Chances are SUPER slim, but not nonexistent. You’ll have to speak with an attorney in your area and your professional liability insurance company to find out if there’s a way to legally release yourself of liability in those situations. Because manufacturer instructions dictate that patch tests be performed (likely to release themselves of liability, lol), it’s something you’ll have to talk to your insurance company and a personal injury attorney about.

I have recently had an allergic reaction a hair dye in a salon, which ended with me being taken to the emergency room by ambulance, breathless, on oxygen and with my face so swollen, the pressure kept making me almost pass out. I was given prednisone, a high dose antihistamine and antibiotics which I had to continue to take for days after coming home from the hospital.

I cannot even begin to describe the psychological effects this whole experience has had on me.

So please, patch test all your clients, if you value them, you would not want them to go through what I did. It was hands down the scariest time of my life.

It’s so true. Overexposure to nail products causes contact allergies also. A lot of techs have had to give up acrylics for that reason.

Thanks Heather! I’ve never heard of that! I’ll have to check into it. I know you can’t be sued for operating outside of your scope if you refer to a physician for evaluation. You can do a patch test and check it and refer anything questionable so long as you don’t attempt to diagnose or treat, but if that’s the case, we have to figure out how to comply with that and the manufacturer instructions, which are to perform patch tests on every client. I’ll do some investigating and let you know what I come up with!