Acrylic nail extensions are no longer in trend. He was replaced by a new direction in manicure - shellac coating. The technology of its application is quite complex and involves the use of a special lamp for drying gel polish.
UV (or UV) lamps for drying gel polish
A feature of gel polish, or shellac, is that it dries exclusively in the light of a lamp. They are of three types: ultraviolet (UV), light-emitting diode (LED) and gas-light (CCF). Each of them has its advantages and disadvantages.
UV lamps appeared earlier than others, but so far they are popular among manicure masters. An important indicator of this device is power. It depends on how quickly the shellac on the nails dries. Each instrument contains one or more fluorescent lights. The power of each of them is 9 watts. In accordance with this, the UV-device with the marking 9W consists of one lamp, 18W - of two, 36W - of four, and so on. By the way, in the last shellac will dry in just a couple of minutes.
Professional UV (ultraviolet) lamp comes in different sizes, which allows you to dry one hand or two at once. A big advantage is the presence of a timer, which is set for a specific drying time.
UV lamps have one significant drawback. They have a harmful effect on the eyes, as well as dry the skin of the hands and adversely affect the nail plate.
LED lamps
More modern lamps are based on ultraviolet light emitting diodes. With their help, shellac dries in a matter of 10-30 seconds. They are superior in power to UV lamps, which saves time on manicure.
In general, the principle of operation of both devices is identical. After processing the nail plate, including special antibacterial agents, a base layer of shellac is applied. Then for 20 seconds, the nails are dried in a lamp. After that, a color coating is applied. In the next step, the nails are dried again under the lamp. After that, the last layer of shellac is applied. The nails are again irradiated with a lamp, after which it is necessary to remove the remains of shellac and treat the cuticle with oil.
LED-device does not have harmful effects on the eyes, does not dry the skin, has a longer service life. But there is one big minus.
LED lamp does not dry all gel polishes. This must be considered when buying the device.
The differences between the lamps. Which one to choose for work?
Each of the lamps has its own characteristics of work, advantages and disadvantages. To choose which one is better, you need to know how these devices differ from each other.
- In a UV device, a fluorescent light is used as a light source, and an LED lamp is used in an LED device. The first type has a shorter service life, quickly burns out, so it requires additional costs for the replacement of burned-out elements.
- Unlike UV, the LED lamp dries the varnish much faster in a matter of seconds, but not all gel varnishes freeze under it. Here is its main drawback. This is due to the fact that the polymer in the composition of shellac begins to harden only when it receives ultraviolet radiation. But the wavelength range of the LED lamp is much smaller, so the shellac of individual manufacturers dries unevenly in it or does not harden at all.
- UV lamps with low power (up to 18 W) act very slowly. Therefore, often the bottom layer does not have time to completely dry. As a result, the coating, which should be kept on the nails for at least two weeks, cracks after a few days. The best option for a professional lamp is a 36 W device.
Since UV lamps are harmful to the body, and LEDs do not dry all types of shellac, experts recommend purchasing combined lamps: LED with gas light, "2 in 1". Any polymer hardens well in it, and the drying time ranges from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. The only drawback of such a device is its high price.
UV lamp: reviews
And now we learn the opinion of novice manicure masters and professionals about this device. Reviews indicate that it dries well shellac. To harden one layer, you need up to 5 minutes of free time. But this is only if the lamp power is at least 36 watts.
For weak appliances, drying times require several times more. A 9 W lamp dries one layer of shellac for about 30 minutes. Thus, you will have to spend about 3 hours on a manicure at home. In this case, one big drawback must be taken into account - the device has a negative effect on vision.