I'm horrified at the lack of talent at this place. I went for a manicure-pedicure about two months ago, and it was average. There were only two technicians there, and it was late on a Sunday. Today, there were about six technicians, and the place was packed. It was snowing outside, and I think everyone was freaking out--trying to act calm, but thinking about all those great Seattle drivers who lose their minds and abandon their cars in the middle of the road at the sight of a single snowflake.
I'd like to think this was the problem today, but there's just no excuse for the CRAP job...I came home and immediately removed the polish, after grumbling at myself about how ugly my nails looked during the entire car ride home.
Where do I begin? I had medium white tips, and they'd grown a bit too long for my taste. I hate seeing the gap between the acrylic and the bare nail below...so I'm obsessive about getting fills. Once I notice I need one, I cannot be stopped. I called for an appointment, and they accommodated. Good! The other places were booked for the next two to three hours. This was the first warning sign. I blocked it.
I explained to the young technician--I wanted them shortened and to look as thin and natural as possible. That's tough to do with white tips, but my new set had grown out enough that the white stripe was finally starting to look not-too-wide anymore. Basically, just shorten them with the same shape, and sculpt them so they look thin at the tips.
The tech suggested airbrush to create a deeper curve in the smile line. I like that look, but you also have to be REALLY good with an airbrush to do it well. I didn't think that she'd suggest something she couldn't handle.
She prepped my nails with the drill and while she wasn't rough, the drill bit slipped onto my cuticles several times. Second bad sign. She applied the acrylic in a very, very thin layer. I thought she was doing a primer coat of some kind, but then she moved immediately to shortening and buffing. Seriously--you can see the line between the old acrylic and the nearly invisible thin layer of the new acrylic she applied today. I've never seen that before--and it is UGLY. Defeats the entire purpose of the fill process.
She spent very little time sculpting the nail, so they look a little thick. My biggest gripe? They're all different lengths. If they were long, I'd have some room to fix them myself. No...they are so short now, barely past my fingertips. I had no choice but to even the tips (shape) out--I couldn't fix the length without looking like a nail-biter.
I was anxious to get home, so I looked at them before washing, and they looked OK. I asked her to straighten out a couple of the CROOKED tips, and she did...she was pleasant about it, which is great, but she was totally oblivious. Any normal tech would have rechecked every nail.
Airbrush time. She made some of the worst, shaky, uneven smile lines I've ever seen. I'm pretty sure that I could have used the airbrush better, with my left hand. My right hand looked OK, only a few errors, but my left hand looked ridiculous. I didn't know there were so many ways to botch a smile line. I asked her to fix some of them, but...the person who made the mistakes can't necessarily correct them.
Polish. She used two coats of clear, using the very last bit of an essie polish jar. Yep, you guessed it, the gooey, sticky thick gunk at the bottom, that I never use. You thin it out or toss it. Not here! She applied two obscenely thick coats (with bubbles!) and sent me on my way.
$22 + 5 = $27 for the worst fill EVER. I couldn't believe it. I could have purchased the materials and done it better myself. No joke. I'll never go back. Good thing I can do my own nails well--I removed the heinous airbrush, bubbly polish, and just applied a light pink--which looks great. Short, but they're properly shaped and painted now--why was that so hard??? read more