Round-Up of Some Wonderlust Nails Treatments

 Full set of Swarovski Crystal Toes

OPI Axxium Extensions in French

ASP Extensions in Cool Red

Full Set of Rockstar Nails in Silver Holo

Full Set of Rockstar Nails in Silver Holo

Swarovski Crystal Twinkle Toes and Full Set of Bling!

This week my Swarovski Crystal Nail competition winner came over to claim her prize and she had fully loaded big toes with a few accent crystals on the remaining toes which looked lovely. I used the OPI Axxium DS Radiance as the colour gel on top of the base gel which is often the preferred choice for those who don't have a full set.

Later on in the week I did another full set of toes, but this time I used OPI Axxium overlay gel which is the file off system. This client was about to go on holiday so needs something really hard wearing and long lasting. This system should certainly do the trick.

Nail Mythbusters - Can I use a 36 watt UV lamp instead of a 9 watt UV lamp for curing colour gels?

The Experiment: Can I use a 36 watt UV lamp instead of a 9 watt UV lamp for curing colour gels? 

I did a ton of research into whether I could do a set of colour gel nails with a 36 watt lamp instead of the recommended 9 watt. I purchased new colours without thinking and then had a last minute panic about whether I would cook someones hands or feet, so I did an experiment. I figured that there must be other nail technicians out there who had wondered the same thing. Here's the result:

In order to make it a better test I tested the 36 watt lamp on two different brands, ASP from Sally's and my lovely faithful OPI Axxium  Soak-Off Gel Color. I also decided to use myself as the test subject as I would be able to tell quickly if there was a problem or if something wasn't right. 

I started off with the gel base coat. The curing process seemed normal and worked well. There were no adverse effects so I continued top the first colour layer. Again, no problems or areas for concern so I continued to the second layer of colour. I started to feel more and more confident that this was going to be a success, but the true result would only be realised once I had completely finished the set so I added the clear top coat and then wiped of the excess once all steps had been completed. The result was fabulous, just the same if I was doing a set with the OPI Axxium File-Off system which actually requires the 36 watt lamp.

I would be really interested to know if anyone has tried a 36 watt lamp on the OPI GelColor range. I'm going to be offering this shortly but I want to know whether I have to spend a fortune on the OPI LED lamp or whether I can use my 36 watt lamp for this as well. When I'm doing mobile nails in the local area, I don't really want to have to be draggin around more than I have to, as nail tech's out there will know that we need a lot of kit!

Important note: As mentioned in a previous post, I like to think of myself as an OPI purist and would always recommend that you do your research when using a different lamp. These are my personal experiences and I would always try to use the suggested lamp. I needed to try this experiment as I had a set of nails to do but didn't have time to get a 9 watt lamp. I now have a 9 watt lamp and would use this unless I absolutely couldn't for some very good reason.