ELITE STAR NAILS & SPA — Local services in Lower Paxton Township

Maybe my expectations are too high - but from the experience/service level to the quality of work this salon is subpar.

I thought I had done adequate research, but I made an appointment on their website for a tech (Cely) that was HIGHLY recommended in these Google reviews. I received a call shortly after making the appointment telling me the salon was closing early & I needed to reschedule - I was able to reschedule easily for 5pm the next day. but it was never disclosed to me that it would be a different nail tech. I arrived on time for my appt, was able to check in smoothly and then was seated... and then I waited & then waited some more - after 27 minutes I was finally "checked on." My nails were finally started on about 30-35min after my appointment time.

Shortly after the nail tech started I noticed that they weren't quite as experienced as I had hoped for especially based off the outstanding reviews I read - it was shortly after that I realized this couldn't be who I had made my appointment with. I later founnd out this nail techs name was Ivy. It didn't seem right to "blame" her for the Salons mistake so I attempted to trust the process - I was okay with the fact she my nails ended up Oval vs the Almond I had asked for. I'm fairly indifferent about shape, but this shows her level of expertise as a nail tech. When checked on (by the man who greeted/seated me) I said "ehh we'll see," and when he inquired further I expressed how the "dip" was going over the sides of my nails & into my cuticle area & there was a lack of curve/apex of the nail. None of these concerns were addressed & I was made to feel like I had no clue what I was talking about. Although when I went in I had bare/natural nails, I previously have had my nails done for YEARS - and I know that proper application is the MOST important piece.

I was told that my nails looked great at the end, NO they did not - they looked okay, and like they were done by someone still getting their hours in to get their cosmetology certificate. They were bumpy in spots, lacked an apex/curve, and overlapped my cuticles even at the end of my service. They told me to call with issues; great concept, but I was leaving for vacation the next day - so their week guarantee meant nothing if I wasn't in town.

When I went to check out I mentioned they were running a 5% promotion, he asked me "where" did I see this?". I explained how it's all over Facebook; that they've posted it in just about every Harrisburg based group I'm in - I was made to feel like a criminal asking for my $2.75 cent savings - he even said "I don't want to hear anymore about it" ... not sure if that was his way of telling me to shut up or a language barrier/misunderstanding, but it came off as extremely rude & abrasive.

All of the above occurred on November 1st, I flew to Vegas for my milestone birthday celebration the next day - noticed on the 4th that my nails were lifting in all the spots that had side-overhang of powder. By the 5th, they were lifting along the cuticle lines. On my return flight home (7th), the first nail popped off completely. As of today, the 13th - two days shy of "2 weeks" I have lost all but four nails - they have ALL popped off - no pain, no effort on my end... these nails didn't even go through anything a set normally would as I was on vacation - so there was no dishwashing, cooking, cleaning, scrubbing, etc...

Not my first experience with not great nails and typically I just wouldn't return, but the overall level of service & experience was truly...

I have been coming to this nail salon for about the past 4-5 months. All of my experiences have been at least 3/5 stars prior to my last experience 8/10/24. On average (prior to this incident) I would say the rating is about 4 stars.

I had a gel builder fill with design and my nail tech was 5/5 stars per usual (my nail tech is like that). However, my pedicure was subpar and took double the amount of time -2hrs— than the time listed on the menu (Green tea pedicure). Additionally, my esthetician nipped me (when cleaning up my cuticles). When alcohol was sprayed, I could tell it broke the skin because of the burn. I’m already irritated at this point. When she started polishing my toes, she wasn’t curing the polish at the proper times (after each coat). I tried to tell her, but the language barrier made it difficult and one of the other nail techs had to explain it to her — this part was even more frustrating. She was going to do the massage and I’m trying to tell her that there is still a lot of the green tea masque left on my leg. As far as I know from my experiences, that needs to be cleaned off before doing the massage. I tell her not to even worry about the massage. She still keeps trying to do it anyway. Paraffin is part of the pedicure package, so she goes to get the paraffin ready. She comes back and doesn’t check the temp for me to see if it’s too hot (this is standard as far as I know). Once the paraffin has set, she takes it off. When I tell you I had so much paraffin left on my feet after she peeled it off and wiped it off with a damp towel… I was over it.

I let the manager know that I had a bad experience. What I was paying for was not delivered (in terms of quality). And he made many efforts to defend the service. He said that sometimes they will try to give you a longer pedicure (this has never happened when I’ve been there before). He said he would give a discount and still rang me up at full price until I asked if it was a discounted price ($148). He then said he would give me a 5% discount… at this point, it’s whatever. I’m over it.

I still ended up paying $142. So, this tells me the the business ethics are lacking (especially because I have been a loyal customer). I spend $150 + tips here every three weeks. So, my $2600+/yr isn’t worth trying to find a way to compensate me for an unsatisfactory service. Let’s not even acknowledge the incompetence of the nail tech providing the service. If you didn’t know (which I doubt), now you do know… so, what will be done about it? Let’s not skirt around the issue, because that is really poor business etiquette. The only reason that this business will see another dollar from me is because my nail tech (who does my manicures) works there and she is 🔥🔥🔥. My pedicures, on the other hand, will be getting done elsewhere unless I know for sure that the nail tech doing my pedicure is legit. Not paying $150+ and receiving...

I went to this Salon with high expectations, I have a very close friend who recommended them very highly, I went in for a gel pedicure and a dip manicure, the pedicure was fine but I was VERY unpleased with my manicure, my tech seemed to be new (which is totally fine) the owner was standing over her watching her do my nails the tech proceeded to make my nails extremely uneven and bumpy the owner sat down and “fixed” them after I had left I was very disappointed with how they looked and I called to see if I could get a refund for only my nails, they tried to get my to come back in to redo them unfortunately I live over an hour away and had a wedding that Thursday and Friday I did not have time to come back, I made an appointment elsewhere on Thursday to get my nails fixed, when the owner called me back he was trying to get me to accept a 25 dollar credit if I came back for another service, mind you my service I wanted refunded was 45 I told him I could not accept and didn’t not want to come back since my nails had already been fixed, he told me he would call me back tomorrow which would of been Thursday 5/9 I did not hear back from them I called Monday 5/13 at 9:50 am to check up I was told I’d get a call back in an hour, I was at work and got busy, the noticed it was 3:18 pm so I called again the owner told me he’d call in an hour, an hour and some time had passed I called again and he told me he could refund me the 25 dollars that we had “agreed” on, mind you I had not agreed to 25 I told him I wanted the 45 for the manicure and he could keep the 60 something for the pedicure, he argued with me saying that I had agreed on that number for awhile I needed up telling him I’ll take the 25 but I will never give my business to someone who is okay with running their...