Frequently Asked Questions

An acrylate allergy is a type IV allergy, also known as allergic contact dermatitis, or delayed type hypersensitivity. What makes this allergy different from others is that no one is born with it. The allergy develops after repeated exposure of the skin to an allergen, in this case, a type of acrylate. Once the allergy has developed, even a small amount can cause a reaction which then appears in the next 24 to 72 hours. Common sources of exposure are UV nail products, dental materials, and industrial coatings and resins.

Acrylate allergy is a contact allergy and that means it affects your skin. If you've been exposed to the acrylate you're allergic to, redness, itching or swelling can appear at the site of contact within 24 to 72 hours. Small blisters, dry or peeling skin, and eczema-like patches are common symptoms of a reaction too. If nail products are involved, nails can start lifting from the nailbed. Reactions sometimes appear somewhere else entirely, like on your face or eyelids. The skin here is thin and sensitive, so even a short touch of your face while wearing nail products can set off a reaction. Want to know more? Read our blog on acrylate allergy symptoms, including photos.

The only way to confirm an acrylate allergy is to get a patch test done by a dermatologist or allergist. During a patch test, controlled test substances are applied to your skin and reactions are read over several days. Because standard testing usually only covers one or two types of acrylates, it's important to request the full acrylate series, which healthcare providers should be able to order separately. The test will most likely include other types of allergens as well, like nickel, formaldehyde, and fragrances. Reactions to any of these can be similar to those of an acrylate allergy. Once your allergy is confirmed, make sure it's added to your patient card, as it can affect future medical and dental treatments.

Acrylates come in many types and forms, and they all carry different levels of risk. That risk depends on the size of the molecules. Monomers are single acrylate molecules, small enough to pass through your skin barrier. Oligomers are a few monomers linked together, less reactive and slightly bigger, but usually still small enough to penetrate the skin. Link even more together and they become stable polymers, the acrylates you'd typically see in skincare, makeup, and haircare products. Their size prevents them from penetrating healthy skin, which makes them very low risk. Plenty of people with an acrylate allergy are fine with polymers, but you do read experiences from highly sensitive people who mention possible reactions to these. There are also different types of acrylates, like cyanoacrylates, methacrylates, and isobornyl acrylate. Having an allergy to one doesn't automatically make you allergic to the others, though some people feel better avoiding them altogether.

Acrylates are all around us, but the important ones to know about are monomers and oligomers. You'll find these in UV nail products, UV lash adhesives, most dental materials like fillings and bonding agents, industrial coatings and resins, including hobby resins. All of these are potential sources of an allergy. Acrylate polymers are the stable and don't cause allergies, although some people have shared experiencing possible reactions to them. Polymers appear in makeup, haircare, skincare, cleaning products, contact lenses, glass frames, resin art, acrylic clothing, paints, tattoo ink, and even bathroom countertops. There are however known cases of reactions to acrylate-based glues in wearables like AirPods, Beats headphones and Apple watches, which should be polymerized, and to residual monomers leaching from glucose monitors.

All UV nail products are built around acrylate monomers and oligomers. They carry the highest risk of a reaction, and cross-reactivity between acrylate monomers is common. If you continue to expose yourself, you risk increasing the severity of your reactions, as well as developing an allergy to more acrylates. Some people who only react to HEMA and/or HPMA do tolerate other acrylates, like isobornyl acrylate or cyanoacrylates. But this is something that should be discussed between you and your allergist or dermatologist after confirming your exact allergens through a patch test. Many people switch to regular nail polishes, which are usually based on acrylate polymers, or fully acrylate-free options like OPI's Nature Strong line.

An acrylate allergy is considered permanent. Symptoms do clear once you eliminate the source of your reaction, although it can take weeks up to months for your skin barrier to make a full recovery. Even when your skin looks healed, it can still be more reactive than usual for a while. If it's your nails that have been affected by a reaction, they can take up to 6 months to grow back strong and healthy. Sometimes people find reactions appear milder after avoiding their triggers for a long time, but that doesn't mean the allergy is gone. Reactions will most likely get stronger again with repeated exposure.

The acrylate ingredient scanner works with a photo, a screenshot, or an ingredient list you paste in. It uses AI (Anthropic) to recognize the ingredient names, and match typos, foreign names and unofficial names to the official INCI name. From there our own system takes over. Every name is looked up in our cosmetic ingredient database, and ingredients with a CosIng entry are linked to it in your result, with an explanation of what the ingredient is. Acrylate recognition is built into our code from our own research, with each hidden acrylate added individually. The result never comes from AI

The acrylate ingredient scanner uses our own database, built on CosIng, the European Commission's official cosmetic ingredient database. For ingredients with unclear composition, we have used CIR safety assessments, ECHA, ChemIDplus and PubChem to identify hidden acrylate-based chemistry. Manufacturer documentation and patents that reproduce official INCI definitions serve as supporting sources.

The scanner uses AI (Anthropic) for one step, recognizing ingredient names in photos, screenshots, or pasted text, and putting them in the correct format our database uses. It also filters out any typos, name variations and languages, so it won't easily miss a possible allergen. From there our own system takes over.

Yes, within the ingredient scanner you can take a photo or upload a screenshot of any product label, from a website or a product you're holding in a store. The recognized ingredients will always appear in the answer, so you can review them and see for yourself if it missed anything or something came through wrong.

Sometimes ingredients get an unknown or a simple question mark. This can happen with trade names, blends that do not list their components, or with names that are too general (like "medical-grade adhesive" or "resin"). Acrylates can't be ruled out with an unknown result. Ask the brand or seller what the ingredient is, or request an SDS.

The scanner is accurate as long as the ingredients came through correctly, which is why we would always recommend looking through the recognized ingredients in your result. This is most important with photos, and with pasted text that might contain typos. We built in a safety net for misspellings, so something like "acylate polymer" is usually still identified as an acrylate, while a scanner searching for exact matches would simply miss it. Uncovering hidden acrylates is, however, ongoing work for us, sometimes slowed down by limited published data on ingredients with a generic INCI name, like polyquaterniums and polyurethanes, or ingredients listed under a trade name.

No acrylates found means that nothing in the list you scanned appears in our acrylate database. Acrylate-free, however, doesn't automatically mean reaction-free. And if the ingredient list came from a website, there's always the risk of webcopy error or regional differences in formulas. That's why we always recommend double-checking the ingredients on the actual product, and patch testing new products by using a small amount and waiting a couple of days before committing to a full application.

The free version of the scanner only checks for acrylates. If you switch to Premium, you can add more ingredients for the scanner to check under Profile > Allergen profile. You can pick one from the dropdown or add a name yourself. An added ingredient is matched by that name only. That works differently from the acrylate check, which is based on our own research into acrylate-based chemistry, including the hidden ones. If the same ingredient also appears under other names, you need to add them separately. If they share a part of their name, you can add that instead.

Whatever you scan is processed in real time rather than stored. If you're signed in you can choose to save a scan. A saved scan stays in your account until you delete it. Everything else disappears once you have your result. The ingredient names go through Anthropic's API for recognition, where nothing is used for model training. Every scan is counted to keep track of your daily limit, but that count holds no ingredient data. Your data is never sold, used for advertising, or shared beyond the services in our privacy policy.

Please let us know. You can reach us at contactus@acrylateallergy.com. Send us the product and the ingredient list you scanned, and what the result was. If possible, please attach a screenshot of the conversation. Together we can keep the Acrylate Scanner accurate and up to date.