Special lighting devices are used to cure gel polish. Without one of these devices, your gel manicure won’t be finished. Unless you are using a gel-like polish that does not require curing under a UV or a  Light Emitting Diode (LED lamp), you will have to invest in one if you are thinking of creating a career out of your hobby. Well, even if you are just a nail hobbyist, you will still need to have one since, as I mentioned earlier, the process won’t be complete without one.

There are so many variations available in the market when you think about UV and LED lamps that you can use to cure your nails. Most gel polish brands offer a matching UV lamp that you can opt to buy yourself. Some manicures will allow you to use other available brands, or just natural light to cure your nails. But if you would like to optimize your time, you should get a nail lamp that will address specific curing needs.

If you are looking for a guide to help you decide the type of nail lamp you’ll go with, you found the right page.

One of the questions that you may need to consider is whether you will need a UV or  LED lamp. “What’s the difference?”, you may ask. Well, the best distinguishing feature of these two is the curing time. An LED cures twice as fast as a UV nail lamp. It also consumes less energy. With regards to the lifespan of each of these bulbs, an LED lamp surpasses a UV lamps’ bulb longevity. The former is said to last for about 50,000 hours compared with the UV that lasts for only about 5000 hours.

Because of these features, you may have guessed which of these two lamps costs more. UV lamps are cheaper but require to be changed more frequently compared to an LED lamp. However, it is only a UV lamp that can cure any gel polish products. An LED lamp may not be able to cure a CND Shellac.

Another thing that you may consider is the available time that you have. If you are concerned about the time that you will be needing to cure all your nails for each manicure or pedicure session, you might have to consider going for an LED nail lamp, instead. Otherwise, you can opt for the UV lamp and have some money to save.

What would be the most convenient lamp size that you will consider?

Lamps for curing typically come in two sizes — one that fits one hand or both. Those that cost less, usually won’t fit all nails at once. If you opt for this design, you may be leaving your thumbs out during each curing session as the lamp will only fit four fingers at once.

How reliable is the lamp that you are looking at?

You may need to check the brand or manufacturer website to know all the features that the product you are eyeing offers. Does it also come with a warranty? If it does, what kind of warranty does the company offer? How quick are they in responding to queries? Do they accept refund requests? How about customer reviews or feedback? How well do they manage either a positive or a negative feedback?

Does the product offer extra features?

A nail lamp that has a timer, a fan,  an auto on and off feature, what else? Additional features will mean that they will cost more than designs that don’t have these features.

In general, you will be considering these features when deciding which curing lamp to buy: wattage, interior fans, timer, space for the hand, armrest (is it padded or not?), pull-out tray, is it a disinfectable item or not, number of bulbs, and, of course, the price.

For possible options, you may want to check out some of these UV and LED lamps:

1. MelodySusie 12W LED Nail Dryer. Melody Susie’s 12 W LED Nail Dryer is considered Amazon’s best manicure beauty brand. It works well with all LED gel polish brands, including CND Shellac, OPI, Gelish and SallyHansen.

It comes with 4 preset time controls (30s 60s 90s 30min), so you’ll have the option to set the timer as recommended by the gel product manufacturer.

In addition to that, you can cure your nails with less time as the design of this nail dryer allows one to place the whole hand to dry. The manufacturer also offers up to 12-month warranty as well as a friendly customer service at any time.

2. USpicy MACARON 36W Nail Dryer. This nail dryer comes with four LED tubes that will dry your nails instantly and beautifully. It comes with a smart adjustable timer that automatically times each session. You can choose between two timer settings (120s and 180s), depending on the number of coats and the nail polish that you need to cure. It’s easy to use — just plug the dryer and start curing your nails.