made Julian upset, as 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:04.160 he should be. So I told him that he should 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:07.120 have got jail nails because they're longer lasting. And I 0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:10.120 know that they're like cured with UV or led light, 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:12.960 but is that the same thing, Like, how is it different? 0:15:14.120 --> 0:15:17.120 So with gel nail polish, when you paint that gel 0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:20.080 onto your fingernail and then you sit under a UV light, 0:15:20.320 --> 0:15:23.760 it is using the UV light to form even stronger 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:27.160 bonds to each other and to your fingernail, which is 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:28.720 why gel lasts a lot longer. 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:31.120 Okay, I remember when they came out, everybody was like 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:34.240 this lasts for so long it doesn't chip. But for 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:37.040 me jail, when you paint it on sometimes it peels away, 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:39.160 like if there's air or something that gets trapped under. 0:15:39.480 --> 0:15:42.200 And then I remember when everybody was doing those dipping. 0:15:41.920 --> 0:15:43.000 Powders for their nails. 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:43.840 I've never done that. 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:46.560 I had it one time, and baby, that stuff was 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:48.840 so lumpy the tech I had. 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:50.880 I was like, do you normally do this? 0:15:51.120 --> 0:15:53.080 And I looked at my nail from the side, my 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:57.960 high mountains, moving mountains on top of my nail beard. Okay, 0:15:59.080 --> 0:16:02.640 but you know, new material are constantly emerging and people 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:04.920 are liking the powder. I've seen people using the powder 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:06.640 to create you know, I didn't want that amountain. I 0:16:06.680 --> 0:16:08.360 wanted to smooth nail. But I see people creating like 0:16:08.400 --> 0:16:11.440 three D r yeah, to make designs and stuff. I've 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:14.360 also seen people making like the chrome effect, making your 0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:17.160 nail look like there's glass. It feels like there are 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:20.120 no boundaries. Everybody's out here doing chemistry. 0:16:19.840 --> 0:16:22.360 And you know, we're talking about a lot of chemicals 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:26.560 and exposure to these chemicals. Yes, and so with us, 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:28.760 we've both worked in lass. We know what it takes 0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:31.200 to be around some of these chemicals, and so it 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:33.920 makes you think, what are the health and safety precautions 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:37.000 that are in place to protect the salon workers. 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:39.200 A few years ago, particularly in New York, there was 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:43.080 an increased awareness around health and safety practices and nail 0:16:43.120 --> 0:16:46.080 swans across the city. And again, the majority of women 0:16:46.160 --> 0:16:48.160 are doing the slave are women of color, are like 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:50.800 low income and working class women of color. And the 0:16:50.880 --> 0:16:53.360 long term effects that a lot of the tools and 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:55.760 chemicals that are used in nail salons. I think that 0:16:55.800 --> 0:17:00.680 there's a broader conversation around how those practices have impacted 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:03.440 those communities have impacted workers, And I think having a 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:06.480 magnifying glass about specific issue like also illuminated a lot 0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:08.800 of other things that are happening in terms of fair wages, 0:17:08.920 --> 0:17:11.840 of making sure people were working reasonable hours and getting 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:12.880 compensated correctly. 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:16.359 In twenty fifteen, there was this investigation published in the 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:18.360 New York Times and it was looking into New York 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:21.439 City salons and New York City is the nail salon 0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:24.679 capital of the United States. Yes, and they've found that 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:26.320 a lot of chemicals that were used in the nail 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:30.600 salons have been linked to cancer, abnormal fetal development, miscarriages, 0:17:30.720 --> 0:17:35.119 in addition to respiratory and skin problems. Separately, when they 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:38.719 were talking to nail texts, they were explaining that they 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:43.080 were having experiences with those exact same problems that the 0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:44.159 chemicals have been linked to. 0:17:44.600 --> 0:17:47.760 According to the investigation, one of the big issues with 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:50.480 trying to make a change in this space is that 0:17:50.520 --> 0:17:53.440 there's a lack of data. So we don't know enough 0:17:53.440 --> 0:17:56.960 about the long term effects of exposure to these chemicals 0:17:57.000 --> 0:17:58.800 because no one is looking. 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:02.240 Yeah, so now you're just stuck with anecdotal evidence, and 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:05.640 so you can't really say, Okay, this is exactly, certainly 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:08.800 this way with this anecdotal evidence, but you also can't 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:11.000 say it's not exactly because no one's looking. 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:13.760 One of the doctors that was referencing the article said 0:18:13.760 --> 0:18:17.000 that many of his patients who work in salons exhibit 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:21.760 respiratory problems usually associated with smoking or asthma, and one 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:25.679 manicurist in the article shared her fingerprints have all but 0:18:26.000 --> 0:18:30.760 disappeared from working in salon, So like just absolutely burned off. 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:33.800 If you're trying to figure out the toxic chemicals and 0:18:33.880 --> 0:18:39.119 nail products, sometimes you see a toxic trio, a toxic quartet, quartet. 0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:39.880 A toxic quintet. 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:43.040 They're making various bands. We'll pull from the trio. 0:18:43.200 --> 0:18:47.560 That's dibutal thalae, taluing and formaldehyde. Those chemicals are linked 0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:49.280 to serious health issues. 0:18:49.680 --> 0:18:49.920 Yeah. 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:54.639 Dibutal Thalae is a plasticizer that makes polish flexible, and 0:18:55.320 --> 0:18:58.200 it can affect reproductive health and it's also been linked 0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:02.120 to miscarriage, problems with fetal development, and impaired fertility. It's 0:19:02.160 --> 0:19:06.240 been banned in the EU from cosmetic use since two 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:07.159 thousand and three. 0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:10.800 Okay, So, taluane is used as a solvent in many 0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:14.600 nail products and it helps with like smooth nail polished application, 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:16.000 you know, so it's not lumpy when you try to 0:19:16.000 --> 0:19:19.040 paint it on. But the fumes from inhaling this can 0:19:19.080 --> 0:19:23.720 cause headaches, nausea, dizziness, liver and kidney damage as well 0:19:23.760 --> 0:19:25.520 as adverse effects and fetal development. 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:29.480 And formaldehyde is a preservative and hardening agent used to 0:19:29.560 --> 0:19:32.960 strengthen nail products and besides being known as a carcinogen 0:19:33.240 --> 0:19:37.359 and can cause respiratory issues like difficulty breathing, coughing, asthma 0:19:37.480 --> 0:19:40.520 like attacks, wheezing, and burning the eyes, nose, and throat. 0:19:40.640 --> 0:19:44.320 It's been banned in cosmetic products in the EU as well, 0:19:44.640 --> 0:19:47.600 which is for real wild to me. 0:19:47.920 --> 0:19:49.240 My eyebrow is up. 0:19:49.720 --> 0:19:52.040 Okay, I've got a lot of questions. 0:19:52.240 --> 0:19:55.520