Bella Nail Lounge and Beauty Bar — Attraction in Newark

Regrettably, my experience today left a lot to be desired in the aspects of customer service and respect. I purchased 2 Groupon vouchers for a spa pedicure and a full leg wax. I only purchase Groupon vouchers for initial visits and this was no exception, as I wanted to find out if this establishment would ultimately be a good fit for a bridal party I am planning for my friend. If I am happy with the services I receive, I then become a loyal customer, as I believe in supporting small businesses. Unfortunately, based on what transpired, I won't be returning.

I scheduled a 3:30pm appointment for a full leg wax and a 4:15pm appointment for a spa pedicure using their online scheduling system, which requires a deposit for each service. I am not a novice when it comes to these services and based on previous and more pleasant experiences, allotting 45 minutes for a full leg wax was never an issue. I got to my appointment at 3:25pm only to be told that I did not have a 3:30pm appointment. I was told that my leg waxing appointment was rescheduled to 4:00pm because of the time it would take to complete the service, but I did not receive notice advising me of such - not even a courtesy call. I spoke to the owner, as well as an employee and showed them my email inbox confirming my appointment times. I told them that I was willing to wait to be seen for both services.

The owner told me that she would have Armanii come take a look at my leg hair to make an assessment on how and if the services would be done. That time never came. Instead - and I kid you not - Armanii proceeded to start doing the owner's nails, while I waited for almost an hour! This should have been my cue to leave, but I waited patiently. I figured that my wax would be done after Armanii was finished with the owner. I scheduled my pedicure with Kayla, who walked in a few minutes shy of 4:15pm. She called me to the seating area to start my pedicure, which was okay.

While Kayla was doing my pedicure, the owner addressed Kayla and asked me for my name. She told Kayla that I had a waxing appointment with Armanii, but that it was "up to her" whether I would be seen or not, which left me speechless. Once my pedicure was done and I dried my toes, Kayla told me that Armanii would call me in for the waxing - at this point I was not informed that I would not receive the waxing services. I told Kayla I would come back, since my meter was expiring soon. Had I known I would not be seen, I would have never added more time to the meter.

Upon returning, I sat in the chair waiting for Armanii, since my toes were fully dry at this point. After waiting for over 15 minutes, I stood up and asked Kayla if Armanii would be calling me in for my wax service. Kayla went to get Armanii, who came back and told me that she does not know who I spoke to, but that my appointment would have to be rescheduled - the reasoning was that my "toes were still wet", which was not true. I asked her why I could not be seen today and she responded that doing both services was not "scientifically possible"; her tone very condescending towards me. Her reasoning was that my "toes were still wet" and that if they got damaged during my waxing, it would not be fair to Kayla. I explained to her that my toes were fully dry, since my pedicure was completed almost an hour ago.

Armanii still would not budge and asked me to reschedule, but since it is MDW, there is no availability before my vacation. At this point, I was so disappointed in her lack of common courtesy and told her I would be cancelling. There we no other patrons occupying her time. I requested a refund for my pedicure deposit and I figured that I would just use the remaining deposit amount for Kayla's tip. She refused to apply my deposit for the full leg wax towards Kayla's tip, saying it was nonrefundable because I was cancelling the appointment, failing to comprehend that I cancelled the appointment because it was impossible to receive the service that I scheduled today based on the lack of communication between the employees of...

I would NOT give this place not even one star, NOT even the tip of a star!!!!!!!! . I called them on Thursday, March 15th and made an appointment for 12noon the following day, March 16th.They took a deposit of $22.50 for a mani and pedicure and sent my receipt via text. So today they called me at 10:44am saying that the person who’s supposed to do my nails had an emergency and had to leave early therefore they had to move my appt to 1pm. I wasn’t happy about it but I said ok because it was my day off and it’s the only day I had to get it done. Anyways I took a nap, I woke up at 12noon as I had set my alarm so I could get dressed and be there for my 1pm appt. I checked my phone and saw a text from Bella Nail lounge text at 12:00pm stating “oh we have moved around some things and can now accommodate you for 12:30pm appt. I had just woken up so I typed “ok thank you”. My question is why did they texted me 30 mins prior. They have no idea where I’m coming from and how soon I can get there. They also inconvenienced me the first one and now I’m suppose to rush???? Last time I checked I’m not a super hero. I got dressed and planned to get there at 1pm which I agreed to when I spoke to the young lady on the phone. Fast forward, I’m now around the corner looking for parking, my phone rang, it’s the Bella Nail. The lady said “Hey Miss * you’re late for your appointment, urrm say what now?? My appt is for 1pm. She began to say my refund has been forfeited etc etc like really lady!!! . It’s either you guys do my nails or refund me. They inconvenienced me then tried to keep my money. So I told the lady that I’m around the corner and I’m coming in because the phone conversation isn’t going well. I walked into the establishment where I saw two females, one of which stared me until her eyes hurted.I didn’t pay her any attention. I continued my conversation with the other young lady about my appointment and how to resolve the issue. Out of the nowhere states the other female, “You made me fing come down here for nothing”. At first, I thought she was on her phone but noooo, this woman was really directing her statement to me. I was sooo shocked. I turned around and ask her who she’s really talking to and we had a little back and forth, meanwhile the other female (the manager) is telling her to stop. The disrespectful female continued to yell and act ghetto. She then said to me “get out!!!”. I looked at her like she had four heads because there’s no way this lady is in her right mind. Once again we are going back and forth. I turned around and tried to finish my conversation with the store manager who’s stated that the “owner” will call me in regards to my refund. She also stated that they moved my manicure to 2pm, at this point I’m all confused as to when I agreed to a 2pm manicure. I went from requesting a 12 noon appointment to a 1pm to asking to a 12:30pm (without my agreement) and then now a 2pm. What kind of unprofessionalism is this. The female continued to shout and called me names, she then said she is going to call the cops, I told her go ahead because all I’m doing trying to get my nails done or my money back. I even mentioned coming back another day just to be done with it. The female went for security who entered the establishment and said absolutely nothing to me and just mind his business. I was “still” trying to get the issue resolved with the other female. The loud female hid behind the security recording me so when I realized that she was doing so. I asked her why and she replied “because I don’t want you to slip out with anything”. How disrespectful and rude and judgemental. What could I possibly want from a nail salon? Nail polish?? One thing I’m not is a thief, how dare this woman. I ended up getting half of deposit back and she stated that the owner will call me about the other half of my refund until this day, I haven’t heard from the owner!!! So I was verbally attacked, my appointment was moved around multiple times and I was recorded for what exactly???? That female was soooo...

This is definitely a nail salon. That is the most positive thing I can say about it. If you are used to a high quality nail salon with competent nail techs, I would not recommend this place. You will have to instruct them every step of the way on how to do simple shaping and polish. I've never ever had a nail tech tell me they could not file down my nails to get a neat square shape, but I was told by nail techs at Bella that my nails were too short to be shaped in the way I liked. When I had a service done by Kayla, she was incredibly rude to me. She dumped those pedicure beads right onto my foot and had an attitude through my entire service. I had never ever had someone I was paying for a service be so rude. It was shocking.

I will not deny that they do nails here. They do. And if you are not used to having incredible nail techs, you will still be satisfied by this place. But if you are someone who wants to be able to trust that your nail tech can satisfy you without you keeping an eye on them through the entire process, I would not recommend this place.

My most recent service here was a pedicure. The fancy pedicure was nice, but it was not worth the headache of having to babysit the nail techs and specify the quality of work I wanted. Before the pedicure, I came here to get a full set and left dissatisfied. I have had many incredible nail techs who were able to give me intricate sets that looked like they were straight off of Pinterest. So when I came to Bella for basic sets using only one color and left with nails that looked like they were done using techniques from 2013, I was extremely disappointed. Again, if you want nails that look flawless and don't want to babysit your nail tech, I would not recommend coming here at all.

If you're looking for a quality salon with skilled nails techs, I would HIGHLY recommend Mia's Nail Salon and Spa. It is very close to Bella Nail Lounge (they're about ten minutes apart if you walk); located at 117 Halsey St. You can look at their Instagram (@miasnails117) and judge for yourself. Compare their work to the work on the Bella Nail Lounge Instagram (@bellanaillounge) and the photos in Bella's reviews and you will see exactly what I am saying. Nail techs at Mia's are great at shaping and can make your nails actually look like they're from Instagram or Pinterest. Their lines are neat and clean. They take time to file and perfect the shape. If you're the kind of customer who likes to get ideas offline and ask your nail tech to recreate them, I would not suggest trusting Bella techs to do that with competence. If you have the expectation that a nail tech will be able to do their job without you directing them every step of the way, this is not the place. As I stated, they absolutely do nails here. I will not deny that. But comparatively, they are behind the curve while being more expensive despite the lack of skill. Bella Nail Lounge relies on good marketing to make you think their service is good. The instagram updates, the cute website... the salon itself is gorgeous and the company is black owned! But when you compare the work itself, Bella is so far behind the curve that people who are used to actual skilled nail techs who take time to perfect their craft would not be impressed or even satisfied. If you want your nails done, feel free to come here. But if you want your nails done WELL, go to Mia's at...