Mood Nail Lounge — Attraction in Fremont

I've been to this salon about three times before and generally enjoyed the experience. However, my last visit, about two and a half weeks ago, left me with a sour taste.

I scheduled an appointment and was assigned to a technician named Vivian to take care of my nail refill. I showed her the design I wanted, and things seemed to start off fine. But right after she began, she asked if my nails were Gel X. I told her no, they were acrylic, but she gave me a skeptical look and continued asking me the same question at least five more times throughout the session. I even suggested she check with the previous technician who did them, but she refused, insisting he might have forgotten, yet continued to complain about it.

She then asked which of the nail extensions I wanted to take off. This was surprising because experienced technicians usually guide me on which ones to remove versus keep. When I asked for her recommendation, she shrugged and grew visibly frustrated.

I showed her a photo of the nail length and shape I wanted, and she started working, but they didn’t look like the picture (before any color was applied). I politely asked if she could refile and reshape them, and she responded with more frustration, questioning why I hadn’t said something sooner. In my years of getting my nails done, I’ve always felt comfortable giving feedback early on, and it’s never been an issue. Instead, she aggressively filed them down shorter than I wanted, as if out of pettiness, and sarcastically asked if I was happy now.

At this point, I was uncomfortable enough to speak with the receptionist, asking if someone else could take over because of Vivian’s rude and unprofessional behavior. The receptionist kindly obliged, apologizing for my experience. But when Vivian gathered her tools to leave, she muttered a sarcastic, “I’m sorry I couldn’t make you happy.” I finally had to call her out on her unprofessionalism and rude tone, but she denied it all.

What made this especially upsetting is that I came to the salon hoping for a brief moment of relaxation and refreshment. My people are currently experiencing genocide, and my family is living under the threat of constant bombings. I wanted a small escape from that horror, but instead, I left feeling even more stressed. I believe it’s a reminder to be kind—because you never know what someone else may be going through. There are far bigger concerns in the world than growing frustrated over a client’s requests at a nail salon.

To add to my frustration, I paid $178 for this service. For that price, I expected much better treatment and a professional experience.

The two new technicians who took over were incredibly sweet and really did their best to make it up to me, which I genuinely appreciated. However, I was disappointed that I was still charged for Vivian’s service instead of just for the time the other two individuals spent actually helping me. Not even a small discount was offered as a courtesy.

As an influencer, I had initially planned to make a fun video and post it on my social media to promote their foot spa kits. But after this experience, I’ve completely changed my mind. I’ll be returning to my old salon instead, where the sweet, skilled staff truly deserve...

When looking for a new salon I always read reviews and try to find some of the nail techs’ work on Instagram. When booking online, you have to “request” an appt and then the salon approves it after. We both requested the nail techs we wanted and the appt was approved a few hours later.

However, when we arrived for our appointments this wasn’t the case :( We booked manicures and pedicures but left with only the pedicures. When we were seated for our pedicures I immediately knew these were not the nail techs we requested but felt bad saying anything so we just got them done (it was our first time here too). We figured maybe the staff we requested would do our manicures. When we finished the pedicures the staff was going to escort us to do the manicures but it wasn’t going to be with the nail techs we originally wanted. So we ended up just leaving after the pedicures.

It’s kind of frustrating because I did take the time to find the specific nail tech who would meet my needs but ended up being helped by different people. The whole situation puts the customer in an awkward position because the nail techs who did help us were super sweet and did a great job but just not who we wanted. Eventually the nail tech whom I requested did offer to do my nails but said she would skip her lunch to help me (which made me feel awful because I did not want her to do that). I politely declined so she could take her lunch.

The whole situation just made me really uncomfortable and I just wish I would’ve been seen by the nail techs I requested.

To the nail techs who did my moms and I pedicure thank you for being so sweet and...

**update

I went in for a no appointment gel x manicure and gel pedicure. Front desk was super helpful and was able to get me right in.

Vickie did my pedicure and was very nice but hurt me with the cuticle clippers cutting much more than my cuticle and used an e-file on my natural nail (trying to get some old polish off) and hurt me again. My foot is still in pain. Nails look fine. Dom did my manicure; he was personable and fun. My nails are far from perfect but, I still like them. I appreciate that he filed under the nail to remove excess product. I had to file down some slightly longer nails and correct the shape of a few so everything matches after I got home. He didn’t make me comfortable asking for corrections and either ignored or forgot my requests after he asked for feedback.

I would try the place again because it’s close to my house, seems sanitary, and the staff is reasonably friendly. I would probably try different techs though.

** end of update

Tried to book an appt with Crystal for a gel set online about a month out, it was never confirmed. I was nearby and stopped in to see if the appointment was available and was told she would call me - never heard from her.

I called again a week later and was told they would call me back. Once I finally got ahold of someone, they set the phone down or something in the middle of the call and started helping someone else…

There are plenty of nail salons, so I booked...