UV Product Summary

SalonGeek

Help Support SalonGeek:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
JTB, Your method for determining cure is flawed and will produce incorrect results. Heat spikes are not just proportional to the amount of photo initiators, nor do heat spikes give any indication of how the product is curing, other than “too fast”. This is but one component that must be considered and you are over simplifying things. Heat spikes tell nothing about the degree of cure or the potential for adverse skin reactions from under cured products.
And you are overcomplicating the issues at the same time. Your explanations are basically unreadable to most, so you are not providing useful information. I seriously doubt that you have the proper equipment or training to make the UV measurements that are needed, nor are you likely to have the necessary scientific equipment to determine the rate or degree of polymerization (cure). So you don’t have the basic information you need to develop your own system, yet that is what you are attempting to do when you pick and choose UV gels and lamp combinations.
But it seems your real goal is to thumb your nose at the “systems” approach. That’s ok for you to do, but to encourage others to do so is incorrect and irresponsible in my view. If you end up in court, what are you going to do? What company or expert is going to stand up and say you followed directions? Who will testify that you had the client’s safety in mind? I doubt that anyone would back up the choice you seem to have made for yourself. I would not and would likely testify that you misused the products and intentionally ignored directions.
I do understand the technicalities of theses lamps and chemical systems and have studied them using the correct equipment. I can tell you that you are incorrect to use one lamp with all UV gels. In fact, you are sounding those who sell UV nail lamps claiming they will “work on any UV gel”, simply by altering the cure times. They do that for their convenience, not for the nail techs; just as you are using one lamp for your convenience, and not for your customers. All these nail lamp companies want to do is sell their lamps and they don’t care about proper curing or avoiding adverse skin reactions, which is another risk of using the incorrect lamps. Have you considered that by improperly curing your UV gels, that you increase the likelihood of developing adverse skin reactions? That’s also a problem caused by using the incorrect UV gel with the incorrectly nail lamp and likely why UV gels appear to be more likely to cause adverse skin reaction than other types of artificial nail coating.
So in short, you are incorrect to suggest using UV gel with the correct lamp is just for the convenience of the manufacturers. It would be more convenient for manufacturers if these systems did work with any nail lamp. I wish it were possible to make a universal nail lamp or UV gel, but it is NOT and your suggestion to the contrary is NOT based on fact, but instead, on your own unsubstantiated beliefs.
 
JTB, Your method for determining cure is flawed and will produce incorrect results. Heat spikes are not just proportional to the amount of photo initiators, nor do heat spikes give any indication of how the product is curing, other than “too fast”. This is but one component that must be considered and you are over simplifying things. Heat spikes tell nothing about the degree of cure or the potential for adverse skin reactions from under cured products.
And you are overcomplicating the issues at the same time. Your explanations are basically unreadable to most, so you are not providing useful information. I seriously doubt that you have the proper equipment or training to make the UV measurements that are needed, nor are you likely to have the necessary scientific equipment to determine the rate or degree of polymerization (cure). So you don’t have the basic information you need to develop your own system, yet that is what you are attempting to do when you pick and choose UV gels and lamp combinations.
But it seems your real goal is to thumb your nose at the “systems” approach. That’s ok for you to do, but to encourage others to do so is incorrect and irresponsible in my view. If you end up in court, what are you going to do? What company or expert is going to stand up and say you followed directions? Who will testify that you had the client’s safety in mind? I doubt that anyone would back up the choice you seem to have made for yourself. I would not and would likely testify that you misused the products and intentionally ignored directions.
I do understand the technicalities of theses lamps and chemical systems and have studied them using the correct equipment. I can tell you that you are incorrect to use one lamp with all UV gels. In fact, you are sounding those who sell UV nail lamps claiming they will “work on any UV gel”, simply by altering the cure times. They do that for their convenience, not for the nail techs; just as you are using one lamp for your convenience, and not for your customers. All these nail lamp companies want to do is sell their lamps and they don’t care about proper curing or avoiding adverse skin reactions, which is another risk of using the incorrect lamps. Have you considered that by improperly curing your UV gels, that you increase the likelihood of developing adverse skin reactions? That’s also a problem caused by using the incorrect UV gel with the incorrectly nail lamp and likely why UV gels appear to be more likely to cause adverse skin reaction than other types of artificial nail coating.
So in short, you are incorrect to suggest using UV gel with the correct lamp is just for the convenience of the manufacturers. It would be more convenient for manufacturers if these systems did work with any nail lamp. I wish it were possible to make a universal nail lamp or UV gel, but it is NOT and your suggestion to the contrary is NOT based on fact, but instead, on your own unsubstantiated beliefs.
 
Thank you so much Doug for your response and the time I know it must have taken you to do so.

I for one am eagerly awaiting your next education update in a few days which will discuss Dr. Sayre's recently released information on UV nail lamp safety. I'm sure we will all look forward to reading genuine information from the real experts rather than gobbledygook rubbish from self professed do-it-yourself experimenters.

EDIT ---- Here is the link to the latest article mentioned in my post. VERY interesting ... particularly about only buying the bulbs specified for the lamp ... bulbs are NOT all the same and this article tells you why.

http://www.schoonscientific.com/eblast/eblast_2013-07-10_UV-Lamps-Tested-Found-Safe.htm
 
Last edited:
Thank you so much Doug for your response and the time I know it must have taken you to do so.

EDIT ---- Here is the link to the latest article mentioned in my post. VERY interesting ... particularly about only buying the bulbs specified for the lamp ... bulbs are NOT all the same and this article tells you why.

I agree. Thank you Doug for your responses to threads, I am an avid follower.

Geeg, forgive me for being daft but where is the link?
(I'm not sure if it was coded into one of the words of your response)


Sent from my Nexus 7 using SalonGeek
 
Call it a senior moment Victoria ... thank you for highlighting it for me.

Gotta love those moments, I always blame it on the amount of glitter (I'm certain) I've breathed in over the years making my brain squiffy ;)

Thank you for posting the link :)

Sent from my Nexus 7 using SalonGeek
 
I'm afraid my post might generate a bit of controversy, but here goes...
When I started my business I was using Akzentz, wich is a fab gel, I purchased the entire line (lamps, gels, color, liquids). The lamps came with the Pillips 9W lamps wich I think were the best I've used so far.
When I needed replacements (that i ordered from the Akzentz distributor) the lamps weren't the same. They performed badly and in less than 2 month I was having curing issues. I decided to buy new ones from another supplier and it worked fine. I used each lot for 6 months without any issues.

Recently I decided to switch to Peggy Sage. I was already using some of their color in my existing lamps, however, when I purchased the entire line I replaced the lamps aswell (mine were getting old too). Again the same problem. Bulbs that came with the lamp are ok, bulbs I purchase from them perform badly. Went back to my trustworthy bulb supplier...

And now for my question.
I have bought quite a few diferent lamps before finding this supplier that seems to be what is working best for me.
Why is there bulbs that won't work in my lamps? I can not see a distinctive thing on the package between them. They all say 9W, 365nm, ROHS...
At the shop that I currently buy them, they once asked if my lamp flicker when they turn on, to wich I replied yes. But does this determine? Are there 2 kinds (besides the shape), and what kind is for my lamps?
Thanks in advance.
 
I'm afraid my post might generate a bit of controversy, but here goes...
When I started my business I was using Akzentz, wich is a fab gel, I purchased the entire line (lamps, gels, color, liquids). The lamps came with the Pillips 9W lamps wich I think were the best I've used so far.
When I needed replacements (that i ordered from the Akzentz distributor) the lamps weren't the same. They performed badly and in less than 2 month I was having curing issues. I decided to buy new ones from another supplier and it worked fine. I used each lot for 6 months without any issues.

Recently I decided to switch to Peggy Sage. I was already using some of their color in my existing lamps, however, when I purchased the entire line I replaced the lamps aswell (mine were getting old too). Again the same problem. Bulbs that came with the lamp are ok, bulbs I purchase from them perform badly. Went back to my trustworthy bulb supplier...

And now for my question.
I have bought quite a few diferent lamps before finding this supplier that seems to be what is working best for me.
Why is there bulbs that won't work in my lamps? I can not see a distinctive thing on the package between them. They all say 9W, 365nm, ROHS...
At the shop that I currently buy them, they once asked if my lamp flicker when they turn on, to wich I replied yes. But does this determine? Are there 2 kinds (besides the shape), and what kind is for my lamps?
Thanks in advance.

If you read the report using the link I posted above,it tells you all about the difference between bulbs.
 
I'm sorry if I'm being thick, but is this the report?

Schoon Scientific - Doug Schoon, scientist and nail industry expert provides educational articles

Even after reading the full report I can only get that UV lamp are safe (wich is a great article to show to my clients), and I also found another article by Doug Schoon that compares UVA, UVB and UVC emissions and between tradicional and LED bulbs, but i still haven't found what I was looking for :(
There are so many articles on the site ... But you can also ask him directly on his face book page or through his web site. Go straight to him. He is excellent at getting back and answering.
 
Last edited:
I have a question, how often is everyone replacing their bulbs, because they depreciate over time and then won't cure as well, but you wouldn't wait for the bulb to go out would you like a normal light bulb, thanks in advance.
 
My lamp indicates when a change is needed ... It tells me ... Otherwise you have to keep a tally of hours yourself (which is a complete pain) or wait until you start seeing service breakdown regularly (which is not fair to clients and bad for business).

You should be using the UV lamp that is part of your system of products, in which case your manufacturer should be able to answer your question.

UV lamps vary considerably from one another because so do gels themselves. The bulbs vary ... The amount of UV emitted varies, the distance to the fingers varies.

As for gels, the amount of PI's in different gels varies, the light wavelength for curing varies, most gels are just thinned out gel, others may contain solvents and have a completely different formulation. These things are why you need a lamp that cures YOUR system properly, otherwise you risk over curing or under curing.

There is no such thing as a universal lamp that cures everything.
 
So I've been wanting to start doing ibd just gel? Do they do there own lamp as on there website it just says cures quickly under uv or led light?!? They sell a led light but don't think they sell a uv light? My head hurts....
 
Hi Melissa,
LEDs are a type of UV nail lamp, in fact LED create more UV than fluorescent-style bulbs. No UV curing nail product works with any type of UV lamp. You must use the lamp that the manufacturer has tested and shown to properly cure the product of your choice. I have written many Education Updates on this topic and even a free webinar that discusses these issues, which you can find on my website, DougSchoon.com. Here is an example.
http://www.schoonscientific.com/eblast/eblast_2012-11-29_Understanding-UV-Nail-Lamps.htm
 
Thanks, I had read you previous posts think you misunderstood what I was asking. I think the main thing annoying me is all the misguided info companies give you, and as for the ibd why does it not say "cures under 'our' led or uv lamp " instead of just cures under ' A' uv or led lamp. And on NSI website say their lamp "cures all uv systems" and plenty of other companies say cure shellac and other uv systems. How ate they allowed to say this if not true?! It's made me so mad. I even was chatting in Sally's the other day about girlish and the girl actually said don't get there lamp buy the red carpet kit which comes with a mini led lamp and use that! I couldn't believe it I was so shocked I just walked out without arguing ha! Anyway think I'm leaning towards shellac at the moment. This might sound a really silly question and I'm probably going to be shouted at but do I have to do specific shellac training to order even though I hold a level 2 beauty which includes manicure and a level 3 NVQ in nail services where I trained in gel l&p and fibreglass?
 
Thanks, I had read you previous posts think you misunderstood what I was asking. I think the main thing annoying me is all the misguided info companies give you, and as for the ibd why does it not say "cures under 'our' led or uv lamp " instead of just cures under ' A' uv or led lamp. And on NSI website say their lamp "cures all uv systems" and plenty of other companies say cure shellac and other uv systems. How ate they allowed to say this if not true?! It's made me so mad. I even was chatting in Sally's the other day about girlish and the girl actually said don't get there lamp buy the red carpet kit which comes with a mini led lamp and use that! I couldn't believe it I was so shocked I just walked out without arguing ha! Anyway think I'm leaning towards shellac at the moment. This might sound a really silly question and I'm probably going to be shouted at but do I have to do specific shellac training to order even though I hold a level 2 beauty which includes manicure and a level 3 NVQ in nail services where I trained in gel l&p and fibreglass?

No. You can buy shellac with a manicure certificate and perform it as a treatment. Although there is a shellac course you can go on, very reasonably priced and only half a day..if you wanted to have the certificate for that too.
I have been doing shellac for over a year with a non-branded uv lamp and never had a problem HOWEVER...I finally saved and treated myself to a CND one and I LOVE it!!!! If you can afford it...I deffo recommend investing in one :) xx

Sent from my GT-I9300 using SalonGeek mobile app
 
Thanks! Bought the starter kit with the lamp! Love the lamp xx
 
Hi could you please tell me which is the best led lamp at the moment. I use a ibd uv lamp at the moment. I'm looking to upgrade to uv to cut down curing time.
Sorry if there is a thread on here already I'm using my mobile as my laptop blew up.it's very difficult to work sg on here.thanks 😀

Sent from my D6503 using SalonGeek mobile app
 
Upgrade to led 😀

Sent from my D6503 using SalonGeek mobile app
 

Latest posts

Back
Top