So in the last few years there have been a number of products on the market that are some type of hybrid gel-polish, requiring curing under either UV or LED lamps.  eg. Shellac, Gellish, OPI Gelcolor, Orly GelFX, Gelac etc etc etc...  I really like the fact of having an "instant" dry polish (as I am totally the worst at denting my nails as soon as they are done) but it is obviously more expensive.  So I am thinking of buying a kit myself, as I have played around with a friend's Shellac kit (she is a nail tech) and realise it is fairly straightforward to apply on yourself.

My question is this:  what is the difference between the polishes and why do some require UV where others require LED?  If I buy an LED lamp, will that still work on Shellac polishes, which normally use a UV lamp?  Or if I buy a UV lamp will this work on the ones that normally use LED?  Does the wattage of the lamp make a big difference to the curing time? 

Would love to get an answer on this one - in an ideal world I would love to buy just one lamp, but be able to buy a
variety of different brand polishes so I can get all the colours I want -
but want to make sure that the lamp will actually work with the various different polishes?

Hope to hear from you!!  Thanks