Death by Manicure: The Case of the Poison Polish. Dr. Robert T. Spalding Jr.

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Death by Manicure: The Case of the Poison Polish - Dr. Robert T. Spalding Jr.


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sterilization, sanitation, bacteriology, anatomy, physiology, ethics, salon management, and state law. Then another 100 hours of chemical instruction on product knowledge, ingredients and usage of materials, manicures, pedicures, and EPA and OSHA requirements. Plus 350 hours of physical instruction on massage, manicures, pedicures, nail care, nail artistry, nail wraps, sculptured nails, nail tips, gel nails, and nail safety. So it was definitely not something to be entered into lightly.

      In the summer of 1980, between her sophomore and junior years, Athena went to school and formalized her manicuring career. At that time the industry regulations were a little different and Athena’s license required 250 hours.

      As a result of dogged perseverance in her younger years, she was now proud owner of SPAthena Healthy Pedicures in Houston. The company motto was “HEALTHY PEDICURES HAPPY FEET.” Now with 33 years of experience and extensive training, Athena safely restores beauty to the hands and feet of her clients and enhances their self-image and confidence. Even after all these years, she still felt good about her career. She had made a decision that she didn’t regret.

      Over the years, media coverage had uncovered many medical complications and even deaths that had occurred as a result of improperly sterilized salon equipment in salons that perform unsafe services. The staff at SPAthena were wise to this, and their emphasis on sterility went toward them winning a Best of Houston 2008 “BEST SAFE PEDICURE” award. Athena made sure that SPAthena ensured that clients received safe care through the use of hospital-level sterilization of implements and consistent sanitation throughout the environment. Items that could not be placed in the autoclave were discarded after every use, and Athena made it known that if anyone disregarded this rule it meant immediate action.

      SPAthena’s policy had always been to care about clients with special health concerns and communicate with their health care provider when necessary to obtain special instructions and medical history. It required a little extra time and paperwork, but Athena had proven that it was worth it. This distinguishing service ensured that individual clients received a safe, quality spa service in a relaxing environment without the possible health risks associated with many salons that had not familiarized themselves with the need for additional caution or were too greedy to spend the money necessary to make their salons and their practices as safe as possible.

      A fantasy of Athena’s was that one-day she would own a chain of SPAthena’s all across the country. Her clients would be primarily doctor-referred and she would specialize in clients with diabetes. She wouldn’t actually work in any of her franchises, but she could picture herself flitting between them. And when she showed up at one of her salons she would be treated like royalty and no one would dare disobey the queen when it came to the rigorous standards she had set.

      One of the people that Athena formerly admired in the nail industry was a guy called Sharpie Toon. In certain circles Toon was considered to be the king of nail salons in the United States with over 900 of businesses. Many of these franchised nail salons were in Wall-Marks across the nation. He additionally owned Wheat Nail Supply, which made nail tips for nail polish brushes and manufactured whirlpool pedicure footbaths. Add this to the huge Spegal nail salon franchise, and you have what can rightly be considered an empire.

      Athena didn’t envision anything on that scale for herself. Her feet were kept firmly on the ground, but she always thought that it would be nice to have a few more salons. She thought that having 10 salons or possibly an even dozen would be good. Then she could flit about between them and get to travel the country. Her goal was to gradually be able to afford to put in fewer hours but still rake in a sizeable cut of the profits. This was a career that she was committed to however, and she could never see herself retiring. She knew that she would always want to continue practicing for as long as she was able and still had the flair that was uniquely hers.

      But while reaching for her dreams, she wasn’t afraid to take chances – one of those was starting her own radio talk show. With a rush of success, her business was launched in a whole new direction and soon she was the owner of Nail Talk Radio. Nail Talk Radio was a weekly web-based radio show dedicated to all things nails. Athena and her business partner/co-host Naja has fun on the radio each week but took the idea of representing nail techs and the industry very seriously.

      Given enough time, Athena knew she would reach her goals. She had already stamped a name for herself. After all she was the first in the United States to be certified as a Medical Nail Technician (MNT). Athena Elliott had mastered the comprehensive and practical techniques required to perform safe and sterile pedicures. Her salon in Houston exceeded the criteria set by the industry. With an in-depth knowledge of the anatomy and structure of the foot, skin/nail diseases and disorders, and diabetic foot syndrome, Athena was fully trained to provide safe pedicure services.

      A Medical Nail Technician is an individual who is a state licensed nail technician that has completed additional advanced classroom or online training and has worked under the direction of a podiatrist to practice advanced concepts with actual patients under the podiatrist’s direction. Nowadays, even MNTs could be nationally certified through a prestigious podiatry association. Whilst she honed her skills to perfection, she knew that no one could accuse her of being selfish. After all she was so committed to the idea of safety that she had helped to open successful salons for others.

      With a goal in mind, even in sight, Athena was hoping to add to her collection of awards today. As a certified medical nail technician she was no stranger to awards, but she maintained a modest philosophy – while not denying that winning awards had helped to bolster her career, she placed greater value on knowing one’s self-worth. In her meteoric rise to the top of her trade she had never turned her back on those that helped her and never trampled over anyone to get ahead. Athena was also big on putting something back into the community. Her ethos, although she hated to actually use it given the nature of her work, was “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” She was always willing to help aspiring nail technicians, selflessly setting herself up as what she referred to as a "fem-tore" (female mentor.)

      Athena delighted in the atmosphere around her. It gave her a certain adrenaline lift like no others, yet after about a few hours of running her booth. She heard the first of the announcements she had been waiting for. All the booths were to shut down for 30 minutes while the first phase of the awards began. She quickly put away anything that someone else might covet, checked her hair and makeup quickly with a little hand mirror, and then joined the flow of people moving toward one of the largest banqueting halls where awards were to be announced. Her efforts and certain advancements over the past year, of course, did not go unnoticed by the industry.

      As the final model finished strutting her stuff and left the stage, a middle-aged man with a bad comb-over and wearing a tacky tuxedo with velvet collars, took the stage. He fanned himself with an envelope to signify either that the model was hot, he was hot (either generally or because of her) or both. He then went up to a microphone at the podium only to make the rookie error of getting too close causing that very irritating high pitch noise, although that may have been deliberate.

      “Ooh, that’s rather temperamental isn’t it, much like me these days,” he quipped making the mic noise seem more like a set up for his patter. “Hello, everyone. I’m Chuck Harris,” he then said heartily and paused as if anticipating a rapturous reception.

      After a pregnant pause there was some token applause echoing around the place more out of embarrassment than anything else. “Thanks, son, I knew I could rely on you,” he said and roared with laughter, as he spotted one of the few clappers in the audience. The stranger’s polite enthusiasm quickly vanished as the speaker picked him out for recognition.

      Harris had all the smarm of a TV station anchorman, Athena thought as she watched his feeble efforts to handle the event. His teeth were so bright that one almost needed sunglasses to cope with the glare. And he had a smile that was about as real as artificial sweetener. He tossed off a few more lame quips that he’d rather unwisely written himself and that were no more witty than “hot enough for ya?” and he also threw in a few below the belt references to some of the models. A couple of the show’s organisers were visibly cringing, but the show went on regardless. After all, Harris was Harris and he was always at this event.

      Owner


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