DISCLAIMER: This review is just about pedicures. I never got a hair cut here. Also...I think Cape Cod is really cool and has a lot of stuff way better than NYC -- Whales and Lobster Rolls to name just two, so I'm not hating the Cape at all, I'm a really big fan. Please don't tell me to go back to Staten Island.
I've recently relocated to the Cape after decades in NYC, and most of the very last decade was spent in the odd-but-actually-kind-of excellent-in-its-own-way Isle of Staten.
Moving to the Cape, I was aware that I probably couldn't find the same affordability and level of nail-painting acumen and spa services that can be found on every corner of that hyper-nail focused borough (even Manhattan nail salons don't hold a candle to those on Staten Island). On SI, nail salons are centers of community and nails are considered a sacred form of high-art and self expression. Which is a bit nutty I agree...
However, I didn't know that decent pedicures are as rare as hen's teeth and seem to be (especially in winter) an almost unknown art on the Cape. So, after much disappointing research on Yelp, I just picked a place that was convenient and fit into my errand schedule that day -- I really did need my feet done.
Hit NY Hair Co & Spa in the mid-afternoon in the middle of the week. Wait was about twenty minutes since they have only two mani/pedi people. I could live with that. Cute place, nice people. I know the ropes, so I picked a color (not a great array of choices, but I lived), and followed my pedi-lady back to one of the two pedicure chair/tub combos in a little room.
Okay, not a massage/heat seat, but I can deal...she filled up the tub, got it going. I took off my shoes and socks and put them on the side, got my feet in the water and we got to work.
About two minutes later, a seeping stream of water started to come from under the tub. Pedi-lady was surprised, but got some towels to sop it up. Unfortunately not before the water had gotten to my socks and shoes. I had to ask her to move them so they wouldn't be sitting in a puddle the whole time.
That wasn't really her fault I guess, so we continued.
I asked her to do my calluses, and they are a nightmare because I have a condition that makes the skin on my heels grow very thick very fast. She did the callus solution pumice stone thing (extra charge) and it didn't really do all that much to help (maybe bad solution? Not on long enough?). She told me I should come in every two weeks at least to deal with the calluses, but at those prices, who can afford it? Other similar treatments in the past had kept me callus-free for a month at least...so...
I also told her about an ingrown nail on one of my big toes, and she nodded, but didn't seem to really know what that was and didn't do anything to address it. Nail painting was fine. She could tell I wasn't all that thrilled with the flood and callus treatment, so she gave me an extra leg scrub for free, which was nice.
So we finally get done. I guess it was okay.I pick up my wet socks n stuff and follow her out to what I assumed would be the pedi-fans to help my piggies dry...and they don't have any!
Huh? Like...hmmm...okay...WHAT? I know that things are different here...but no way to dry the polish on my toes in the middle of the winter? I mean every nail salon I've ever been to has dozens of them. I mean, this was something I just didn't think to ask about before getting a pedicure.
She said that I could walk out to my car in the pedi flip flops they give you. But in 19 degrees, in the dark, with ice and snow on the ground?? I asked her what other people who get pedicures do and she said they don't get pedicures in the winter....Okey Dokey. Thanks for the heads up.
She could tell I was flabbergasted so after I paid the (at least for me) sticker-shock level bill (3x what I would have paid for a full spa mani/pedi in good ole SI, and 2x what I would have paid in Manhattan) she offered to do a manicure for free while my toes were drying.
I appreciated it, but the wind was knocked out of my sails and I declined the kind offer. I don't blame her - if the salon maintained the equipment and ponied up for a nail dryer or two, this would have been a better review, even with higher prices than I'm used to.
Sat in the sitting area and fanned my feet with a magazine for a half hour to get them dry enough to put on my still soggy socks. People starred at me with funny looks...I guess you really aren't supposed to get pedis in the winter...
On a break from fanning, Asked the woman at the desk about the non-existent pedi-dryers. Surprised by my question, she said that no salons she knows of have them. Wow.
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Morals of the story: if you are desperate for a pedicure here...
* Don't put your shoes and socks on the floor in case of flooding.
* Have a toe drying strategy ready. get a lighter color (lighter colors dry faster) and bring your own fast-drying stuff for a top coat (they don't have that either). read more