UV gels should only be cured using the UV gel lamp or lamps specified by the UV gel manufacturer.

LED style nail lamps emit much more UV than fluorescent-style UV nail lamps and these levels may be too much for traditional nail coating products unless they are specifically designed for LED lamps.

If a UV nail lamp was not specifically designed for the UV gel being used, over curing is a very real issue that can lead to injury and harm, so I would warn against doing this.

Many things can go wrong when nail professionals don’t use a nail lamp that properly cures their UV curing products. That’s why I recommend only using the nail lamp that is specified by the manufacturer of the UV product.

The Key to Proper UV Gel Curing: Compatibility with Specific Lamps

It doesn’t matter if a company makes the nail lamp, especially for the UV gel, what matters is if the UV gel is formulated specifically to work with one (or two) lamps. No UV gel can be formulated to properly cure with any nail lamp, no matter what type of nail lamp it is. Some mistakenly think that so-called “dual lamps” will properly cure all types of UV gels, but that is a false assumption. As I’ve pointed out in other articles, both the wavelength range AND the intensity of the wavelengths are very important to ensure proper cure and no one lamp can properly cure all UV gels.

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Question:

I’ve read your reports and understand that UV nail lamps are safe for my clients. But, what should I tell someone with a history of skin cancer?

Answer:

This is a great question. I talked in detail about the safety of all nail lamps in another question.  Scientific evidence shows these lamps are safe as used. Some clients are likely to remain skeptical and may wish to cover the back of their hands with an opaque cloth or other material. That’s OK! There are a variety of solutions. I’ve seen special UV-blocking disposable gloves, which are now sold to salons that are extraordinarily effective at completely blocking UV. Of course, a 15+ SPF broad spectrum sunscreen will also virtually eliminate UV exposure. In the case of a client with a previous history of skin cancer, I’d recommend any of the solutions above which will block UV exposure and should give this person peace of mind. Since this is likely an ongoing medical issue, they should seek the advice of their physician before considering an activity, indoor or outdoor, that involves UV exposure, including UV nail services.

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There are many contributing factors to ensuring you get a ‘proper cure’, but many are mistaken that wattage is the indication of how ‘good’ a nail lamp is. Watch the video above where Doug will explain.

Wattage and watts are not the same thing as brightness or intensity. Both LED and traditional style nail lamps consume electricity. And electricity is measured in watts, but the light emitted is measured in lumens.

Wattage = Electricity used per second, so as you can see, wattage will have no indication that you are getting the proper cure for your products. Always follow the manufacturer’s guidelines and purchase the lamp that accompanies your system, only then can you be assured that you are using the best and correct lamp for your products.

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Thank you for your question! It is a good one.

‘Overcure’ does not mean too long in the lamp. Once a coating is properly cured it will not cure any more. All but a small percentage of monomers have polymerised. The few that are remaining cannot move around anymore to form polymer chains, but they will not be a problem during removal.

This is why it is fine to keep replacing the nails in the lamp for further layers. So, in this sense you cannot ‘overcure’. Also, nails are in daylight and sunlight and this will not affect it for the same reason.

What ‘overcure’ means when thinking about the ‘proper cure’ is when the polymerisation process is too fast, and the exothermic reaction (heat) can be felt and possibly burn the nail bed.

This can happen if a UV lamp that is not matched to the UV gel system is used so the UV energy is too high. Or it can happen if the coating is too thick so the level of monomers in the process is so high that the heat can be felt. Or it can happen if the nail plate is very thin making the nail bed sensitive.

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Question: Are UV lamps safe?

Yes, they are absolutely safe! Several high-quality scientific studies performed by world-leading experts have demonstrated that UV nail lamps are safe – and that includes the new LED-style and the older Fluorescent tube nail lamps. They aren’t safe by accident, they are designed to be safe, for example they only emit UV-A which is the safest part of the UV spectrum, and emit no UV-B or UV-C.

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