My beloved nail person retired in August, and after being with her for 4 years, I was at a loss for who to see. I decided to give Haus Salon (North Loop location) a try.
I have to say that there was nothing bad about my experience - the front desk staff was polite and offered me water, coffee, tea, and other beverages. The waiting area was fine. The space is very open and industrial/modern. Jan is their nail tech, and she was prompt in taking me back for my appointment.
Technically, there was nothing wrong with Jan's work. I liked how she shaped my nails - though when I did ask for them to be rounded (I have found that when squared off, that corner tends to get chipped), she noted that the shape of my nail bed says they "should" be squared off. I found that odd and a little passive aggressive (if I explain how I want my nails done and a reason for why, I don't see a need for the comment, but okay). The rest of the service was nice. She wasn't overly talkative.
I have been getting soak-off gels on my nails for 4 years - rotating between OPI soak-off gel and Harmony Gelish. I like both products. I decided to get gels again. Unfortunately, Haus Salon only has CND Shellac. And they cure with a UV (not an LED light). I decided to give it a try.
My main issue is with the quality of the CND Shellac. The application is thin, and Jan cured each coat for 2 minutes under UV light. Now, I am not a nail tech, but given that I've had my nails done (acrylics, gels, biosculpture, you name it, I've done it or looked into it), for 12 years, I do know a bit about it. And there really isn't a reason to cure for 2 minutes between each coat (I also checked with my previous nail people to see if I was wrong, and they agreed with me). Now if the cure was 30-45 seconds, I would be okay with that amount of UV exposure, but 6 minutes of direct UV exposure for each hand just doesn't sound right to me (or healthy if you are doing this over time). When I left, the nails looked good.
When checking out, the front desk person was nice and did ask if I'd like to book my next appointment, which I appreciated.
About 4 days later, two nails began lifting at the tips. Now, I will admit if I have been picking at things with my nails or was cutting vegetables and sliced into the gel, but I was being particularly cautious with my nails given it was a product I had on my hands for the first time. After a week, several more nails lifted at the sides. I ended up scraping off all of the gels (bad, I know), with my own nail and some acetone. The fact that I could do it so easily with a less than 15 minute soak off just indicated to me that the product is not durable. There was no way that would have lasted the advertised 14 days.
Maybe it was because I am still looking for an experience akin to my previous nail place and am nitpicking, but I didn't even want to go back to have Jan redo them, as she would just use the same product, and the same thing would probably happen. The price for her gel nails is also $5 more than my old nail place (located in the same neighborhood). I did not feel like anything in the product and service merited a $5 increase. It was similar to, but I would have priced it closer to $45 given that the CND Shellac is an inferior product to OPI and Gelish.
Jan was nice. The staff was nice. It was just that the whole experience did not live up to what I was used to at my previous place. This may sound crazy, but I was looking to find a new place where the staff is eager to get you in as a recurring client and is warm. I felt the people at Haus Salon were nice but not warm.
I realize that I am being extremely picky. I tried another high end salon for their gel nails, and it just wasn't the same as my previous experience. So I'm sure people who are not as picky as me would find this experience to be good. If Haus Salon were to switch their product, I might come back.
Note about parking: I live less than a mile away and opted to walk, as driving a mile seemed a little silly. It's a good thing I did - parking is pretty impossible around that area. The meters fill up quickly (and rarely does anyone move their car on Washington). There is a pay lot across the street, but that is about $5 minimum (if it's not a Twins' game day). Whether it's worth it to drive around for 10 minutes looking for parking or to pay $5 for parking for your nail appointment is up to you. If you can, I'd suggest parking closer to 4th and 5th Avenues and walking. read more