Nail product polymerisation: what it is & why you need to understand the process
By Dani Bailey | 31 July 2024 | Expert Advice, Feature
Dani Bailey, nail educator & recipient of The Shooting Star Award at the Scratch Stars Awards 2024, explains the polymerisation process…
The invention of curable products was a big revolution for the nail industry. Client smudging their nails? Never again! Customers not being able to put their shoes on after a pedicure? Not a problem anymore! But how does this process work?
I remember my first experience with gel polish. It was the eve of my wedding and I had never had the product applied to my nails before. I wasn’t a nail professional at the time but was amazed by the process – and a little freaked out when the tech wiped my nails at the end of the service without smudging the colour. I wanted to know how that magic was possible.
When questioned, the professional did not know – and neither did a tutor years later when I undertook gel polish training. They told me that the light in the lamp ‘dries’ the gel and for me, that was not a good enough answer.
Nail technology has changed immensely, but unfortunately education has not changed with it – mostly because a lot of techs think that chemistry is boring and we don’t need to know it. But as a matter of fact, we do!
Knowing the processes behind the products we use is key to ensuring they function correctly and preventing service breakdown. While nail polish air dries (because the solvents present in it evaporate into the air), acrylates – the family of chemicals that gel, nail glue and liquid & powder belong to – polymerise.
Polymerisation is the chemical process that turns acrylates from liquids into solids.
A polymer is a chain of small molecules called monomers (think beads forming a necklace) and can be found in nature, like the proteins in our body, and in several organic chemicals. When we apply nail enhancements, they are ‘disassembled’, then go through the chemical reaction of polymerisation to become a long chain, forming a solid.
Liquid & powder
In the case of L&P, the heat from the nail plate and surroundings will ensure that the chemical reaction begins, turning the monomers in the liquid into a solid, long chain. This traps the polymer beads, providing strength and colour.
Gel
For gel systems, including poly or acrylgels, UV energy from the lamp ensures the chemical reaction begins, and the reaction is the same for each system. Gel products are special because they come ‘pre-cooked’. Not only are they made of monomers (the individual molecules that make a polymer), but they contain lots of pre-made, little chains called oligomers, which are responsible for giving gels their consistency. A bit like a shop-bought microwave meal, they speed up the reaction, so we don’t have to spend hours creating a set of nails.
When using nail glue, dip systems and silk or fibreglass, the moisture of the air is responsible for changing the glue or activator from a liquid to a solid.
As you can imagine, there are many factors that can affect the polymerisation process, so it’s vital to follow manufacturers’ instructions and understand how to work safely.