After having fainted from the pain of pedicures in other places, I had found someone a relative…read morerecommended was an expert with my issue of ingrown nails. Unfortunately, she got really nasty with me when I called her half an hour before my appointment to tell her I was going to be running late. Let's just say that our conversation ended on a very negative note and she wasn't going to take me at the salon...so anyhow, I was finishing with my new stylist, who had done some gorgeous highlights on me, when she saw I was in a predicament and volunteered to send me to her friend at Hair Dominican Style. She said her friend would save the day and I'd be ok.
Hair Dominican Style is in a Hialeah strip mall, near a Vietnamese restaurant called Green Papaya (which looked very tempting, by the way, but I had no time to visit, will make it a point to try it sometime). There are plenty of other stores and even a gas station at that strip mall (very convenient since I was almost on empty). Anyhow, I asked for Tere (short for Teresa), as instructed by my stylist, as she is one of the girls who does the manicures and pedicures at the salon. I was a bit skeptical, considering she looked rather young, but I didn't think my stylist would send me to someone inexperienced. She looked like a Hispanic Winona Ryder, with an angled bob, highlights, and a sweet smile. My point is, she looked like an easy-going pleasant person, not someone who'd be nasty or would take joy in hurting others. I mentioned that I had the ingrown nails and had been under severe distress and she reassured me she would not hurt me and told me to relax, as my hands were clammy :(
The manicure was done pretty quickly, and no issues, luckily, but I was still worried about my feet. There are no massage chairs here, by the way, if you're expecting that. They use one of those foot baths you can buy at Walgreens, line it with a clear garbage bag, and fill it with water. She got to work on my feet and save for some minor discomfort while twisting my big toe to cut the little skins on the sides, I was fine, I survived, yay! They didn't use the "cheese grater" here, they use an electric machine that whirs and peels off all the calluses. It was kind of ticklish and hard to keep still and not giggling (yes I am ticklish, haha), but I have nice, smooth feet now :) She then used an exfoliating scrub that had beads, rinsed it, and then put the polish. The price was your standard pedicure and manicure price.
There were lots of African-American ladies getting their hair straightened and it looked very nice, shiny and smooth. A blonde lady was there as well, she'd just gotten her roots done and they matched the rest of her hair, so they seem to do a good job with hair and coloring as well. If I'm in need of a mani-pedi after visiting my stylist, I'll definitely come back, though I'd also like to have a more local option so I don't have to schlep to Hialeah every time...