Mint Nail Lounge — Local services in Arlington

Worst gel manicure experience ever – will never return

I showed up on time for my appointment and was randomly assigned a technician (older woman, first row on the right side near the wall). A proper gel manicure normally takes 50 minutes to an hour — including removing the old gel — but she rushed through everything in about 30 minutes total. From the start, she worked carelessly and painfully.

She didn’t even wait for my answer when asking “OK?” — just went ahead and painted or applied lotion without listening. She even got polish all over the skin around my nails instead of keeping it on the nail surface. I asked for a matte top coat, but she only applied it to the center of my nails, leaving the edges glossy and messy. The polish is lumpy, uneven, and looks like it was done by a child. The “hand massage” was just quickly rubbing in lotion, nothing more.

To make things worse, they charged me an extra $5 for a matte top coat — which is simply used instead of the glossy top coat, not an extra service. The quality is absolutely unacceptable, and yet it cost me $47 (plus a $10 tip out of politeness to the front desk). I regret tipping at all. Save your money and your nails — I will never come back here, and I recommend everyone avoid this technician.

Update: They rushed through everything in about 30 minutes — from color to cuticle work — and it showed. The cuticles weren’t properly cleaned, and within just 3 days they looked completely messy. The matte top coat and color peeled off right away, and shockingly, the color even started peeling from the center of the nail — something I’ve never experienced before. Honestly, even the cheap nail service I once had while traveling in Vietnam was far better than this. This salon is a total waste of time and money....

I took myself here in May as a birthday present to myself for a SNS manicure. My nails were grown out extra long specifically because I prefer using my own nails versus the artificial ones which I have bad luck with them breaking.

The receptionist wasn't the nicest individual, but that didn't deter me from waiting for about 10 minutes for a technician to become available. While my nail technician was friendly, she had no idea what she was doing and clearly wasn't trained properly. It had been a minute since I had stepped into a nail salon (thanks, COVID-19) but from what I recall the technician normally applies a clear nail polish to your nails then dips it into a powder, shakes it off, and applies more nail polish. That process did not happen at this salon. Instead the nail technician applied the nail polish, dipped my nails in the SNS powder, applied the top nail polish coat, and then used an electric nail saw to even it out. Unsurprisingly, this didn't work very well. The nail powder was thick and she started over many times, taking off the powder with the nail saw. It was taking so much time (over an hour in the chair) that I had to object. The end result was a manicure that chipped within 2 days of getting it, which is a first (and last) for me.

In fact since I did my nails in May, my nails haven't recovered. They're brittle, short, and break easily - the opposite of the norm. I was so excited to see Mint Nail Lounge come to my neighborhood, especially with their happy hour prices between 10 am and 3 pm. But given the assault that my nails took, I won't...

I booked two mani pedis at this place (for my bf and I on valentine’s day). The lady doing my mani/pedi did not speak a word to me at all- did not even greet me. When I was done with my pedi- I asked we could wait 5 mins for when my boyfriend is also done- so that we can get our manis together, and she said NO very unpleasantly. I thought it’s fine because I can understand that she might be short on time. When we went ahead for my mani- I had mentioned earlier at the desk that I want a regular french mani, but she told me that it is IMPOSSIBLE and was trying to push me to get a gel one. I told her that my nail health is really important to me and hence I do not want to get a gel one but she did keep pushing. I just gave up and told her that it’s fine i will get a regular solid color and asked if there’s any color she would recommend? She did not respond and told me to go to the front and pick again. When she was done, I realized that the nail paint on my thumb wasn’t looking the best- so I pointed out and i think the reaction she gave me wasn’t the best. She just reapplied the color and left me there with the fan- without any closing comment/ info about even how long should I dry my nails. I have been to many nail spas in ballston and have got several regular french manis done- but never experienced anything like this. Maybe she was having a bad day but I don’t think I deserved this. This was my first and last time...