Background: A couple of weeks ago, I decided to take my sister-in-law to a new nail salon in town that was offering a special on manicures/pedicures - $30. I thought a little bit of pampering would be nice.
We had no problems with the pedicure. The lady who did it was quite pleasant and the massaging chair was very relaxing. I've had better pedicures mind you, but this was cheap so I didn't mind that all the rough skin was still there.
The manicure, however, was a different story. We decided we wanted a french manicure (white tips) and the dirty little man who did it told me it would cost more - $35. Fine - whatever. No pushing back or trimming cuticles, no shaping of our natural nails. Many clear coats of what we thought were nail polish. Final price - $37. I guess he made up the prices as he went along.
The next day the polish started chipping/cracking, so we decided to take it off. It couldn't be removed, not even with professional strength nail polish remover. I went back into the store and asked him what the heck he had put on my nails and how can I get it off. He used an emery board to file it off, then he soaked my hands in pure acetone. Not all of it came off though, so I'll just need to wait for my nails to grow so I can trim it past that point. That process will be made faster because my nails have been breaking one by one. I told him that filing the surface would weaken the nails. He denied it. He's obviously an idiot.
The store is called New York Nails, and they're in the plaza at the corner of Queensway South and Biscayne. If you decide to ignore the fact that the store is dirty, instruments are dirty, and this little man is extremely dirty, be forewarned - your nails will be ruined.
On the plus side, a new nail salon has opened in the new Walmart in town - Regal Nails. They removed my sister-in-law's polish and put a new coat of "real" nail polish on them. That's where I should have gone. Of course, Nails 2000 is still a fairly good place, but I am getting tired of going to salons where everyone who works there is speaking a foreign language and I'm never sure they understand what I'm asking for - but hey! that's just me.
What have I learnt from this experience?
1) When I see a special on for several months, there's a reason.
2) If a shop is empty and has no customers, there's a reason.
3) I will never again overlook a dirty shop.
Just my opinion though - your mileage may vary....
This work by Suzette Leeming is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Canada License.
