When I first researched at-home gel polish, I, like many of you probably have, had to decide between a UV lamp or an LED lamp to cure (the way you set) the gel polish. This choice can be really expensive or pretty affordable, cheap even. I remember when I searched for info the best thing I could find was a little specs chart with a side by side comparison of the two. I still don’t know who originally created that chart but I see the same one floating around and I’m guessing it’s getting “borrowed” extensively. Today I was going to post a comparison of the two but I decided not to because since my initial search this has become old news! Instead, I’m going to talk about what other people are saying about this topic in general, to help sort through the truth and the half-truths. Gossipy of me I know. But that’s the job of the average consumer. Who likes to waste time and money?
In my earlier post 5 Reasons to Try Gel Color I shared the lamp I went with, and my happiness with it. It didn’t seem like a complicated life decision at all because it just worked. No fuss. Google search “LED vs UV lamp” and you’ll get plenty of results, but they say different things. Sometimes they say opposite things. Uh oh.
Here are the selling points that made me go with LED:
- Quicker curing time
- Longer lasting bulbs and no bulb replacement. If it dies, you need a new lamp, not replacement parts
- Didn’t have UV in the name (more on this shortly)
It seemed like a win-win situation. The only con of an LED lamp that I care about as a customer is that not all polishes are compatible with it. UV on the other hand is compatible with all gel polishes. This turned out to be a little con. I’ve found most gel polishes I’m interested in work with LED as well. It’s probably in the best interest of any gel polish company to make polish that works with both lamps. This is one of the “features” they usually emphasize so that people know they aren’t buying the wrong polish. Another potential con was that LED is more expensive, but that’s old news too and now I have one so it’s certainly not anymore!
Most of the posts out there in the world wide web get the above simple characteristics right, or at least there’s consensus, but they have differing “facts” about UV light exposure. NOT having UV in the name, made me feel better about going with LED, and many will say you can avoid it altogether with an LED lamp. I’m guilty of thinking this is how it worked. But if you dig a little deeper and find some references with some scientific backing, you’ll find they both have UV light in some form. In fact it looks like in the light industry some call it UV LED light. So what does this mean? None of are safe! Panic! Nope. I’m still loving gel polish, maybe instead of just sunscreen on my face everyday I’ll also put it on my hands once a week or two. The studies released say one of two things. One, the exposure is negligible, or two, LED is the lesser of two evils. They actually don’t even say evil. They don’t even say bad. It’s more like a “no-no” fudge brownies are a sometimes food, not an every day food. So my mind is made up. LED light is to my (exquisitely gel polished) hands, as chocolate is to my diet.
MINIGOODY 