Is LED the better UV for curing your gel polish?

UV or LED? This question is not entirely correct. The answer can be a simple “yes”, because LEDs can also emit UV rays.

Read on and find out the exact meaning of "LED" and "UV" so that you can have a say and understand exactly which lamp you use in your daily work for curing Shellac or gel products.

"UV", "LED" & What they REALLY mean for Nails

The difference between LED and UV seems to be very simple, but you can quickly get lost here, because UV and LED describe two very different concepts on different levels. At Chemist Corner number 3, you will learn the difference from Light Elegance chief chemist Jim McConnell.

Watch the video now!

Light is a wave

Light consists of energy waves. As with waves on the ocean, these waves can be smaller or larger. When we talk about UV light, it's about a very specific size range of these waves. This range is divided again into smaller parts.

UV-A, B and C

There are three parts of UV light: UV-A, UV-B and UV-C. Which of these areas a light wave belongs to depends on the distance between two peaks of this wave. This distance is measured in nanometers because these are very small distances. 1,000,000 nanometers fit in one millimeter.
Depending on these nanometer intervals of the waves, the UV light is divided into UV-A light waves. These range from 320 nanometers to 380 nanometers. The UV-B range is 280 to 320 nanometers and UV-C is 100 to 280 nanometers.

LED = light emitting diode

LED is a special type of light bulb. The abbreviation LED stands for light-emitting diode. LEDs can emit different types of light ( waves). This can be UV light or another visible range of light waves.

UV lamps

Fluorescent tubes, which are also called UV curing lamps, emit UV-A rays just like the LED curing lamps. With UV lamps, the light waves are simply longer than with LED lamps. The light from a UV lamp (color 10) is filtered so that nothing under 340 nanometers is emitted. In this way, carcinogenic effects, irritation and DNA changes are to be avoided.
LED lamps are also the newer generation of lamps and offer many advantages when compared to UV lamps.

Type of light and type of lamp

As a nail designer, you always work with UV light, even if you use an LED lamp. LEDs, on the other hand, are a type of light source that can emit different light (waves).

Jim McConnell is co-founder and head chemist of Light Elegance. He has a degree in chemistry with a minor in mathematics, physics and biology. In the Chemist Corner, he shares in a simple and entertaining way what is included in your nail design products and what you should avoid when choosing them.