Manicures and pedicures are routine beauty procedures that many women in the U.S. partake in to feel beautiful.
Yet, nail salon workers face extreme health issues while working with toxic fumes in small, enclosed spaces just to make these women feel more akin to the beautiful women in magazines and movies.
Workers also suffer from financial struggles and live on minimum wage.
Work in nail salons is grueling and unrewarding. According to the New York Times, “Owners often force employees to work 60 hours a week while failing to pay overtime or allow lunch breaks. And lower manicure prices mean lower tips for workers who spend their days cutting cuticles and painting on polish.”
The low prices of $6 to $8 manicures makes it easy for people to get away with tipping only a dollar.
“Sometimes customers mad [sic], and they want special or more and they only leave couple dollars,” said Mai Le, a nail salon worker at FASHION Nails on University Avenue in Berkeley who came from Vietnam when she was 23 to marry her husband.
Le lives with her husband, two children, and her in-laws in a two-bedroom apartment in Oakland near Lake Merritt. Though Le and her husband live together, they do not share money.
“Money I make, I keep. I have enough to pay for half kids and half of rent. The rest I send to Vietnam.”
Quitting isn’t an option for Le, who has been working at FASHION Nails for six years to support her family here and in Vietnam.
Beyond wage issues, the job of a nail salon worker comes with dangerous health risks because of the amount of toxic fumes inhaled by the workers.
According to the American Family Association, “Nail polish contains a ‘toxic trio’ of dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde, and toluene. Studies have found that exposure to these chemicals is associated with poor performance on tests of attention and memory. Most nail technicians are of childbearing age, and studies have shown that children prenatally exposed to these chemicals perform worse on tests for cognitive function, language, and behavior.”
Though Le denies having problems with the fumes, she will not bring her children to work with her.
“On the West Coast, the majority of manicurists are Vietnamese women,” wrote Seattle Pi news. “They’re frequently immigrants who may have difficulty understanding chemical safety sheets–though shop owners are supposed to provide them with information in their own language.”
So the next time you decide to get your nails or toenails pampered, consider the women who are providing you this service.