‘Explosions’ and your fingernails are two things that should never go together, but when it comes to beauty, all bets are clearly off.
YouTuber Cristine Rotenberg AKA Simply Nailogical recently trialled a product called “exploding nail polish remover,” and yes, it’s as terrifying and dangerous as it sounds.
Before test driving the product, Rotenberg noted that the remover smelled like paint thinner and to make matters worse, it had no ingredients listed on the packaging.
For those who aren’t familiar with paint thinner, it’s a super duper poisonous substance that if you ingest can cause burning in the mouth, throat or stomach, vomiting and/or diarrhea. Lovely.
The online description of the exploding nail polish remover insisted it was ‘non-hazardous’ but also advised not to get the product on your skin – which raises a few more red flags.
During the video, Rotenberg also shared a Facebook post warning consumers about the “miracle remover” being a potentially “harmful industrial solvent that should NOT be used in ANY cosmetic products.” Also extremely worrying.
Despite the warnings, Rotenberg made her boyfriend stand-in as a lab rat and applied the exploding nail polish remover to his painted fingernails. The product didn’t make any difference until it was applied to gel polish with no top or base coat. Immediately, the polish cracked and bubbled up on the fingernail.
While Rotenberg’s boyfriend suffered no adverse reaction to the polish remover, it doesn’t like the product is safe to try at home.
It’s not the first time popular beauty products have been found to cause serious health concerns. Earlier this year, those Neutrogena acne face masks you’ve no doubt seen all over Instagram were recalled after they were found to cause potential eye damage.
The lesson here is: just because someone is flogging it on social media, doesn’t mean it’s good for you.