tl:dr avoid Jenny/the front station by the window!!…read more
Came here for gel manicures the day before my wedding. Was excited to spend time dolling up with my bridesmaids, and we came on the recommendation from a bridesmaid in a bridal party a couple weeks prior. But what was intended to be a fun bonding experience quickly went south.
For context: I NEVER get my nails done. The last time was over 5 years ago when I was in another bridal party. I had originally wanted something simple and natural, but decided to go for a "fun" style to mark the occasion. I showed the nail tech, Jenny, pictures of a milky ombre nail with some sparkle effect. She nodded, and started to get to work. I asked for rounded but not "too round." She began filing away with a HUGE emory board. Making quick work, she gave me a square with rounded off corners. I asked for a bit more round, and she rounded off more. I asked for still a little more because it looked too flat still, and she filed in diagonally until it came in to a flat tip. I was a little shocked by how much came off, and was feeling uncertain about the look. But she said there was no way to go back now, so I said okay to the rest of them done this way. I figured maybe it would look better with polish. She proceeded to file off the rest of my nails in a rush, mostly filing my skin rather than the nail. After filing, the edges were all uneven and very different lengths, and two of the fingers on my left hand had one side completely sawn off asymmetrically. Not pretty. I figured maybe she would come back and do detailed corrections later, but nope.
Then came the cleaning of the cuticles. She nipped so deep that THREE of my fingers started to bleed. She didn't notice the bleeding though until she had already proceeded with chemical application, causing them to sting. She didn't pause to disinfect and stop bleeding. Just wiped acetone on them and kept going. She commented that my skin must be thin. It felt like she was saying it was my skin's fault for bleeding where she cut me.
Then came the color. Base color job was nice and even. 5 stars. Tbh I could've stopped there and been fine with it. But once she tried to do the ombre... the sprayer machine she tried to use was out of battery. No backup. Not prepared. After struggling several minutes with getting the sprayer to charge back up, she gave up. But instead of explaining to me what was happening and giving me options to proceed, she decided to go ahead and manually apply the ombre with a paintbrush. It turned out very streaky. Let's call it an "artsy" ombre to be generous. Several layers of painting and curing later, once we were about finished, she then tells me that she can't do ombre with gel nails and I should have asked for powder. Again, not a nail regular, which I told her. And again, getting married the next day, which I told her. Yet somehow, my fault for asking for the wrong thing so that the ombre couldn't be achieved. The sparkle she added at my request as least helped mask some of the sloppiness.
After all the painting and curing, it was finally time for top coat and finishing touches. One of my bridesmaids had finished 10 minutes earlier, and I had watched as her nail tech carefully cleaned the edges and made them neat and uniform with a wand, checking in with her regularly to make sure it was to her satisfaction. But Jenny... she came back with the giant emory board and hacked away at the corners again. Except this time, she tore into my flesh and I had to yelp in pain before she would stop. She left a deep gash in my finger, which she did not disinfect. And then once again commented on my "thin skin," as my fingers continued to bleed. This whole time I was staring at her California nail esthetician license, wondering if it's legit or if my experience is supposed to be normal for a nail salon.
To wrap it up, she charged me double the regular price because it was not a basic gel manicure. She explained that other nail techs would have refused to do the ombre for gel nails, but because I was the bride, she tried her best for me (I wish she had been upfront and we wouldn't have bothered). Then she wished me luck on my wedding.
We booked it out of there. Once I got home and inspected, it finally hit me how sloppy a job she did, how rushed out I felt, and frankly, how abused my nails and fingers were. I spent the afternoon miserably disinfecting the wounds with IPA. One of my bridesmaids called to complain, but they said the injury was an accident and refused to offer any sort of compensation.
So buyer beware. Go somewhere else, or avoid Jenny.
