UV/LED Lamps

Starting a new hobby doing gel polish nails with a UV lamp may sound advanced, but it really doesn’t have to be! On the contrary, it is fun, rewarding, and enjoyable. While gel nails used to be something you would usually have done by a professional nail technician, brands like Nailster have now made it super easy to create beautiful, long-lasting nails from the comfort of your own home with the help of a nail lamp. What especially sets gel polish apart from regular nail polish is that gel nail polish must cure under UV light and cannot air-dry like regular nail polish can. That is why you need a UV lamp if you want to get started with gorgeous gel polish nails. Please note: our fantastic and highly effective lamp is not designed to be a nail polish dryer, but is instead intended solely to cure your Gel Polish and Acrylic Gel to perfection.

On this page, you will find our high-quality UV and LED lamp. You will find both our classic UV nail lamp and the travel version, which is ideal to pack when you want to make sure you have beautiful nails on holiday. Explore our products and read much more about UV lamps for nails below.

What is a UV lamp for nails?

A UV nail lamp is designed to cure gel nail polish. In fact, it is absolutely essential if you want to work with gel polish at all. It is the light in the UV nail lamp that ensures the polish cures. A gel polish (also called a gel nail polish or a UV nail polish) cannot air-dry, but only begins its curing process when the polish comes into contact with the light from a UV or LED lamp. That is also why many people know the UV lamp as a “Gel Lamp”, "UV nail lamp", or "nail lamp".

If you have ever visited a professional nail technician, you may have seen a UV lamp for Shellac. While Shellac is a patented and expensive product that may only be used by professionals, Nailster has created a range of gel nail polishes that can be used by anyone at home. On this page, you will find our Nailster Lamp Pro, an effective UV and LED lamp for curing your gel nail polishes with 48 watts, a low-heat function, and a built-in sensor that makes the lamp automatically turn on and off when you place your hands or feet inside the lamp or remove them again. You will also find our smaller, smart travel version. If you have not worked with gel polish before, we recommend taking a look at our smart Nailster Starter Sets. Here, you get everything you need to get started with a UV nail lamp.

How does a UV nail lamp work?

While regular nail polish cures through evaporation, gel nail polishes cure with the help of a very special nail lamp. Gel nail polish needs to come into contact with UV light in order to cure. You may have heard of UV light before, as it is the same type of light you also find in tanning beds. There is also UV light in ordinary daylight, just in a much smaller amount than what you find in a UV lamp. That is why it is important not to leave your UV nail polishes in sunlight, as they may slowly begin to cure.

Although the light in a UV lamp is the same type of light you find in a tanning bed, there is not nearly enough light in this kind of lamp to cause burns or make your hand tan. So there is no need to worry about that.

Is there a difference between UV lamps and LED lamps for nails?

A traditional UV lamp for nails contains UV tubes. They are often shaped like a spiral or a U, and just like you see in tanning beds, they wear out over time and need to be replaced. This can be quite inconvenient if you are sitting at home with uncured nails and suddenly need to change your UV tubes. That is why there are also UV and LED lamps for nails, which are built with LED diodes instead of UV tubes. The advantage of using a UV and LED lamp is that the LED diodes have a very long lifespan, and in addition, this type of lamp uses very little electricity. This means you simply need to plug your UV and LED lamp into a socket at home, and you are ready to cure your gel nail polish.

Does it hurt to use a UV and LED lamp?

Some people experience a slight discomfort when their gel nail polish needs to cure. This is because your UV nail polish cures incredibly quickly in a UV and LED lamp, and when the polish cures quickly, heat is also generated. For some, this heat results in a burning and at times painful sensation under the nails. Fortunately, there is a solution to the heat issue: slower curing. The more slowly your nail polish cures, the less heat will be produced, and the less discomfort you will feel on the nail during the curing process.

A slower curing function on your UV lamp for nail polish is commonly known as a No-Burn or Low-Heat function. On some lamps, it is possible to choose the desired power level, while other lamps have a function that ensures the power starts low and then increases in steps until it reaches full strength. This is exactly the low-heat function you will find in the lamps from Nailster on this page. When you start at a low power level and gradually increase the strength of the rays, it takes a little longer to cure the gel polish, but in return, you get curing without any burning sensations.

When should you use a UV lamp?

You need a UV lamp or a combined UV and LED lamp when you want to create long-lasting nails with a gel nail polish. Your base coat, your coloured gel nail polish, and your top coat all need to be exposed to the UV rays. In fact, it is important that you expose the polish to UV rays after every single layer you apply, otherwise you will not achieve the best possible result.

All professional nail technicians therefore have a lamp for curing their gel nail polish, but now it is possible to achieve the same result at home. However, it does require that you have the right polishes and a device to cure them.

Do you need a UV lamp for acrylic nails?

No, as a general rule, you do not need a UV lamp when creating acrylic nails. Acrylic can air-dry. However, if you have a UV lamp, you may want to consider finishing your acrylic nails with a UV top coat to ensure a beautiful finish with long-lasting wear.

How much does a UV and LED lamp cost?

Naturally, there are some costs involved when investing in the necessary equipment to work with gel polish at home. You can find a cheap UV lamp for nails, but the cheaper the lamp, the greater the risk that the quality matches the price. A Nailster UV and LED lamp is available at a very reasonable price, while also offering a long lifespan. That is why investing in a device together with a complete kit for creating gel nails at home can quickly pay off compared to, for example, having your nails done by a professional nail technician.

In addition, a gel nail polish from Nailster costs roughly the same as an average regular nail polish. In return, it lasts up to three times longer on your nails. So in the long run, you can actually save quite a bit once you have invested in the necessary equipment and all your favourite nail colours.

Find your UV and LED lamp at a great price at Nailster

There are countless UV nail lamp tests online, so it can be really difficult to figure out which UV and LED lamp to invest in when you are getting started with gel polish. Don’t worry, you do not need to keep searching. With us, you get an affordable UV and LED lamp for nails that is also incredibly powerful and delivers optimal results. Are you ready to begin your journey towards beautiful nails every day? Then invest in your Nailster kit today and get off to a great start.