Bossy Claws Nail Bar — Attraction in Pikesville

I made an appointment with bossy claws on the 23rd of December at 9am. I made my required $50 deposit to secure my appointment and received a notification that my nail tech would be Tia. Because I knew I was running late I notified them and asked if I should just reschedule, and I was told as long as I arrive by 9:30am it was fine. I arrived by 9:30 am and Tia asked me what shape and length I wanted. I told her coffin and settled on medium because according to her coffin nails don’t come small. (Please see attached small and medium coffin nails) After she was finished sculpting my nails I noticed that they were very long and very thick (please see image of blue coffin nails as reference) I requested she cut the nails down and explained to her that I cannot have my nails that long because of the type of work that I do. I was informed that they would no longer be coffin they would be square nails now and that I could only get a solid color, I said that was fine. Kathy (one of the owners) showed Tia how to cut the nails down and which tool to use. Even after she cut them down and filed them repeatedly my nails were still long and thick. When she finished she asked me what style do I want, I was so confused because I thought I was only to receive a solid color. I started scrambling through my phone, and showed her what I wanted ( please see image four as reference) and her response was “ummm no.” After looking through I told her I didn’t know and we settled on a winter look. (See images of my nails after they were completed) I paid $115 for my nails to look like an amateur did them. I did let them I wasn’t happy with my nails and I was told they looked like that because I asked her to cut them down, and because I was late. I did inform them of my lateness and asked if I needed to reschedule they told me to come in anyway. That should not have affected the quality of the service that I received, the $115 I was charged wasn’t late though? It was right on time. I tried to cut the nails down to file them into the shape and length I wanted and my nail cutter broke, that’s how thick the acrylic is. Please see the images attached. My experience won’t be everyone’s experience, it honestly should not have been my experience either. I guess just don’t let Tia...

Overall, I enjoyed my experience with Bossy Claws today. Judy was my nail tech and she was personable, professional. They only book appointments via text message, which was odd, but not a problem for me. I was told ahead of time how long my appointment would take, which was nice and this time estimate was accurate. As a new customer, I was required to pay a $50 deposit. The shop was up to date, clean and pleasant.

I was greeted as soon as I came in and was guided to wash my hands. There apparently a mix up with scheduling because my nail tech was still with another customer and would not be ready for me for another 30 minutes. I was given the option to start my polish soak immediately or wait until she was ready. Had my schedule not been flexible today, I would have been pretty irritated about this. When I came back 30 minutes later, I waited another 10 minutes for my nail tech to start my polish soak (for gel polish). I was then brought to my nail tech's station about 20 minutes later.

Once there, the manicure experience was great. Judy took her time through the whole process, paying attention to each detail. I typically have issues with techs being too rough or taking off too much of my natural nail (I don't ever get tips or acrylic). Judy was careful and my nails look amazing 😍. I was open to color and design and only provided some of my preferences and Judy created a really cute look from that input.

Note that if you want to be paid attention to on a personal level and folks at the shop to be conversational with you, you get what you put in. The ladies here talk amongst themselves. Customers are welcome to join in on the conversation, but there is no significant effort to include them unless they are regulars. This was not a problem for me because I come to an establishment to get a high quality nail art manicure, and I got that,...

i had really high hopes for Bossy Claws. i requested a gel manicure on natural nails with a chrome finish and i was there for a full two hours of active work, not me sitting and waiting. this type of request takes the typical place takes under an hour, 30 minutes tops. i had made my appointment ahead of time and put in a deposit - otherwise i would have left. the person who did my nails had only worked there a short time and was clearly not experienced with doing nails.

it took a full hour for her just to remove my past gels, and file my natural nails. i didn’t get acrylics or anything like that, it was literally just her filing - and she filed my nails very unevenly so that one side was slanted and made very sharp points even after i requested several times to have a rounded almond shape. (i eventually just gave up and went home and filed them myself). it then took another whole hour for her to paint and put the chrome powder on. and she painted the nails very unevenly as well - i noticed as i was leaving that the nail polish was globby and while it looks alright from afar, has a strange textural consistency. i know it would make sense to go back and get them corrected, but honestly, i would rather just deal with it rather than risk spending more time there.

it’s worth mentioning that the two women who own the store finished two clients’ acrylic nails and did a really great job on their nails. the salon was cute and clean overall. i was just surprised by their decision to have someone who had only worked there for less than 1 week and clearly didn’t have much experience work on someone’s nails who made an appointment ahead of time. it’s a nice salon but this experience was not at all worth the $50 it cost for me to get a gel manicure with...