I brought my mom here to have the closest to a 'spa experience' pedi as I could find in Livermore. It was our first visit. I booked online for two
specific technicians that were recommended here on Yelp.
Highlights: When we arrived, a polite and gracious gentleman named Mike welcomed us right away, and helped us check in at the kiosk with my phone number used for the online booking. The techs were ready for us and seated us next to each other.
The place is spotless- bright and calmly low key with minimal decorations (perfect) with relaxing music and minimal chatter. The chairs are very comfortable and in great condition. The techs were friendly and kind- off to a good start!
We had booked for the gel deluxe pedicures which are $72 each. It was advertised as using high quality, organic skin products (which was important to me) using hot stones and hot towels (which I love), extra heel scrubbing and also a paraffin wax treatment. We chose our nail polish colors and soon realized that neither of the techs were the ones I had made appointments with.
Although we had selected the same deluxe gel pedicures, my Mom was thrown off by the difference in the order that things were being done in my chair versus her chair. It turned out that the techs had a very different order of doing things. They painted my mom's nails very soon before any of the treatments. I told my Mom to just chill and we'll see how it unfolds.
My tech Kristi did a lovely job on the actual pedicure! She did a GREAT job on cleaning up my nails and cuticles which were honestly a mess- I hadn't had a pedi in 6 months. She was friendly, attentive, sweet and skilled.
But here's why we give 4 stars instead of 5: the products they used were poor. The strong perfume smell on my legs and feet afterwards (Jasmine) was irritating- so much so that we drove with the windows down! My Mom chose orange which was much less perfumed and didn't carry into the car with us like my strong Jasmine smell did. I showered when I got home to remove the heavy scent.
Worse, the products were not organic or containing quality ingredients. *They were clearly advertised as organic, high quality products on their website.* We were both given a packet of the lotion product to take home with us (part of the deluxe gel pedicure package) which obviously won't be used.
The hot towels felt great! But they stayed on my legs (and my mom's) a very long time and turned cold as the techs finished up some work on our toes. The wax treatment wasn't what I expected. Although it was hot and that felt good, it was a plastic bag containing thin, hot gel we stuck our feet into. That was nothing like the paraffin treatments I've had before. It didn't feel very deluxe, nor did the cold towels, and the inconsistency / differences between what I had and what my Mom had.
In the end, my Mom was done 15 minutes before I was and her tech moved onto another customer. But they didn't rush my Mom out of her chair next to me, which was very nice. The salon was not full or backed up, but they had a nice stream of customers coming through.
The techs did very good pedicures, the place is super clean and friendly and relaxing. I highly recommend this place for a regular pedicure, but can't recommend the 'extra's' in the deluxe gel pedicure for $72.
My Mom and I will both come back for a regular pedicure next time! read more