Royal Beauty Studio — Attraction in New York

Taking one star off for the pedicure I received today. This is my second time to this salon and my second time getting a manicure here. Both times the technicians I had were lovely. I unfortunately do not remember the name of the technician I had at my first appointment but were it not for Yawa today, I probably would have had a much more miserable experience. They listened to me, took great care to detail and provided high quality service resulting in an end result that was exceptional. This for me along with the fact the manicure lasts a month makes this pricier option worth it. Yawa takes great pride in her work, as she should, and is super sweet. She could immediately sense my discomfort during the pedicure I received at the same time with Def today and did her best to ameliorate that, clearly wanting to make sure my experience was at least somewhat enjoyable today. Perhaps customer satisfaction is not a top priority of his but it makes a huge difference when you feel like you are paying for a service and the person providing said service cares that you are happy with it/the overall experience especially when you’re in an industry and working at a salon that boasts about this experience. In fact, part of the reason I chose this salon over others is because I am a new mom with little time to herself and wanted to maximize the few hours I was able to take care of me. From the moment I walked in, I felt like he was judging me. Again, new mom here so maybe the ten min I had to put myself together prior to my appointment wasn’t up to his standards. Anyway, upon arriving he offered me a drink. I requested, much to his apparent chagrin, water. He felt the need to let me know “it was all free” as though there were no other possible reason one would just want water, like I don’t know, maybe the fact they’re nursing a baby at home? After walking me back to the chair, he asked if I knew what color I wanted today. I didn’t. This also apparently upset him but not nearly as much as me saying I did not want a gel pedicure today. THE HORROR! I had booked the mani/pedi option to be done at the same time because my time was limited and again, I wanted to maximize it. I guess that option is a gel pedicure. Ok, my bad, sir, but is it really such a huge deal to do regular polish? Oh, but it gets worse. I made the mistake of choosing a color which appeared bright red on the sample nail swatches but looked more orange irl. After applying polish to one toe, I said “does that look more orange than red to you?” He gave me a dirty look and said “you picked it.” I apologetically explained it was my presumption it would be more red. He said something in Russian to Yawa and stormed off coming back only to return with the nail swatches again which he threw in my chair. I chose another color…more talking in Russian..he completed his work, which is average, and walked away. Maybe he was upset because he thought a regular pedi was not worth his time. If I had known that I would have gladly paid him for the gel pedi and more if he could/would have provided a more pleasant, hell at least a more professional, experience. Or maybe he took personal offense to my choice of color. I guess I’ll never know. I’m ok with that. Lastly, I also received a massage which was much needed after the Def encounter and absolutely amazing. *I did let the front desk know when I paid about the subpar pedicure I received and was given a lotion and reassurance his attitude would be addressed. I write this 1). as a cautionary tale to other potential clients but also 2). because Yawa and my masseuse were great and deserve great reviews and recognition...

I’ve never been the type of person to leave a negative review even when a place deserves it so the fact that I’m even writing one now says a lot. I came here for a manicure & this time around was my second time going. The first time I was denied the manicure because the nail tech told me my nails were very damaged. I understood & they told me about how I should use oils on them. Keep in mind they mainly told me about this one nail oil I bought from them and to use cuticle oil. This time around they denied me again saying they were still damaged. They asked if I used tea tree oil on them & I told them no that I was mainly using the oil I bought from them. They were quick to blame me for not putting the tea tree oil on my nails when again , they MAINLY told me about those two first oils I mentioned. So that’s when they offered me to get a bottle from them, which I paid for. However, during all this, I felt humiliated & angry. Because they made me feel worse again about my nails & the fact I wasted my time again going to them. I just felt like they weren’t being very considerate or kind. I didn’t find the point of saying much because I’m not someone to pick fights or make a big deal out of things. I just know things could’ve been handled better. My point of this review is that I wasn’t a fan of how they handled things… I wish my experience was like everyone else’s who raves about them since the positive reviews and their IG feed was what made me want to go here in the first place . Sadly that wasn’t my case. It just sucks after how this experience went that it messed with the rest of my day because of the way things were handled & having to change things around. Take my review with a grain of salt, this was just my personal experience.

*Edit due to the owner’s response. I find it funny how you changed your response from what you originally wrote, since the first time you sounded more understanding. You stated how I should’ve put it everyday & that’s what your employee said this second time that I went. When again, that wasn’t CLEARLY stated the FIRST time I went. I understand that choosing not to do a service makes a business lose money. However, the way I felt your employees handled all that could’ve been more considerate. That’s ALL I’m saying. You said the business loses money when declining to do someone’s service they requested. But you also waste someone’s time and energy when doing so. It goes either way. You know what would be helpful since you guys make profiles for your clients, letting a client or potential client see their own profile. If something got lost in translation in person, it could’ve always be written on...

I normally try to just let things go and not bother me much, but the fact that I'm almost 2 months in since I tried this salon and it still bothers me that 1. the service was very unprofessional 2. over priced/over hyped for the services that were actually provided.

To elaborate a little more:

I recently moved to NY, so I've been trying to find a home nail salon. So I tried this by looking at the IG posted and reviews.

When I arrived, I was asked to wait. I waited about 45 mins past my apt time.

When I finally sat down, the nail tech didn't seem as if she wanted to help me. She would look at my nails and ask other nail techs about my nails. Now I don't speak their language, but when you're holding up my hand and showing it asking questions to the others I'm sure you're asking something. Finally I made it out, she was asking if my nails had fungus. I've been getting my nails done for over 15-20 years. not fake, I always do overlay. So I was disappointed as I was made felt that someone was wrong with me plus I'm pregnant and this apt was a couple days prior to my baby shower. I was told she didn't want to do my nails. She asked the gal from the front to come up and chat with me, who very kindly explained she felt my nails had fungus and thought it was a bad idea to get my nails done. Finally, she asked another gal who told her it wasn't fungus my nails are just thin. So I said, please just do my nails for this weekend. I will remove the over lay next week. (I didn't want ugly nails for my shower)

Si she had to do my nails. She wasn't happy! You could tell by her face.

I then moved onto my pedicure. What a waste if money. I got the most expensive option and again she started questioning my nails having fungus and she was again told by her peers that it's now. my nails are just weak, so she had to proceed. The pedicure was so sad. no soaking, no filing, no cleaning.

I spent about $250 for this visit.

The following weeks I visited my dr after having the over removed at a different salon. (oh by the way, they said my nails do not any fungus) My dr also confirmed that my nails are fine and healthy and he's not sure why I was treated as such.

Can you imagine how one would feel, if made felt thus uncomfortable and how that makes my confidence in myself feel.

I WOUD NEVER GO BACK TO THUS SALON AND WOULD NOT RECOMEND...