Good Morning everyone and welcome back to another Nail Tech Spotlight, where I interview your favorite nail Icons! Today we have a very special guest, it’s our wonderful chemist Vivian Valenty!
Good Morning, how are you today?
Good morning, Calvin! Thank you for inviting me to be your guest today. I feel honored to share my story and perspectives about my life’s challenges and the nail industry.
Oh you are very welcome! I am very excited to have you here today! May I ask how did you start in the nail industry?
I started creating products for the nail industry in 1989 by inventing the first UV Top Coat that dried any traditional polish in six minutes. I sold the patent in 1990 and left the corporate world to focus on manufacturing this Top Coat and creating other products for indie brands.
That is astonishing I did not know that! How has being a bio-organic chemist benefited your brand and influence on the industry?
Being a chemist, I understand molecular interactions and developed a curiosity on how these interactions affect the physical and chemical properties of synthetic materials as well as substances found in nature. I learned from an early age, that every action has a result or consequence. As a bio-organic chemist, I believe that toxins we ingest or apply topically have unhealthy consequences for our bodies. After UV-A radiation (a sort of invisible toxin) became known as a carcinogen, I decided to stop developing nail products which use UV light to solve the long dry time of polish. Instead, I created Dazzle Dry®, a four-step system that air-dries quickly and does not contain chemically reactive molecules which are potential skin sensitizers. My bio-organic chemistry background was also advantageous in understanding and ensuring the ingredients we use have good safety profiles for consumers and are safe to handle by our production crew because they would be exposed to higher concentrations of every raw material we use in our products. Information about chemicals, natural or synthetic, is incomplete, and new information is revealed with the advancement in science. Because of my concern about health, we keep abreast of new studies, enabling us to pivot quickly when necessary.
I think that is wonderful you cared so much about the carcinogens, that you respectfully chose to step away. And very considerate of you as well for your employees, as they do handle large quantities on a daily basis. I don’t think many people remember that about products. Since Dazzle Dry’s creation in July 2007, how much has the nail industry changed?
In 2007, there were no colored acrylics, no colored gels, no colored dips, and no stamping polish. Gelish was launched in 2009 as the first UV gel polish using LED light to emit the UV-A for curing. Shellac followed several months later using CFL nail lamps that were in use to cure the UV Top Coat. With the consumers’ growing concern about UV-A exposure, the CFL nail lamps have now all been replaced by LED lamps (still UV-A emitters). The nail industry and the population it services continue to grow, but a declining number of skilled practicing nail techs poses a current challenge to salons and spas. Gel polish is now also sold to DIY consumers who may not know how to apply and cure the product safely to avoid over exposure to uncured monomer, increasing the number of individuals developing contact allergic dermatitis.
I can see how that could potentially become a safety concern. What is your favorite Dazzle Dry polish?
My color preferences changed over the years. At first, my favorites were Rapid Red and Forever Love. Then I loved the purple shades like Week in Provence and Lavender Parade. I gravitated for a short while to the gray shades Tranquil Gray, Anticipation, and Heartbreaker. Presently I love the blues especially Lotion, Please and Checkmate. While not a color polish, Bare Transform is a must have for me because it acts as a ridge filler and ever since I have it with every manicure, I have not experienced shrinkage from the tips. I use Bare Transform or the original Transform (over two coats of Dazzle Dry Base Coat), skipping the Top Coat when I want a bare manicure look. My manicures last 2-3 weeks on my natural nails, and two months on my toes.
I love all the names of your colors, they sound fun and beautiful! What makes Dazzle Dry so unique in the nail industry?
Dazzle Dry is the first nitrocellulose-free nail polish system that dries in five minutes and wears on natural nails for at least seven days without chipping. We are proud to say we were “clean” before “clean” became a marketing buzzword. The system components (Nail Prep, Base Coat, Lacquer, and Top Coat) individually and together are considered hypoallergenic based on third party clinical testing. We are also unique as a fully integrated nail polish company, meaning, all phases of the product are done in-house from ideation through development, manufacturing, quality control, marketing, and sales.
I love when everything is all in one! making quality is there from start to finish! Looking back on your history as a trailblazing chemist, the year 1971, how did it feel to receive your Ph. D, and what were your future goals, back then?
In 1971, the Equal Rights Amendment has not come to be, and women of child-bearing age had a more difficult time landing a technical position in industry. In mid-1970, lost my $200 per month stipend as a Graduate Research Assistant because I was going to have a baby, and my husband and baby lived on my husband’s stipend for the rest of 1970 until we graduated in 1971. I felt relief when we decided I will be a full-time wife and mother until the family is complete and the youngest is old enough to relate to us what happened during the day. I had no idea of how my future career would be. But from an early age, my goal was to help others and leave this earth a better place for future generations.
My journey to build a career utilizing my education came in 1976 when I started to look for employment around Schenectady, NY where my husband worked for the GE Research and Development Center. GE did not have a position for my background and experience but Skidmore College in Saratoga, Springs hired me as Assistant Professor of Organic and Biochemistry. It was clear to me during my second year that teaching was not for me, so I accepted a Research Scientist position at the New York State Department of Health in Albany, working on blood coagulation chemistry. An unacceptable situation developed there after four years, and my family (husband and children) agreed to let me find an industrial position anywhere in the US. I was hired by Staley Manufacturing Company (now owned by DuPont) in Decatur, IL to work on developing products from corn and soybeans as starting raw materials. That was where I had my eureka moment.
I realized that my talent and passion is in creating products that solve problems. With three patents from my two years at Staley, GE hired me as a Research Chemist in their Silicone Division at Waterford, NY, and I was able to return to the family at our Schenectady home. A year later, I had a patent regarding a polymer with potential use in the electronic industry, and I was tasked to make presentations to all the big players in the semiconductor industry. GE offered me a relocation package to move the family to Phoenix. My husband quit his job of 14 years with GE and set up a chemical consulting company (ANALYZE Inc.) in Tempe. His company was the first tenant at the ASU Research Park. I carried out the UV Top Coat R&D and its small scale manufacturing, and other research work outside of cosmetics, under ANALYZE. We incorporated VB Cosmetics in 1993 as a separate company.
Wow! That is amazing, and it really goes to show that no ones story is alike, and we aren’t always sure of our path. I think you are so amazing for that. Is there anything you still desire to see happen in the future of the nail industry?
My desire is for the members of the industry to become open to respectful sharing and discussion of opinions and new ideas.
I highly agree, we should be very open to what could challenge us but educate us as well. Thanks for letting me interview you, how may nail techs get in touch with you or Dazzle Dry?
Nail techs can DM me on Facebook and Instagram (@nailpolishdoc). Dazzle Dry has its FB page (@Dazzle Dry), IG (@dazzle_dry). For Customer Service questions send an email to orders@dazzledry.com (Please leave one message per issue and be patient as our staff carefully reviews and responds in detail to each request.)
Thank you everyone for joining me today! I hope you all enjoyed this wonderful interview, and until then, I’ll see ya later sweets! To order Dazzle Dry visit the link here.
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