Help with OPI Gelcolor?

[sparkles-nails]

I trained yesterday with OPI, i have been doing bio sculpture for 2 years so not a newbie, today i done 3 sets and every time, at the end when i wiped with nas99 the colour came off round the sidewalls and cuticle area, could it be because i'm using my bio lamp? i did everything i was supposed to and thin coats. Frustrated!:sad:

 

[Moo Moo]

I cant help with the lamp I use the OPI LED lamp but also if the top coat does not fully cover the colour coat I was told in training the colour not covered will come off on the wipe.

 

[NancySyd]

I trained yesterday with OPI, i have been doing bio sculpture for 2 years so not a newbie, today i done 3 sets and every time, at the end when i wiped with nas99 the colour came off round the sidewalls and cuticle area, could it be because i'm using my bio lamp? i did everything i was supposed to and thin coats. Frustrated!:sad:

Although I know that wattage is not necessarily a measure of output, I would suspect that a BioSculpture LED lamp which is 12 watts would not properly cure OPI GelColor which is generally cured in a 40 watt LED lamp.

 

[sparkles-nails]

i am using the bio sculpture uv lamp, do u think an led would be better? i did train with the led but the trainer said it doesn't matter? i cant afford the opi lamp, does anyone have any suggestions on a lamp to buy? x

 

[emma84]

I have a uv lamp I bought a few years ago from my wholesalers, I've changed my bulbs 3 times ( as it's had major usage ) I found with Gelcolor it's all about the bottle shaking lol some colours definitely need a good 90second shake ( bingo wings be gone lol ) x

 

[EmJ]

I use OPI from time to time in my led lamp and had the same problem at the start, as has been said, lots of shaking and make sure the top coat covers. I found it quite hard to get on with if I'm honest!!

 

[natalie_MUA]

I believe the curing time should be longer under uv... Not the 30 seconds that you get with the opi lamp. It says the conversion times in the book I think? If not I wrote them down so I can find them for you if you like? I think it was 1 minute, 2 minutes and 3 minutes or something like that? If you want me to dig out my book I can?

 

[NancySyd]

In my GelColor instruction booklet from OPI it gives cure times for the OPI LED (30 secs each layer) and the OPI Axxium UV light (1-2-3 mins for base, colour and top). It then says "Cure times may vary with non-OPI UV lights." If you are using a non-OPI LED, I still think it has to be somewhat comparable in terms of wattage. I was able to find that the OPI LED lamp is 40 watts. I know that the Gelish 18g works on OPI GelColors and its wattage is 36. As for UV lights, the Axxium light is 18 watts, so again, something comparable should work.

 

[willowrose]

Not a big deal but just to clarify the Gelish 18g is 36 watts. 18 x 2 watt led lights :biggrin:

 

[NancySyd]

Not a big deal but just to clarify the Gelish 18g is 36 watts. 18 x 2 watt led lights :biggrin:

You know, that's exactly what I thought (!), and I brought that up here, but they used to advertise it as 32 watts. I thought it was maybe something I wasn't getting. You can still find ads that have it at 32 watts. I am glad to see it changed.

18G LED LAMP LED Lamps Gelish Gel Polish

 

[gemmalou1981]

I found this constantly with opi gelcolor until I ran out (bottle lid not on properly, leaked) while doing my own. I decided to take a risk and used an ibd just gel top coat and no colour on wipe and it lasted loads longer xx