While I generally shun most of same things men in my family have long considered habits of the opposite sex, there is one thing in particular where I break that mold. I have two furry caterpillars that are constantly on a slow march towards each other – my eyebrows. No amount of pulling seems to deter them, and while I admire her work, there can and should only be one person that people think of when they hear ‘unibrow’ – Frida Kahlo. So one of this weekends tasks was to find a place to have them waxed into submission. Going from the suggestion of my roommate, I went to a nail salon just a short drive from the house.

_I don't have much experience to work from, but the salon seemed trendy, clean, a lot of white and modern furniture. Another thing that did not escape my attention was the smell. The minute I opened the door it was like being slapped in the face with a bottle of nail polish. After talking to front desk, I sat down in an overstuffed chair, and noted that I was the only male there. (I suppose that was to be expected though.)

_As the minutes ticked by, I looked over the large room. It had high ceilings, similar to what you would see in renovated industrial spaces. While I did spot one employee wearing a surgical mask, I couldn't help but wonder why. They offer absolutely no protection against the fumes and at best really only block escaping saliva as she spoke. Aside from that single mask, there was nothing that I could see, that was filtering the air in their. And with no open windows or doors, I could see how even this large space could hold such an overpowering smell.

_Nail polish has a long history of being laden with toxic chemicals, and even though laws limit or ban the amounts of things like toulene, DBP and formaldehyde (toxic trio of nail polish) that can be found in polish, many products labeled a ‘toulene-free’ or ‘three-free’ still contain these substances. These types of chemicals can have far reaching health consequences, as some are carcinogens and others are linked to everything from respiratory and skin irritation to developmental and reproductive problems .

_I am guessing that this type of thick, heavy polish odor is fairly common since the other patrons and employees seemed completely unfazed. Since I was already feeling out of place, the overpowering smell did little to make me want to continue to wait. After another ten minutes passed, and I was still quietly waiting, I had decided my fuzzy caterpillars were going to live to see another day. I said goodbye to the folks at the front desk and ‘hello’ to my tweezers.

_Author: K. Gilmore