Nail curing lamps are specially built lamps used for curing or hardening gel nail polish. They are built with a compartment that is either wide enough to fit four or five fingers at a time. There are two main types of lamps available online or from nail supply stores. Lamps with either light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs, or ultraviolet (UV) bulbs. Both light sources are efficient when it comes to curing gel polish and are widely used by novices and professionals alike.

If you’re new to gel nail polish, you may be wondering which lamp to buy so here’s a breakdown of the main differences between the two.

LED technology is widely used around the world in many devices and more and more for lighting. LED is used in mobile phones, television screens, aviation lighting, and advertising display boards just to mention a few applications. In nail lamps, LED bulbs will never need to be changed as they last up to 50,000 hours. Considering the typical amount of time required to cure gel nail polish which ranges from 10 seconds to two minutes, the maximum amount of time the lamp will need to be on is around 10 minutes which means the bulb in your LED lamp could last a life time.

UV nail lamps are cheaper than LED lamps and cure gel polish with the use of UV bulbs. If you’ve ever used a tanning bed, then you’ll be familiar with UB bulbs. It is worth mentioning that the bulbs in lamps aren’t anywhere as powerful as those of a tanning bed. Tanning bed lamps are usually around 240 volts compared to the bulb in a nail lamp that only carries 36 volts. Although not as powerful as the lamps in a tanning bed, UV bulbs tend to generate a lot of heat as well, therefore only UV lamps with timers should be used for curing nails. As UV lamps have become widely available, cheaper versions are being manufactured which sometimes don’t have timers, leaving the nail technician to manually time the curing time. This poses the risk of your hands being left under the lamp for two long.

The choice of lamp used is highly dependent on your budget. LED lamps are far more expensive than UV lamps, however because their bulbs never require changing, money can be saved in the long run. UV bulbs on the other hand don’t last forever and will require constant changing, depending on how often it is used. Regardless of how little the exposure is to UV rays, the risk of cancer cannot be completely ignored. The risk is far lower than it is with constant use of tanning beds, but it is still present.

The brand of gel nail polish will also determine which lamp to buy. Brands like Bio Sculpture can only be cured using a UV lamp, while brands like Shellac and Gelish can be cured using both LED and UV lamps. Before purchasing a lamp, always check with your gel polish manufacturer what light sources can be used to cure their polish.

This is an article by Sue Robinson who writes more about applying UV gel nail polish and manicures.

This is an article by Sue Robinson who writes more about how to apply gel nail polish at http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-use-uv-gel-nail-polish-at-home

Author Bio: This is an article by Sue Robinson who writes more about applying UV gel nail polish and manicures.

Category: Computers and Technology
Keywords: nail curing lamps, UV gel polish, UV gel nail polish, Shellac, Gelish