OH-EM-GEE! Someone KISS Jim for me! This is just about EXACTLY what I've been trying to say about LED lamps verbatim-- but, of course, me not actually being a chemist means I get a lot of nodding and smiling.
Maggie Franklin: Owner & Artist, The Art of Nailz, Visalia CA "Visionary rebel dreamer; obviously way ahead of my time." Maggie Rants [and rav...@nails Magazine Facebook --- On Thu, 9/2/10, Diana Bonn <[email protected]> wrote: From: Diana Bonn <[email protected]> Subject: NailTech:: LED Lamp info from Jim McConnell/info again To: [email protected] Date: Thursday, September 2, 2010, 5:16 AM Mare and Debbie sent a link to this post on the message boards about LED lamps and it is from Jim McConnell (love that guy!!!). Anyway since the subject line said CND Shellac Lamp, thought maybe some of you didn't see the link. Very good info. diana from indiana I thought you all might like this email Jim sent me.... "Hi, I have been asked the question about LED lights and if we are going to sell them a plethora of times and thought I should pass along the following information. Basically, the answer for now is that we will not be selling an LED light and here is the reason: Should I buy an LED light? – Great question on the LED light - I am getting this question a lot! Here is the scoop on LED light units. LED lamps emit a VERY narrow band of UV light - for example a 365 nm light emits from 360 nm to 370 nm. Compare this to a 9-watt UV lamp (about 330 nm to 420 nm and into the visible spectrum of 420 to 720 nm). The intensity of the LED lights is highly dependent upon the type of LED lamp used and the number of the lamps in the light unit. A 4-watt, 4 finger LED light will cure an LED gel well, but it will not cure a gel formulated for a 9-watt compact fluorescent light like ours. However, our 9-watt light WILL cure an LED gel. If I want to make our gels cure in an LED light unit, I need to add another photoinitiator that is active at 35 nm. Here is the other big issue - what if the LED light is a 420 nm light, not a 365 nm light? A UV gel formulated to cure in a 365 nm light will not cure in a 420 nm light unless the proper photoinitiator is used for that light as well! Currently, we use a range of photoinitiators in our gels depending upon if that product is a pigmented (gel polish or white gel) product, a clear product or a product used to create a gloss or shine. The 365 nm and 420 nm LED lights would mandate that we add an additional 2 to 4 other photoinitiators to get our products to cure; moreover, we would then have to formulate the product to cure in a wide array of LED lights (for example, a 1.2, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 12, 15 watt) light unit!!!! ARHHHHHHH!!! How is a chemist to deal with all of those?? Here are a few facts: · Yes, there are LED light units on the market · Yes, some of those LED lights are decent · Yes, LED lights will be the way things will be in the future - eventually saying "good bye" to 9-watt fluorescent lamps · No, LED lights are not economical right now, but they will be in a few years · No, now is not the time to buy an LED light unit - too many changes will be made in the next few years · No, LED lights do not produce enough intensity to REALLY cure pigmented systems (IE: a traditional gel polish). Save your money - buy a good 9-watt fluorescent light unit for now, wait on the LED technology to make a few more strides on intensity, wavelength and curing power. After the LED lights have settled into a proper product, then buy an LED light. Think of the UV lights from 10 years ago as an example. There were 4, 6, 8 and 9 watt lights on the market, but few companies had settles on the proper wattage. 9 watt lights became the proper wattage at about 2005. Why? The answer is simple, they work! LED lights have not settled on a proper wattage yet, nor are they operating at the proper UV wavelength. They really need to be around 340 nm for the UV gels to cure properly. This will happen so just give it time. I thought that this would be good information. If you have further questions, please feel free to ask me. Jim -- Jim McConnell President Light Elegance Nail Products 406 SW Umatilla Ave Redmond, OR 97756 <http://www.lightelegance.com>www.lightelegance.com <http://www.lightelegance.com> <http://www.lightelegance.com> Ph (800) 275-5596 Ph +1 541 686 1887 Fax (541) 686-4225 <mailto:[email protected]>[email protected] -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NailTech" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nailtech?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NailTech" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nailtech?hl=en.
