Which lamp to buy?

[NatCas]

Hello

Was just wondering which lamp everyone uses for curing gel polish please?

I only offer gel polish but offer a few different brands, IBD, Orly etc, I would preferably like LED as that is what I have had previously.

Is there a good all rounder out there that I can get to cover the brands I offer rather than buying brand specific?

Thanks

 

[tuan]

You have to use the lamp of that gel brand, or the gel will not cure properly.

 

[Shauna06]

You have to use the lamp of that gel brand, or the gel will not cure properly.

It may not cure properly, some products cure fine with other brand lamps.

 

[Ony]

The gel may or may not cure properly with an off-brand lamp and as no one has carried out the appropriate testing we will never know which it is. What we do know for sure is that your insurance will be invalid if you use anything other than the recommended lamp for your system so better safe than sorry IMO.

 

[c.mrsm]

Information I got through Graftons about IBD is that if your using an led lamp it will cure as for normal led times. However if it's UV they cannot specify curing times. I use a Cuccio Pro led lamp for my IBD, I have not been able to find a supplier of an IBD lamp anywhere hence I managed to get this information x

 

[tuan]

It may not cure properly, some products cure fine with other brand lamps.

Gels will become hard under any nail lamp, but there's a difference between "properly cured" and "cured." You can over cure or under cure, leading to problems. The only way to properly cure is to use the LED light of that brand, since the gel will be specifically formulated to work with that lamp.

Brands other than OPI, Shellac, and Gelish are no good. They will lie to you about how their products work. Because you can't cure properly by mismatching lamps and gels. Its impossible.

It's already been tested by the people who formulated these products.

 

[BobSweden]

LED-UV lamps now come in several variants:

1. those that cure at 405nm UV wavelength - these were the original LED-UV lamps designed for gel polish
2. dual band LEV lamps, that cure at both 365nm and 405nm. These have been on the market for around 1 year (although we tested one 3 years ago) and claim to have the advantage they can cure hard gels designed for UV bulb lamps, and the newer 405nm UV compatible hard gels and gel polishes.

However, as others have said it is so simple. UV wavelength is important, but so too is the "brightness" of the UV - how much UV energy falls on the fingernail - this is called UV Illuminance.

Different UV and LED-UV lamps generate different levels of UV Illuminance and that affects effectiveness of curing. This is because lamps have different designs.

In addition, there are hundreds of different gels and gel polishes on the market, and they use different photoinitiators that require 365nm or 405nm UV light, but also a specific amount of UV Illuminance.

A simple analogy would be trying to cure hundreds of different cake recipes each with different yeasts and amounts of yeast, in an oven whose temperature you can't control.

So the UV or LED-UV lamp has to be matched to the brands gels. This has to be tested in a scientific laboratory. If the brand decides to change their UV / LED-UV lamp, they may have to adjust the formula of their products to make sure they cure correctly. Or if they have mega bucks, have a lamp designed for their gels. This is why serous companies only offer one type of UV / LED-UV lamp. Its too costly to support more.

If the lamp and gels aren't matched, you can get heat spikes, nails that lift or fall off, or developed an allergy due to under cured gel dust.

 

[Trinity]

LED-UV lamps now come in several variants:

1. those that cure at 405nm UV wavelength - these were the original LED-UV lamps designed for gel polish
2. dual band LEV lamps, that cure at both 365nm and 405nm. These have been on the market for around 1 year (although we tested one 3 years ago) and claim to have the advantage they can cure hard gels designed for UV bulb lamps, and the newer 405nm UV compatible hard gels and gel polishes.

However, as others have said it is so simple. UV wavelength is important, but so too is the "brightness" of the UV - how much UV energy falls on the fingernail - this is called UV Illuminance.

Different UV and LED-UV lamps generate different levels of UV Illuminance and that affects effectiveness of curing. This is because lamps have different designs.

In addition, there are hundreds of different gels and gel polishes on the market, and they use different photoinitiators that require 365nm or 405nm UV light, but also a specific amount of UV Illuminance.

A simple analogy would be trying to cure hundreds of different cake recipes each with different yeasts and amounts of yeast, in an oven whose temperature you can't control.

So the UV or LED-UV lamp has to be matched to the brands gels. This has to be tested in a scientific laboratory. If the brand decides to change their UV / LED-UV lamp, they may have to adjust the formula of their products to make sure they cure correctly. Or if they have mega bucks, have a lamp designed for their gels. This is why serous companies only offer one type of UV / LED-UV lamp. Its too costly to support more.

If the lamp and gels aren't matched, you can get heat spikes, nails that lift or fall off, or developed an allergy due to under cured gel dust.

I think I'm a little bit in love with you Bob

 

[NatCas]

Information I got through Graftons about IBD is that if your using an led lamp it will cure as for normal led times. However if it's UV they cannot specify curing times. I use a Cuccio Pro led lamp for my IBD, I have not been able to find a supplier of an IBD lamp anywhere hence I managed to get this information x

Thank you, this is the problem I have had, I cannot find an IBD lamp in the UK. Do you mind me asking, what is Graftons?

 

[c.mrsm]

I still can't find one, Graftons supply a huge selection of IBD and used to sell their lamps but she said they aren't any more. I've just rang my insurance company as this is really bugging me, they said I am covered to use any led lamp with my IBD. So it's not ideal, I'd rather have an IBD lamp, but I am insured. This is one of the biggest beauty insurers in the industry btw x

 

[NatCas]

I still can't find one, Graftons supply a huge selection of IBD and used to sell their lamps but she said they aren't any more. I've just rang my insurance company as this is really bugging me, they said I am covered to use any led lamp with my IBD. So it's not ideal, I'd rather have an IBD lamp, but I am insured. This is one of the biggest beauty insurers in the industry btw x

Thank you, I think I may do the same, my insurance is through Salon Gold so I will ring them as well and explain the situation and hopefully they will say the same as yours. I, like you, would like to have a brand specific lamp but if one cannot be sourced I don't see what we can do. I already have a large selection of IBD colours which would cost me a fortune to change to another brand and quite frankly I don't want to as my customers are all extremely happy with IBD. If they are happy to insure me using a different LED lamp then I need to figure out which is best to go with. x

 

[c.mrsm]

Yeah me too, I have a big range now and it's just not that simple to swop which costs a fortune to invest in and I love IBD. I just don't think it's so big in the uk as places like the USA. X

 

[NatCas]

I still can't find one, Graftons supply a huge selection of IBD and used to sell their lamps but she said they aren't any more. I've just rang my insurance company as this is really bugging me, they said I am covered to use any led lamp with my IBD. So it's not ideal, I'd rather have an IBD lamp, but I am insured. This is one of the biggest beauty insurers in the industry btw x

I have just contacted my insurer and explained the situation, they confirmed the brand of lamp I am using does not effect my cover. Happy days.

 

[c.mrsm]

Yay !! If I ever find an IBD lamp il let you know!

 

[NatCas]

Yay !! If I ever find an IBD lamp il let you know!

Thank you very much, same here.