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Chapter 29

UV Gels

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copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

“Right now at this very moment we have

a mind, which is all the basic equipment

we need to achieve complete happiness.”

– Howard Cutler

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copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Objectives

• Describe the chemistry and main ingredients of UV gels.

• Describe when to use the one-color and two-color

methods for applying UV gels.

• Name and describe the types of UV gels used in current

systems.

• Identify the supplies needed for UV gel application.

• Determine when to use UV gels.

• Discuss the differences between UV light units and UV

lamps.

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copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

• Describe how to apply one-color UV gel on tips and

natural nails.

• Describe how to apply UV gels over forms.

• Describe how to maintain UV gel nail enhancements.

Objectives (continued)

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copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

UV Gels

• A type of nail enhancement product that hardens when

exposed to a UV gel light; an increasingly popular

method for nail enhancement services

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copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

UV Gel Characteristics

• Rely on monomer liquid (ML) and polymer powder (PP)

ingredients

• Part of the family of acrylates

• Rely mostly on oligomers

– Short chains of monomers not long enough to be

considered polymers and often referred to as

"prepolymers"

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• Traditional gels: rely on urethane acrylates

• Newer gel systems: rely on urethane methacrylates

• Reaction: resins react to UV light

• Photoinitiator: creates polymerization reaction

• Curing: combination of resin, photoinitiator, and curing

lamp

• Requires UV lamp exposure to cure

UV Gel Characteristics (continued)

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• Easy to apply, file, and maintain

• Not as hard as monomer liquid and polymer powder

• Viscosity

UV Gel Characteristics (continued)

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UV Gel Categories

• Clear resin for one-color method

• Pink and white resin for two-color method

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Types of UV Gels

• UV bonding gels: used to increase adhesion

• UV building gels: use thick viscosity resin

• Self-leveling UV gels: provide smoother surface than

self-building gels

• Pigmented gels: include color

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• UV gel polishes: cure in UV light unit

• UV gloss gels: sealing, finishing, or shine gels

– Traditional (with a sticky inhibition layer)

– Tack-free (no inhibition layer)

– Opacity: amount of colored pigment concentration in a gel

Types of UV Gels (continued)

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UV Gel Supplies

• UV gel light unit

• Synthetic brushes

• UV gel primer or bonding gel

• UV gel

• Nail tips

• Nail adhesive

• Nail cleanser or primer

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• Abrasive files and buffers

• Cleansing solution

• Lint-free cleansing wipes

UV Gel Supplies (continued)

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Choosing the Proper UV Gel

• Flat fingernails: thicker UV building gel best

• Arched or curved fingernails: self-leveling gels are best

• Frequent breaks: gel with fiberglass stronger

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UV Light Units and Lamps

• UV lamp: light bulb (most common is 9-watt)

• UV light unit: powers and controls lamp

• Unit wattage: measures how much electricity lamp

consumes

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Gel Polishes

• Most highly pigmented

• Cure rather than dry

• Do not imprint or smudge

while lacquer is drying

• Do not thicken over time

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Gel Maintenance

• Use 180 grit abrasive file.

• Clean nail with recommended

cleanser or 99 percent

isopropanol.

• Remove oils for better adhesion.

• File with a lighter touch than on

ML/PP.

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copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

UV Gel Removal

• Hard (traditional) UV gels: cannot be removed with

acetone; must be filed off

• Soft UV gels: removed by soaking in acetone

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Practical Class

• Pre-Service Procedure

• Post-Service Procedure

• One-Color UV Gel with Gel Polish

• Two-Color Method

• UV Gel over Forms

• UV Gel Maintenance

• UV Gel over ML/PP

• UV Hard Gel Removal

• UV Soft Gel Removal

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copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Summary and Review

• Describe the chemistry and main ingredients of UV gels.

• When would you use a one-color method of applying UV

gels? And two-color?

• What are the types of UV gels used in current systems?

• What supplies are needed for UV gel applications?

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copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

• When should you use UV gels?

• When should you use a building gel, a self-leveling

gel, or a UV gel that uses fiberglass?

• What is the difference between UV light units and

UV lamps?

Summary and Review (continued)

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copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

• List the steps to take when applying one-color UV gel on

tips or natural nails.

Summary and Review (continued)

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copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

• Describe how UV gels are applied over forms.

Summary and Review (continued)

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copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

• Describe how to maintain UV gel nail enhancements.

Summary and Review (continued)

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copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

• Explain how to correctly remove hard UV gels.

• Explain how to correctly remove soft UV gels.

Summary and Review (continued)

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copied, or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

Congratulations!

You have completed one unit of study

toward course completion.