So I bought this kit: Sensationail Starter Kit

We'll see if it's any good at all I hope so! Right now I've got my eye on an OPI Bubblegum color if this kit shows up and works as it should. I'll keep you all posted

which lamp did you get?

Hey Laurie!

The kit comes with an LED lamp so we'll see how that goes.

Hi!!

Excellent deal!

An LED lamp for $45?!?! Dang! I paid over $400 for mine!

Not to make Sparklee feel bad, just to chime in, Walmart has a light for $25. It says "LED", I didn't look closely.

I have read on a nail forum that the big issue with the LED lamps is wattage. Many of the cheaper LED's only have 12W and that will result in longer curing times.

I bought mine a few years back when gel polish only started to be come a big thing. I guess since it's become so popular companies are now producing more lamps at a cheaper price, and that's not a bag thing. At that price if it only lasts a few months it's cheap enough to buy another!!

I'm wondering if it's going to be a problem like THIS.

When I originally bought my mini Gelish kit from Sally Beauty Supply, I bought the LED lamp that NailHarmony makes for it - a little wee thing, not the $400 real deal (the stores don't carry that in stock here). I tried 4 manicures, and had to up the curing time each time. After it failed at even 10 minutes per coat... I gave up and returned it. It was just a smeary gross mess no matter what I did.

If you ladies are getting incredible deals on LEDs... we need a review of how well they work please!

After seeing this thread yesterday and the cheap LED's, I looked around on other forums and it seems that may be a problem. Like I mentioned previously, it's a wattage issue.

The great things about LED's is the quick curing times. I get 10secs for Foundation gel, 20secs for light colors, 30 for my darks. Top coat comes in at 30secs too. I've read that some ladies had to cure the darker colors like Bella's Vampire for almost 2 minutes!! That would make it roughly the same time as a UV lamp.

Ultimately, I don't suppose it matters how long it takes, as long as that is not the reason why you bought an LED in the first place.

Another thing to keep in mind for those buying LED's, is that it will not cure some brands, ie Shellac, LeChat, Gelac, EZFlow Gelez, NSI, and a few others but I don't remember them now, but if you're just sticking with the brand that comes with the light, you should be fine.

And yes, I'm also interested in how the cheaper ones work as I'd like to buy one for travel........

I figure give it a try You get the kit for $45 and if the light doesn't work as well as it should then you can always buy a better one. You would have had to do that anyways if you bought everything individually. And, if it works then you only paid $45 for the whole kit which is pretty sweet No loss as far as I can see....