Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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NICOLE HARVAT, ATTORNEY: "I LIKE TO KEEP MY NAILS LOOKING NICE. I DO A LOT OF WORK WITH CLIENTS. I CERTAINLY DON'T WANT TO HAVE DIRTY LOOKING HANDS AND UNCUT FINGERNAILS."
Attorney Nicole Harvat has been getting manicures and pedicures for as long as she can remember.
But this last time she got more than she wanted.
"MY BIG TOE ON MY RIGHT FOOD WAS LOOKING REALLY YELLOW AND DISCOLORED. PART OF THE NAIL CAME OFF, THEN. I ASSUMED I PICKED UP SOME KIND OF FUNGAL INFECTION FROM THE PEDICURE."
Last year the New England Journal of Medicine reported that more than a hundred women developed a skin infection from contaminated whirlpool baths at a single nail salon. And that's not all.
Laurie Shiers Cutie Kit: "IF THEY CUT YOUR CUTICLES YOU CAN GET ANYTHING FROM HEPATITIS B OR C, PEOPLE HAVE GOTTEN STAPH AND STREP."
Valerie Moizel-Hatton/ Cutie Kit: "BASICALLY I HAVE THIS HUGE PHOBIA OF CATCHING AN INFECTION OR A DISEASE AT A NAIL SALON, SO I WENT OUT AND PURCHASED SALON-QUALITY TOOLS AT A PHARMACY, AND TOOK THEM TO THE NAIL SALON."
It's an idea that's catching on.
Valerie Moizel-Hatton and Laurie Shiers are co-creators of the Cutie Kit, a personal set of tools to take along when you get your nails done.
The kit has it all... nail clippers and cuticle nippers, nail buffers, files and your own pumice sponge, even toe separators for the trip home. It's just the ticket for nicole.
"IT TAKES UP TOO MUCH TIME TO DO MY OWN NAILS, SO I'M READY TO GO BACK WITH MY OWN KIT. I'M OBVIOUSLY A LITTLE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT MY HEALTH AND MY SAFETY, SO IF THEY DON'T LIKE IT, I'LL GO FIND ANOTHER MANICURIST."
The Cutie Kit sells for $35 and is available on-line and at some beauty supply stores.
