Quick answer: In practical UV formulation work, resin and monomer selection starts with the end-use property target, then tunes viscosity and cure response around it. Buyers usually shortlist a few matched packages, not a single magic raw material.

UV Gel Polish

With the improvement of living standard, people are pursuing more and more for beauty, and nail art is a manifestation of women’s love for beauty, the so-called cardamom is more slender and jade fingers are more slender, and nail care has also become a fashion for people to pursue beauty and enjoy life. As early as 100 years ago, foreign countries used nitrocellulose made of nail polish for nail care. Traditional nail polish is nitrocellulose as the base material, with acetone, ethyl acetate, toluene, lactic acid ethyl ester, butyl benzene dicarboxylate and other chemical solvents, plasticizers and chemical dyes and made it coated in the nails, can make the nails lubricated red, and long does not fade. However, many of these raw materials are compounds containing benzene ring structure, after ingestion into the human body, most of them have a certain degree of biological toxicity. These compounds are fat-soluble compounds, easily dissolved in grease. Therefore, after the nails are coated with nail polish, and then eat with the hands to take fries, cakes and other fatty foods, will cause the harmful compounds in the nail polish to dissolve in the food, resulting in chronic poisoning after eating. In recent years, a new technology called “Light Therapy Nail Care” has emerged, which involves applying light-curing nail polish to the surface of the nails, which cures under ultraviolet light to form a protective coating on the surface of the nails. The advantage of “Light Therapy Manicure” is that there is no solvent evaporation and no irritating odor during the whole process of using light-curing nail polish, which is both environmentally friendly and beneficial to health. Moreover, the coating is easy to polish, not easy to buckle, and the surface gloss is excellent, and it can be decorated in a variety of ways. Therefore, “Light Therapy Nail” not only has the function of protecting nails, but also plays the function of nail beauty, which is favored by many female friends.

UV Gel Polish, UV-LED Gel Polish and Reference Formulas

UV Nail Polish (commonly known as “Light Therapy Gel”) used for “Light Therapy Manicure” can be divided into two major categories according to its functions and roles: the adhesive gel in the base gel is used as a primer, which mainly serves to improve the adhesion with the nails; the sealing gel is used as a top coat, which mainly plays a role in protection and maintains the coating with long-lasting gloss; the colored resin gel is coated on top of the adhesive gel, which gives the nail polish a wide range of colors.

UV Gel polish for free radical light-curing system, the main resin for polyurethane acrylic resin or polyester acrylic resin; active diluent for hydroxy methacrylate, methacrylic acid isobornyl ester, etc.; photoinitiators to phosphine oxides photoinitiators TPO, 819 for the main, which is due to the thicker Gel polish coatings, the use of TPO and 819 is conducive to the curing; in addition to a variety of auxiliaries, such as leveling agent, In addition, there are various additives, such as leveling agent, defoamer, wetting agent, adhesion promoter, toughening agent, pigments and dyes, etc., all try to use non-toxic and harmless materials to ensure both beauty and health. UV Gel polish has better adhesion, durability, anti-scratch and solvent resistance compared to the traditional Gel polish.

The UV Gel polish curing light source used in “Light Therapy Nail” is a special UV light source, installing 2~4 9W UV lamps. Nowadays, UV-LED light source has begun to be used in nail polish light curing, which is more convenient to use, with a longer working life, more environmentally friendly and safer. Although “light therapy manicure” in the operation of the nails usually have to be coated 3 ~ 4 times with different UV Gel polish, each time you need to be coated in the UV light source irradiation for 1 ~ 2min for curing, so every time you do a “light therapy manicure”, each finger to be subjected to 6 ~ 10min of UV radiation. However, by the photobiological safety assessment and testing, absolutely will not make the human skin burns or darken the skin, is safe and feasible.

As a new thing in the beauty industry, “Light Therapy Nail” is a new application field of light curing technology. Although the current market scale is small and the technical content is not high, it has its own characteristics, and it is also another successful example of light curing technology entering into the human beauty industry (another successful example of light curing technology for dental fillings).

UV Gel polish on the market supporting the curing lamp source for the main peak of 365nm UV mercury lamp, that is, UV light therapy lamp. UV v polish needs to be irradiated through the UV light therapy lamp curing, the use of its shortcomings in the process of: First, the operation time is long, a single curing of UV Gel polish takes 2min; Second, the UV light therapy lamp emits light accompanied by obvious infrared exothermic, long time work accumulated exothermic volume Continuously increase, so there is a clear sense of heat in the manicure; Third, the UV light therapy lamp is mercury lamp, will produce mercury pollution, and short life, the need for frequent replacement.

We found a brand of HEMA-free & TPO-free gel polish: CHROMÉCLAIR

 

A practical sourcing and formulation view of UV monomers and oligomers

Most successful UV formulations are built by choosing the backbone first and then tuning the reactive monomer package around the substrate, cure method, and end-use stress. That usually produces a more stable result than choosing materials by viscosity or price alone.

• Start from the final property target: hardness, flexibility, adhesion, and shrinkage rarely point to exactly the same raw-material package.
• Screen the reactive package as a whole: oligomer, monomer, and photoinitiator choices interact strongly in UV systems.
• Use viscosity as a tool, not the only decision rule: the easiest-processing material is not always the one that performs best after cure.
• Check the real substrate: plastic, metal, label film, gel systems, and coatings can reward very different polarity and cure-density balances.

Recommended product references

• CHLUMINIT TPO-L: A strong low-yellowing reference for LED-oriented UV systems.
• CHLUMINIT TMO: A valuable comparison point when lower yellowing or TPO-replacement discussions matter.
• CHLUMINIT 819: Useful when a formulation needs stronger absorption and deeper cure support.
• CHLUMICRYL HEMA: A well-known polar monomer reference in adhesion- and reactivity-driven systems.

FAQ for buyers and formulators

Can one UV monomer or resin solve every formulation problem?
Usually no. Commercially strong formulas depend on how several components work together to balance cure, adhesion, flow, and durability.

Why should monomers be screened together with oligomers?
Because monomers can change viscosity, cure rate, shrinkage, and substrate behavior enough to alter the final ranking of the same backbone resin.