It's obvious by the photos and reviews that Sense focuses on gel nail manicures, art and other gel services. I would advise that if you want just a regular manicure or to remove a hard gel set, to NOT go near here.
A few weeks ago, I got a hard gel manicure from an amazing boutique shop in the north end. I quickly learned that long, artificial nails weren't for me, but unfortunately, they book up fast and their hours were limited so I had to find somewhere else to get them removed quicker. I got online to do some searching for seemingly quality salons that knew about hard gels. Enter: Sense.
I tried to book an appointment online with a technician that multiple people seemed to really like based on reviews. I've had bad luck with nail shops so I tried to do as much research ad possible. Sense seemed perfect, and I was excited to potentially have a nail shop I actually like.
When I realized I booked the wrong type of service and contacted them to get it changed, they changed my technician to June. I really wanted someone I had heard good things about, but I also understand that different types of services take longer than others, so I would deal with it. Everyone seems to love Sense so it couldn't be that bad, right?
When I arrived, I was first taken aback by how cramped the front nail area was. All the ambiance must be in the back with the pedicure stations. While Robert was friendly and professional, I couldn't say the same for every technician that was working (but that's another can of worms).
I told my nail technician twice that there were no acrylic nails or tips underneath - gel only. I still had to remind her again as she began filing, looking for a tip. She eventually got out the nail clippers to clip the long parts off, and was kind of haphazard with it. Some of the clipping would hurt, but the worst was watching the gel fly all over the salon - I looked down at one point to see I even had some gel remnants on myself. It was kind of embarrassing in that small of a space seeing something that just had been sitting on my nails now on the floor in the waiting space.
She continued to do a combination of filing and acetone until my nails were filed down. Most of her tools looked like she had either used them before on other people (hand file) and I had no indication that any of the other tools she used were sanitized before using them on me. I did notice she used acetone to clean my gel color off her tools, but I don't know if that's a proper sanitation technique. She also cut my cuticles, which is a no-no to me. I understand some people accept or like it done, but I would ask before you start cutting up someones cuticles.
She asked if I wanted a manicure with polish after the removal before we started and I said yes. The manicure, like the removal, was very rushed and to dry my nails, she put my hands in a dryer with heat. In my experience, heat is not the best tool to dry regular polish with, because it takes forever to fully set. She got up and walked away without a word and I sat there for over 20 minutes wondering if it was up to me when I left or not. After close to 30 minutes, and after Robert had returned to the front desk after a long while, I decided to get up and go because it didn't seem like she was coming back and I just wanted to get out. I paid, and went on my way. It wasn't the best experience, but at least my nails were back to normal length.
When I got home, I noticed one of my nails already had polish smudged from not fully drying. I also noticed once I was home that bubbles had formed on almost every one of my nails and there was paint on my skin. During the manicure I remembered the method of getting excess paint off my fingers was digging a pointed orange wood stick into my skin and scraping it off (ow!!), and after all that, there was still polish?
I was emailed after my appointment asking for my feedback and I gave it honestly. I didn't receive any comments back about the service. If I were a business owner, I'd want to know all the information and try to make it right instead of ignoring it.
The last straw was when I went to remove the polish last night, I realized there was STILL hard gel chips left on my most of my fingers! Totally unacceptable! I was given a discount since it was my first time there, but I still don't even think the discounted cost makes up for the fact that I didn't get a FULL removal or what I would consider a professional manicure.
For the cost of their services (does anyone really know what they are since they aren't listed anywhere?), you might be better off going to Gene Juarez or some other higher end salon where you know you'll feel more comfortable and treated well. read more