QuestionI would like to purchase a professional nail dryer for home use- I want one that will do reg. nail polish and if I choose to do a UV top coat will do that as well.
Can you give me some advice in what to look for? timers, light streght, fans, uv, etc... I have seen lots for sale and I am confused as to what would be a good one for me.
Rhonda
AnswerHi Rhonda!
I will start by saying the fans really do not do a thing except dry the top coat but the under coats are still wet. Kinda like when you cook pudding and it forms that skin on top same principal.
When choosing a UV lamp for your gel do you go for one with 36 watts or 9 watts?
The answer is... neither, you choose a lamp that is suited and/or recommended for your particular gel system.
The wattage doesn't actually have much to do with the curing power of the lamp; it's the UV Output of the bulbs that cure the gel. You can get different amounts of UV light from bulbs with the same wattage!
The shape of the bulb and the placement of the bulb in the lamp also make a difference to its effectiveness.
The wattage refers to the amount of energy consumed when the lamp is being used.
When the photoinitiators in gel react with the UV light they cure... it depends on the speed of the photoinitiators as to how much UV light they need to cure. Slow photoinitiators take a lot of UV light to cure; faster ones need less UV light.
If you use a lamp that isn't recommended for your gel system then the chances are that you won't get an optimum cure, therefore you're risking potential over exposure from under cured product, excessive exothermic reaction (aka heat spike), service breakdown, brittleness of product from over curing, weaker enhancements and/or yellowing of gel.
Just because the gel looks cured doesn't necessarily mean that it is cured. You won't ever be 100% sure that you're going to get the best out of your chosen gel system without the correct lamp.
It makes sense to use a UV lamp that has been designed specifically to give you optimum cure for your gel, this gives you peace of mind in the knowledge that you're not risking overexposure to your clients by allowing them to have gel that might not be fully cured (even if it looks cured), knowing that service breakdown will be minimal (if any at all) and not down to using products and equipment that haven't been scientifically tested to work together.
When companies invest shed loads of money into design, chemistry, technology etc of products and equipment it makes sense to use them.
Hope this helps. Good Luck
Amber
