ok. everyone on here that uses gels knows that the lights are rediculously expensive. I bought a used 9 watt off ebay and I've got a kit for the ECO gel system. I was planning to play with that to get my practice in before i offer it to clients. Question is, am i going to need a different light for every system i play with until i settle on one? why are there so many different wattages of lights and how does the amount of wattage affect the curing of the gel? is using a 32 watt faster and more efficent than a 18 watt or can you use an 18 watt for a longer amount of time and achieve the same results? I really dont want to talk to the companies because every company wants to push thier product and thier light so i feel thier opinion is biased... what do ya'll think?
gel lights..whats the difference?
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brittone05
Well-Known Member
I think it is dependant on the UV output of the bulbs as opposed to the wattage of the lamp but I am by no means in a position to say for definite hun. Being trained with CND, would you not stick with thier products and use Brisa with the Brisa lamp?
Envy
Well-Known Member
Wattage simply means amount of energy used by the bulbs -
It actually has no relevance to the UV output of the specific bulb/ powersupply combination. In truth the only way to know is with an expensive UV light meter than can read the output.
Each gel system has it's own formula of UV initiators (the reactant that starts the cure when exposed to UV light) and this should be balanced to the amount of UV exposed by their lamp. This is why every company will 'push' their lamp. It's the only thing they can gaurantee will work. Otherwise you are playing chemist effectively...
I know in the case of BRiSA there is very few initiators - this is to reduce the chance of heat spike and produce a slower more consistent cure without overcure. Overcuring leads to service breakdown and yellowing. Therefore the BRiSA lamp was tested with a ridiculous number of combinations to produce the exact lamp that was able to cure correctly...
A powerful lamp 'should' cure most gel systems, however you will never know if you have over cured or even cured properly... and of course the stronger the lamp the greater the heat spike chance ..
As a CND ambassador hopeful you will need to know this and far more - I would strongly urge you to purchase Doug Schoons product chemistry and nail anatomy edition 2 - it explains a lot of this in depth...
hope that helps
It actually has no relevance to the UV output of the specific bulb/ powersupply combination. In truth the only way to know is with an expensive UV light meter than can read the output.
Each gel system has it's own formula of UV initiators (the reactant that starts the cure when exposed to UV light) and this should be balanced to the amount of UV exposed by their lamp. This is why every company will 'push' their lamp. It's the only thing they can gaurantee will work. Otherwise you are playing chemist effectively...
I know in the case of BRiSA there is very few initiators - this is to reduce the chance of heat spike and produce a slower more consistent cure without overcure. Overcuring leads to service breakdown and yellowing. Therefore the BRiSA lamp was tested with a ridiculous number of combinations to produce the exact lamp that was able to cure correctly...
A powerful lamp 'should' cure most gel systems, however you will never know if you have over cured or even cured properly... and of course the stronger the lamp the greater the heat spike chance ..
As a CND ambassador hopeful you will need to know this and far more - I would strongly urge you to purchase Doug Schoons product chemistry and nail anatomy edition 2 - it explains a lot of this in depth...
hope that helps
thank you. I chose the ECO kit because of the environmental thing. Its popular right now and i want to offer that choice to my clients (that and hubby got it free from school 
)
I have worked with brisa before and i had good results however i just simply can't afford the amount CND wants for the light. I will look into that book. I've been meaning to for some time now and it keeps skipping my mind.
If there is no way to be sure of the amount of cure that you have, is it possible to use the same output lamp even if its not the brisa lamp? i have a lamp at one of my shops but i'm not even sure what the output is on it. My boss bought it a while back but i don't know what system she had in mind when she purchased it. we don't do true uv gels at either shop i work at.
)I have worked with brisa before and i had good results however i just simply can't afford the amount CND wants for the light. I will look into that book. I've been meaning to for some time now and it keeps skipping my mind.
If there is no way to be sure of the amount of cure that you have, is it possible to use the same output lamp even if its not the brisa lamp? i have a lamp at one of my shops but i'm not even sure what the output is on it. My boss bought it a while back but i don't know what system she had in mind when she purchased it. we don't do true uv gels at either shop i work at.
NoLimitNails
Well-Known Member
I don't know about the Eco products (can't find any other than that acrygel thing when I google it)
But If you wan't to be eco friendly CND isn't the worst at all, I'm sure either one of the Sams or Gigi can explain better, but I seem to remember something about CND also being a green company...
About the gel, yes the lamps for Brisa is expensive, but I think you get so much from it, Especially I'm in love with the lamp because it tells me when to change the bulbs. I never have to remember when I put them in, or worry that my gel is undercured. The gel itself I love because it contains less of those ingredients that causes allergy, and it never yellows, and stay put on the nail. It's easy to work with and have beautiful colors.
I myself tried a few gels, before comming back to Brisa for the same reason as you, but I couldn't find one that did the same, looked so great or stayed on even after the first few rebalances...
But If you wan't to be eco friendly CND isn't the worst at all, I'm sure either one of the Sams or Gigi can explain better, but I seem to remember something about CND also being a green company...
About the gel, yes the lamps for Brisa is expensive, but I think you get so much from it, Especially I'm in love with the lamp because it tells me when to change the bulbs. I never have to remember when I put them in, or worry that my gel is undercured. The gel itself I love because it contains less of those ingredients that causes allergy, and it never yellows, and stay put on the nail. It's easy to work with and have beautiful colors.
I myself tried a few gels, before comming back to Brisa for the same reason as you, but I couldn't find one that did the same, looked so great or stayed on even after the first few rebalances...
ValencianNails
Positivity rules!
thank you sandi, that is a great article. I guess it boils down to how to i test each kind of gel without having to buy several lights? I've got catalogs from bio and i know the brisa line, and i also have the ECO kit. to many choices
Karen, ECO is created by Star Nail/Cuccio/ASP company. The gel they have can be used to create calcium nno gels, regular gels, acrygels, and it includes colors with and without soak off choices. They even offer the powder gel, but its cured with a UV light, which i am curious about.
Karen, ECO is created by Star Nail/Cuccio/ASP company. The gel they have can be used to create calcium nno gels, regular gels, acrygels, and it includes colors with and without soak off choices. They even offer the powder gel, but its cured with a UV light, which i am curious about.
Would there be any reason not to buy a cheaper lamp and then replace the bulbs with the recommended ones. Having done some research this would halve the initial outlay.
ValencianNails
Positivity rules!
Bulb placement within the lamp is hugely important. It seems to be (from what I've seen) that the more you invest in your lamp the better it is, mainly because of the research from the manufacturers that goes into making sure we get the best cure possible for each lamp and its respective gel.Would there be any reason not to buy a cheaper lamp and then replace the bulbs with the recommended ones. Having done some research this would halve the initial outlay.
:green:
