LED lamp that will cure several brands?

[Marli]

Hi,

Can anyone recommend an LED lamp that will cure a number of different products - Gelish, Shellac, Gel II etc. I am aware that each company insists that only their lamp will cure with each product but I'm assuming some people offer more than one brand and have just one lamp? I want to try out a few brands before I settle on one. I cannot afford to purchase several lamps to test new products. Appreciate any help / advise. Thank you in advance

 

[Sammy.J]

I've got the gelish 18g led and I use gelish, ibd, daisy gel, gellux, nsi, orly fx Never had a problem with any.

 

[Marli]

Thanks so much for the reply. Has anyone else used the Gelish lamp successfully with Shellac?

 

[Jenna@secretgarden]

I have the cuccio lamp and use orly fx. I don't believe you can only use a certain branded lamp with the corresponding product surely they are all the same ? I always cure for 60 seconds anyway even if it only requires 30

 

[Marli]

Thanks Jenna

 

[attitude]

Please do some research. All lamps are not the same and do not have the same output, bulb placement or strength.

Eta. Curing longer doesn't mean cured correctly.

 

[Stook]

I wonder if this might cause insurance issues too? Worth checking x

 

[DONSLJ]

I 'think' it only causes insurance issues if the brand specifies only their lamp will cure as opposed to desirable to use all same branded products, ie CND shellac you can only use their lamp to cure else. X

 

[Beauty by Roo]

I have cured everything, including Shellac with my Gelish LED lamp...no problems at all xxx

 

[lisa pink]

I asked my insurance company about this they told me as long as your qualified and follow the correct procedures and it's the correct power you can use any make lamp X

 

[noreenoconnor]

I asked my insurance company about this they told me as long as your qualified and follow the correct procedures and it's the correct power you can use any make lamp X

correct procedures will involve using the correct lamp for your chosen system

 

[noreenoconnor]

I think this topic can get very confusing for new nail techs so I'm going to try and break it down and make it as simple as possible.

using a brand specific lamp is not a marketing ploy to get you to buy more from a company it is the only way to ensure a safe treatment.

every lamp will emit a different wavelength and intensity of UVA light, and every gel will require a different wavelength and intensity of UVA light. A gel product will APPEAR full cured at only 50% cured, the only true way to tell if a product is 100% cured is in a lab. Manufacturers have already done this, and this is why they will specify a particular lamp. Wattage has NOTHING to do with the curing it's simply how much electricity that lamp needs to run, forget about wattage it's not important in the slightest!

For nail companies that say you can use any generic lamp, they tend to be generic uv gels in that a lot of the brands are made in the same factory and put into different bottles and sold as different brands but are often the same formulation.

to use the wrong lamp on a gel puts you and more importantly your client at risk of overexposure. This will lead to both service breakdown, and adverse skin reactions including becoming permanently allergic to gel. Insurance companies know this, and that's why if you read the small print they insist that you follow correct procedures / manufactures instructions to the tee. THIS MOST DEFINITELY INCLUDES THE CORRECT LAMP!

 

[NancySyd]

Not to get into the whole lamp debate again, I think it's worth remembering that if your manufacturer specifies a certain lamp, that is what is required to remain within manufacturer's instruction and maintain insurance coverage. Some brands are rather lenient about what LED lamp to use - Cuccio, for example only says "Cure in a LED lamp," LeChat says the same. OPI says, "If you have an OPI LED Light." But CND has been very clear that only their lamp - LED or CFL-UV - should be used with Shellac. while other brands are likely within a similar bandwidth, Shellac's hypoallergenic quality has meant that it has used fewer and different photoinitiators than other brands and it is unlikely to cure properly in other lamps.

Remember, gel gets hard at about 55% cured; a proper cure is 95%+. Some people think they've cured CND Shellac in other LED lamps, but the truth is, they really don't know since there is no easily accessible way to ascertain a proper cure. Since clear and light colors cure easier, what often happens is that the base coat cures fully, the color coats cure partially and the top coat cures, sandwiching in uncured gel. It looks properly cured, but it isn't, and it leaves the client (and the tech) exposed to uncured gel.

 

[Makenna]

There's a brilliant article in the latest edition of Scratch magazine. Doug Schoon explains why lamps can't cure all gels, and the problems that can arise if you try.

 

[tan-tents]

I have noticed the nailstar 12 watt LED lamp being sold exclusively on amazon at £24.99 claiming o be compatible with all Gels including CND Shellac, Bluesky, Gelish, OPI
Is this really possible ?

 

[AcidPerm]

I have noticed the nailstar 12 watt LED lamp being sold exclusively on amazon at £24.99 claiming o be compatible with all Gels including CND Shellac, Bluesky, Gelish, OPI
Is this really possible ?

Do you believe everything you read?

 

[BobSweden]

I am really impressed with some of the posts here. It is absolutely correct that gels are hard enough to file when only 50% to 55% cured. This is why many NT think that their UV lamp is curing, but in reality if it is not matched to the gels it probably isn't fully curing. There are three ways to test if a gel has cured, and all of them involve scientific equipment.

Now apart from the fact that different UV lamps, generate different levels of UV illuminance (brightness) - it's worth asking the question how a factory in China would know what kind of photo initiator and how much, is in all the hundreds of different gels on the market. There is no industry standard for the type or amount of photo initiator - chemists adjust this depending on what performance they want the gel to have. For example, a brand may decide to have less PI and use a brighter UV lamp.

Some years ago we tested 14 different UV lamps of different types. Some used 9W bulbs, some CCFL and a few LED's. All were rated at 36W and a couple were 48W - now that is the amount of electricity used and is not a good measure of brightness, but you get the idea. The difference in brightness was really wide - and the brightest UV lamp was a 36W version - the 48W lamps in comparison were average. Some lamps were really poor.

Years later, I found a article published in a scientific magazine where a team of researchers did the same test, visiting multiple salons and testing 17 different UV lamps using a UV meter. Not surprisingly, their experience was the same as ours