In our newsletter advice column, Ask the Strategist, we answer your most burning shopping questions by surveying friends, calling up experts, and drawing on our own personal experience. But we liked this recent edition so much we wanted to share it with all of our readers. To get the next edition in your inbox, sign up here. And if you have an online-shopping question of your own, please send it to [email protected] with the subject “Ask the Strategist.” We’re here to help.
I get a gel manicure almost every three weeks. I’m really good about wearing sunscreen to protect my skin when I’m outside, but what about the lamps at my nail salon? Are the LED lamps safer? Should I be wearing those fingerless UV gloves? Please advise!
As someone who also gets frequent gel manicures, I was eager to get to the bottom of your questions (for your sake and mine). Before we get into the nitty-gritty, I think it’s essential to understand how gel polish and curing lamps actually work. I spoke to Dr. Noëlle S. Sherber, a board-certified dermatologist and co-founder of Sherber + Rad, who says UV wavelengths of light are used to cure gel nail polish, which causes it to harden and adhere to the nail. If you’ve visited more than one nail salon over the years, you’ve probably noticed that there are two common types of curing lamps: UV and LED. UV lamps primarily emit UVA rays (a form of UV radiation); meanwhile, Sherber says, “LED lamps use light-emitting diodes with a higher percentage of visible light than traditional UV bulbs, resulting in less — but not zero — UV exposure.” Regardless of the type of lamp that your nail technician uses, you’re right to wonder about protecting your wrists, hands, and fingers from these glowing machines.
“While the amount of UV radiation emitted by these lamps is relatively low, frequent or prolonged exposure can add up, increasing the cumulative UV dose to the skin,” says Dr. Hope Mitchell, a board-certified dermatologist and founder of Mitchell Dermatology. “This could potentially contribute to skin damage and raise the risk of skin cancer, particularly if proper precautions aren’t taken during nail treatments.”
Those precautions, according to both experts I talked to, include wearing UV-protection gloves to shield your skin, whether you’re getting a gel manicure at a salon that uses a UV lamp or one that has LED lamps. Sherber told me that when it comes to choosing a pair of UV-blocking gloves, it’s important to find ones that have at least UPF 30, a corollary to the American Academy of Dermatology’s recommendation of broad-spectrum sunscreens with at least SPF 30. The gloves don’t have to be labeled for manicures specifically, meaning it’s fine to look more broadly for fingerless gloves with UPF protection. Sherber suggests Prequel’s Fingerless Sun Gloves, which have a UPF rating of 50, and Solbari’s protective pair, which are designed for driving but also work for manicures.
Strategist-favorite brand Coolibar, the maker of a range of sun-protective clothing and accessories that we’ve written about before, also offers fingerless UV-blocking gloves. Their design has stretchy polyester and spandex fabric, grippy palms for driving, and UPF-50 protection, making them another solid option. (Coolibar is also approved by the Skin Cancer Foundation.) During my research, I came across ManiGlovz, which is marketed for gel manicures specifically and, according to the brand, made using UPF-50 material. Personally, I was drawn to the rainbow of colors and patterns that you can choose from. And as with other UPF-rated garments, it’s best to wash your gloves by hand in cold water and lay them flat to dry.
If you’re not wearing UV-protection gloves, Sherber recommends getting in the habit of applying sunscreen (here’s our guide to the best ones) to your hands and fingers before a manicure. “Make sure that the sunscreen is labeled broad-spectrum and ideally look for PA++++ since the PA rating is specific for UVA protection,” she explains. “Additionally, a dry manicure (one in which the nails aren’t soaked in acetone and hands aren’t soaked in water) will prevent the sunscreen from being removed before the polishing step.”
The Strategist is designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read about here. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
