A Guide To The Perfect Cure

Gel systems are formulated to work under a very specific set of circumstances. When these systems are used correctly and the guidelines are followed, gel services are flawless!

When problems do occur with a customer’s nails, it is almost always because the guidelines were not followed. Manufacturers state specific curing times and have determined which lamps cure their gel polish…their own. When a lamp is purchased, the manufacturer states in the manual that their lamp is to be used to cure their gel only. This places the liability if anything goes wrong, with the nail salon and the nail professional. Period. Except…

When trying to determine how long to cure each gel, you might notice some manufacturers who make only LED lamps specify curing times for an UV lamp. It is perplexing to me how a curing time can be stated for a lamp that isn’t made by the manufacturer and especially considering in their manuals, it states the opposite. A whole lot of monkey business, I’d say!

I have had lamps tested to determine their irradiance. I know it is extremely expensive to have this done. I would find it difficult to believe a manufacturer measured the spectral irradiance of every UV lamp that exists so that they could categorically determine the amount of time it would be necessary to cure their gel that just happens to be formulated to cure under a LED lamp…

If any nail salon owner or nail professional really thought about the consequences of the possibility of something going wrong by not following the directions as the manufacturer’s have stipulated, you would determine it is not worth the risk…nor to you and nor to your customer. I’m just saying.