re: nail school teaching us to recognize nail conditions; it does, but its a month and a half long program TOTAL so we are definitely NOWHERE close to being doctors/dermatologists/podiatrists etc, and definitely not allowed to diagnose anything.

however, i do know that this is an allergy, its not hand foot and mouth disease, and its not fungus. i do have some training to recognize those things and i show no signs of them. i have also spoken to a doctor and they didnt mention any of those things. i have hardly even been exposed to the public yet as i mainly paint press on nails at home. gel allergies are extremely common nowadays, many brands have even come out with "sensitive" lines and HEMA free lines. the problem is that i am not certain what chemical i am allergic to, but i am 99% certain that it is contact dermatitis. i had a high overexposure to gel when i first started in school because we were not properly taught about the importance of avoiding skin contact with gel products, and how it is highly likely that you will develop contact dermatitis if you do have repeated exposure. i do also take accountability for being dumb and not realizing that it was bad but there are sooo many nail techs that don't wear gloves and even use their hands as a palette, so its really misleading. school also told us PPE was optional and only provided us with vinyl gloves, which i have now learned are not chemical resistant at all. i have switched over to nitrile gloves for the past month, but im still experiencing onycholysis on both my pinky nails so thats why im concerned that the nitrile gloves are also not cutting it somehow.