i bought an itison voucher for a shellac manicure back in january and scheduled my appointment for march to coincide with a wedding and holiday i had planned. i'm always a bit wary of getting vouchers for beauty/spa treatments as i had a rubbish minx manicure done once that was barely worth the £9 i paid for the voucher. however, my faith has been restored in vouchers after a lovely manicure at chamomile sanctuary.
i was actually surprised that there are no reviews for this place and also that i had to add it to yelp. chamomile sanctuary is a really lovely place and the staff are lovely as well. when i arrived i was shown to the sitting area to fill out a few forms and wait for the therapist to set up the manicure station. the seating area was decorated to a beautiful standard with big plush couches and chairs and calming music being played.
my therapist (i think her name was jenni) came to bring me through the their nail room. it's a very white room with two pedicure stations and three nail stations. i liked that this was an actual room as having people peering in as they walk by or through windows is the street is a bit off putting from the relaxtion bit. jenni showed me the different colours i could have and seemed quite knowledgeable about which were darker/brighter/more sheer than others. i selected a fairly bright pink colour and after sitting down at the station she started the manicure.
the whole shellac manicure took about 30-40 minutes, but included a nail file, cuticle tidy, and application of the colour. i was totally amazed at how quickly everything set and within a minute of the infra-red light finishing after the last coat my manicure was set and i was ready to go. almost two weeks late the colour is still bright and completely chip free.
to add to my delight, they offer a half price special every tuesday for shellac manicures or pedicures. i've already decided to book in for a pedicure as i was told the colour lasts up to a month!! they do charge £10 for removal of the shellac, but my therapist also helpfully told me how to do it at home if i wanted.
so overall a great experience and a great beauty and spa location. i'm already looking forward to going back. read more