UV gels and UV nail polishes, such as the popular Shellac , are very popular in nail design. These products impress with their color brilliance and good application properties. In the bottle or jar they are liquid to creamy for easy application; curing under a UV lamp gives them strength and is characterized by a long shelf life. This modern type of nail design is possible due to complex physical and chemical processes. For the nail designer, the focus is on optimal working properties and consistent results - so that these product features are perfectly preserved, the correct storage and storage of these modern nail design and modeling components is the be-all and end-all. We'll tell you in our blog post how you can protect your UV nail design products and maintain their top properties for a long time.
3 questions for our nail designer
How do I recognize incorrect storage, how do mobile nail designers store their products correctly and why is appropriate storage so important? Our expert answered 3 interesting questions for us on the topic of “storing and storing UV gels and UV nail polishes” :
Why do you think the correct storage of UV products is important in nail design?
Nail designer Stefanie: “For me , UV gels and nail polishes are my daily work materials. I use high-quality products whose durability and optimal properties I naturally want to maintain for as long as possible so that I can always offer good work, both in terms of application and the result. Furthermore, I would like to be able to reproduce my consistent results, i.e. ensure the quality of my work remains consistent. In addition, inadequate storage presents various pitfalls that can lead to customer dissatisfaction, such as painful hardening in the nail fold or poor durability.”
As a mobile nail designer, how do I ensure the correct storage of my UV products?
Nail designer Stefanie: “I recommend purchasing a special beauty case - these are available in different sizes and on wheels for easy transport. The advantages are obvious, because here the gels and varnishes are protected from the sun and can be stored properly and clearly organized.”
How do I know if I have stored UV gels or UV nail polishes incorrectly?
Nail designer Stefanie: “You should check your jars before use. Incorrect storage manifests itself in different ways, for example if the lid sticks tightly and cannot be opened. It is also possible that the individual components have separated in the crucible and one of them is floating on top of the other. UV gels and nail polishes sometimes smell different when they are no longer good. When you apply it, you notice when something is wrong with a gel; the products are then more liquid or viscous than usual. If the gels or varnishes are no longer OK, you should throw them away and no longer use them.
Honey effect & capillary action: protect the crucible from leaking
“When the liquid UV gels or UV nail polishes come into contact with a solid, the gel smoothes itself out. In nail design, this is known as the “honey effect” and is of course desirable because it makes it easier to apply the gel evenly on the nail. “Unfortunately, the effect also means that the gel “pulls up” on the edge of the jar and the jar can leak as a result,” explains our nail designer Stefanie. This is further promoted if the inner edge of the crucible is contaminated or the crucible is placed on an uneven surface. In physics, this phenomenon is known as the capillary effect. “For this reason, you should clean the edge of the jar before closing the jar and always store the jar upright and on a flat surface - I have reserved a compartment in my work table just for gels,” says our expert.
- Honey effect: Gel or varnish moves smoothly onto the nail (adhesion)
- Gel or varnish can pull up on the edge of the pan (capillary effect)
- Clean the inside edge of the pan
- Always store the crucible upright
- Store crucibles on flat surfaces
Adhesion & capillary effect in nail design
In physics, the smoothing honey effect of nail design falls under the term adhesion. The word describes the so-called adhesion forces of atoms and molecules of different types - for example, the uniform connection of natural fingernails and artificial gel. The adhesion force and its counterpart, the cohesion force, are significantly involved in the capillary effect. This gets its name from the capillaries, which in physics describe narrow gaps or tubes. You can observe this effect in your gel jars: Due to the physical forces that are active between the liquid gel, the solid jar and its lid and the air in between, the gel can escape from the jar through the narrow gaps in the lid if stored incorrectly pull up.
Avoid sun: Protect with UV gels and UV nail polishes
“To protect my jars from leaking, I store them on a flat surface in a drawer - this way I also avoid direct sunlight, which can change the properties of the gel and, in the worst case, harden it and make it unusable,” says our nail designer. For example, sunlight can hit the gels and varnishes through a nearby window. UV gels and UV nail polishes were, as the name suggests, designed to harden under the influence of UV light. This offers the advantage that nail modeling is possible without any time pressure, the products can be processed evenly and still have a long shelf life - nothing dries too early or becomes viscous due to the air.
- Avoid exposure to sunlight
- Store UV gels and UV nail polishes in a dark place
Photoinitiators & UV curing in nail design
So that the UV gels and UV nail polishes are liquid in the jar and easy to process, but only solidify on the nail under UV radiation, they contain so-called photoinitiators. These ensure that connections are formed between the individual monomers and oligomers contained in the gel or nail polish under the influence of UV radiation. In this way, longer and longer chains form until they harden into a durable “net”. The initially liquid products become more and more viscous during this process until no further connections are possible and a solid nail design is created. For this reason, it is particularly important to cure the UV gels and UV nail polishes under the UV lamp according to the package instructions (duration and intensity) for perfect final results: This is the only way the individual parts can be optimally activated and bond firmly!
No heat for UV gel & UV nail polish
“The UV products for nail design, like all other accessories, should not be stored in the immediate vicinity of a heater so that the product properties are preserved,” says our expert. For example, UV gels can become more liquid due to the influence of heat, so they are often harder to apply, run on the nail, run into the gaps in the cuticle and thus cause unpleasant feelings of tension or have reduced durability and poor coverage after hardening. Our expert recommends storing the UV gels and UV nail polishes in a cool place, but not in the refrigerator - this also changes the application properties because the products can become tougher.
- Do not store UV gels and UV nail polishes near heaters
- Warm UV products have different application properties
- Store in a cool place (but not in the fridge!)