It is essential to dry gel polish after painting your nails. Besides the traditional ways of drying nail polish, today, most people make use of a nail lamp, which is known to do the best job. There are different types of nail lamps in the market nowadays, so have to be careful when buying one for your use.
Type of Gel
Gel polishes in the market are either UV or LED. The difference is in the photo-initiators used to manufacture the gel polish and how they react to curing. UV LED lamps are double light-emitting beads that emit curing light covering a range of UV light bands. This means it can cure every kind of polish gel.
Curing Speed
Nobody wants to buy a lamp that will take longer to dry the nails. The speed should, therefore, be a significant contributor when buying a nail lamp. UV lamps are relatively slower compared to their LED counterparts. This is because UV lamps operate within the broad light spectrum; thus, it takes longer to cure and dry your nails. On the other hand, LED operates in the narrow light spectrum that makes it cure and dry the polish in a short time.
Different brands of lamps come with different speeds. Speed is a variable of other factors, but you also need to check the lamp’s preset time controls before you buy it.
Size and Convenience
Some nail lamps will allow you to cure one hand or feet at a time while others allow you to cure them at the same time. The latter would be very convenient for those who want them cured at once. It is, however, almost impossible to get such lamps. Most accommodate only one foot or and at a time, which increases the manicure time. Large nail lamps may not be convenient to carry around between manicures. A portable and light nail lamp is more suitable for use.
Cost
Everyone has a different budget they are willing to spend on a nail lamp. LED lamps are costlier that UV nail lamps, but they guarantee you more safety than their UV counterparts. You can, however, get combined UV LED lamps at reasonable prices. If you can get a lamp with the best features at a reasonable price, do not hesitate to go for it. It is advisable to go for the UV LED mixed lamp since it will allow you to get both the functionality of LED and UV lamps.
Lamp Wattage
The curing time is related to the lamp wattage. Nail lamps come with a wide range of wattage from 12W upwards. Lamps of higher wattage will have a faster drying time as well as efficient curing. The lamp wattage is a vital factor when choosing a nail lamp to buy. For UV lamps, ensure you go for nothing less than 20W, while for LED lamps, a 12W lamp is good enough.
If you are looking to purchase a nail lamp, then ensure you take the above considerations into account.