Gel UV/LED lamp recommendations please

[Onynx]

I'm hoping for some advice please😊 I was given a gift of an opi base/colour & topcoat set from somebody who thought I had my own lamp but I don’t. Are there any brands that you recommend/avoid. Will only be for myself so would only be used once a wk or so but from reading it seems some can be harmful to use? Also the prices seem to vary hugely. Am I mad to consider purchasing one?

Gel lamps are designed to be used with the same brand gel polish. If you just use any lamp you risk uncured gel, which you can't tell as it seems cured at 50% cured. Uncured gel can cause allergies which are seriously nasty (Google some images) and once you gave the allergies that's it for life . So if using opi gel polish you will need the opi lamp as no other lamp will work with that brand.

Thanks @Ukelou - I didn't know that. Am I silly to just buy one without any training?

I have a sensationail lamp which I use with Bluesky gel polish and have had no issues with it. Infact the Bluesky polish lasts better than the nail polish that came with the lamp.

You may not have any issues that doesn't mean someone else won't and it not being cured properly doesn't affect longevity. All reputable manufacturers of gel polish should provide a lamp that has been tested in lab conditions to show it cures their gel 100%. There has been a massive upsurge in gel allergies due to uncured polish. There is no such thing as a universal lamp. The curing process is a chemical reaction which depends on the right wattage and wavelength to cure the particular mix of the gel polish. Image of gel polish allergy.

There are differences between the wavelengths used for UV and LED I think, so you need to use whichever your polish specifies. I have a sensationail lamp which I've used with various brands without issue, although as PP says you should strictly use the lamp for that particular brand. I thought OPI was trade only though so I don't think you'd even be able to buy an OPI lamp?

if you use a UV lamp that doesn't cure the gel correctly and the gel is under cured, that will produce under-cured gel dust when you file to remove, This is now thought to be the number one cause of nail product allergies - by experts such as the British Association of Dermatologists and other scientists.

This, and people using different brands of gels and gel polishes in unmatched UV lamps, are though to also be the reason why the number of reported allergies has increased dramatically the past years.

If someone gets a nail product allergy, it is for life. In addition, because similar acrylates are used in dentistry and some bone surgery, this can make some health treatments very difficult.

Everything Ukelou says.

I have a severe allergy to nail products through over exposure to uncured product. It's not pretty. The pictures if my hands would be enough to out you off but sadly I don't have them on this phone to scare you with.

Thanks @Shitonthebloodything & @Ukelou - I really appreciate your advice. I've decided to steer clear & just stick to my regular polishes. I had it in my head that using the lamps too often wasn't great but I had never heard of all the reactions associated with incorrect curing🙈

Id be wary too of using those lamps. Long term effects aren't known. Are there links to cancer from uv light ?