Plot

The American dream crumbles when Van Hoang, a Vietnamese immigrant nail salon owner, learns her health problems are due to the chemicals used in her salon.

America loves its unexpected heroines - the women who become the lightening rod that calls attention to wrong doings - the women who unintentionally have found themselves at the center of movements to protect the health and welfare of all Americans. And now Van Hoang joins their ranks. A Vietnamese immigrant and nail salon owner in the blue-collar, Mission District of San Francisco, Van sees her American dream begin to crumble with the discovery that her health problems, which include two heartbreaking miscarriages, are the result of the toxic chemicals in products used in her salon. $8.54 billion is spent annually on nail services in this country, but this is not just about nails. Whether or not they are aware of it, women (and men) apply dozens of harmful chemicals to their bodies each day, none of which are regulated! PAINTED NAILS takes viewers inside the tiny but lively salon, where a culturally diverse clientele made up of working class African-American, Latino, European and Asian customers take a break from the commotion of city life in order to get their nails painted in an astonishing array of colors and patterns. But it's more than just nail polish - they come to be cared for and to feel better about themselves. PAINTED NAILS follows Van as she unintentionally becomes involved in the national fight for safe cosmetics, an industry that has had no oversight or legislation for safety since 1938. In a well-told and beautifully crafted film, viewers will cheer on the shy Van as she becomes a key catalyst in the fight to bring awareness and reform to an industry that touches the lives of nearly every woman in America. Eventually Van's passion for change gives her the courage to testify at a congressional hearing in Washington, DC where, fighting back tears, she pleads with lawmakers, "Please pass legislation so that all cosmetic products, including nail care products, are safe before they are sold to the public; so that we no longer have to work in fear." In PAINTED NAILS, Van's personal story encompasses both the immigrant's journey and one woman's rise to activism in the face of adversity.