Alambra Nails & Spa — Attraction in Colorado Springs

I found Alambra Nails & Spa because of the wonderful Google reviews. They were absolutely on point! I’ve been wanting to try a dipping powder manicure for what seems like forever, but my nail place back home in Seattle didn’t have it yet. I’m loyal (and extremely picky about who does my nails), so I waited to “cheat” on them until there was a reason. HA! I’m in Colorado Springs for an extended period of time, so of course I started searching nail salons near me who have dipping powder. While there were many places closer to me (I’m on the south side, about 15-20 minutes away), I chose Alambra and asked for an appointment with Monica because of the glowing reviews. And I’m so glad I did! I made an appointment the day prior (yesterday), and ended up running 10 minutes late. I called to let them know and they said it would be fine, there would still be enough time. I walked in exactly 10 minutes late, but no one made me feel bad about it (I kept apologizing anyway). It’s cozy, very clean and welcoming. Martin greeted me first and I already knew I had picked the right place. They’re genuinely nice (and funny!) people, I felt totally confident that my nails would be in good hands. Literally. Monica was waiting for me and I told her how I had found them, that her name kept popping up in excellent reviews. I told her how excited I was to try the dipping powder and while she wrapped my nails (to remove my gel polish), Martin laid out the dipping powder color swatches. They have a TON of colors, over 50, I believe? And they plan to have at least 100 different colors very soon.

• for those of you wondering, they don’t have the chrome/mirror colors yet, but the color selection was still substantially greater than I’ve seen elsewhere in my “Google research” - and quite honestly, I’d rather buy my own chrome powder and take it to Alambra than have another place do my nails *

Monica was extremely attentive and asked me which nail shape I like (square-ish, with slightly rounded edges), she explained the dipping process and made me feel even more comfortable. The end result is nothing short of perfection! I LOVE MY NAILS, now I’m ruined for gel manicures. Haha! My nails feel much stronger than they do with gel, but not suffocated like they did when I had acrylics. I love how they turned out so much, that I’ll probably go back next week to have another dipping powder manicure with a different color, even though they won’t need to be done yet. I can already tell I’m addicted to this dipping powder manicure process!

Extra: the Spa Pedicure chairs are BRAND NEW and look sooooo comfortable. There was a woman getting a pedicure, I think the nail technician was Ana? I’m not sure, sorry “Ana”! Anyway she did an awesome job too, I looked. And then a regular came in, the appointment after me, and they treated her like family. She told me even more wonderful things about the place! They included me in all the conversation and jokes, I felt very comfortable, and I was having fun!

I’d highly recommend this place, not just for the dipping powder service, but for everything!

Thank you all for making me feel like...

Don’t go to Alambra. I went there a number of times over the last three years, and I forgave some problems that they caused for me in the past, but after today’s experience, they lost me as a customer.

Here’s why:

Sick employee. Today, one of the nail technicians was sick with the flu. She said this to the customer seated directly in front of her. Tonight, I started having the chills, warm achy skin, and a headache. Staff should not knowingly expose customers to the flu virus!

Alambra does not respect your time. Expect to wait five, 10, or 25 minutes or longer for your appointment to start. Today, I arrived 10 minutes before my 4:30pm appointment. By 4:55pm, I was still sitting, waiting indefinitely. I asked the manager how much longer it would be and she flatly said that she no idea. So I left. Wasted nearly an hour of my time.

Alambra once gave me a pedicure that resulted in a nasty toe infection that lasted for more than two weeks.

Overall, the quality of their pedicures is fair. But the customer...

The nail technicians are absolutely wonderful. They were happy to make an appointment with me to fix a nail that had broke the day after coming into the salon. 5 starts for customer service! 3 stars comes from my overall satisfaction of the dip powered used (1 star). I have only gotten dip once before while out of state and when I compare the two I notice a big difference! My first set of dip stayed on a month and the only reason I had them redone was due to my nail growing out. The morning after getting dip done with this product my nail broke off. After getting the nail fixed and the remaining nails touched up I was very happy. Four days later the top gel coat started chipping. It looks like regular polish that is chipping away on the ends. Now, along the cuticle bed, one nail is separating from the dip. This just means that when I run my hands through my hair my nail gets caught. It is frustrating that I spent 60+ dollars on my nails and they aren't able to last for more than a...