elite nailed it — Local services in Montclair

I am a licensed nail technician and normally do my own nails but I wanted to treat myself for my birthday yesterday since I got a pedicure here before and my service was great. However this time my experience was horrible for my nails only. I had one hand with acrylic and while I was getting a pedicure my one hand was soaking. The lady that did my toes, I believe she said her name was Ruby, she was amazing. She took her time and payed attention to every detail and made sure my toes were to my liking before I got up.

My nail tech was name YOUNG and she was horrible, to start off she has a small container that had used gloves, buffer and nail file. She didn’t change the sanding band and the drill dit had white residue on it , so clearly it wasn’t clean. She had the drill to high that she cut me two times on my pointer finger by my cuticle and burned my finger to many times since she kept putting the sanding back on my skin not just the nail. I asked her to turn down the drill and I told her again I’m a licensed nail technician. When I called and booked my appointment I told her I wanted a new set and pedicure after she “ Prepped” my nails that’s when she told me I can only get UV gel and no acrylic. I reluctantly got UV since I was pressed for time since my birthday dinner was a few hours away. I left unsatisfied with my nails , she left polish on my skin and nails uneven.

Ms. Young needs a refresher classes on sanitation, disinfecting and cleaning as well as the other nail technicians that sit aside Ms. Young. I noticed at the station on her left and right side had the type of containers with used implements that are single use and are to be disposed of afterwards NOT kept to be USED on another client. I watched her take the gloves off that she used while working on me and put them in the container behind her.

Although my pedicure was amazing , unfortunately I will NEVER come back based on poor sanitation and quality of my nails. Being a licensed nail technician, I proud myself on quality and customer service, the things I experienced I would NEVER do for a client and it’s just...

Edited review at the end...Ohkay listen, yes this shop is clean, nice, and they take covid 19 precautions. I went to cosmetology school, I understand the protocols, paying for the labor, your time, and for your product and the experience but the quality of product was bad...the shaping, the application of product. And I know the saying oh why did you continue, from my angle it was decent n it was okay but going outside really looking at it.idk why there was such a difference but that hard gel IBD hard gel should only be used for practicing or placing of jews,Swarovski. I say this because you should never see lumps/bubbles, with the gel within its nail.i got my nails done today, I dont do anything that contain heavy lifting,hitting and my nail broke off today.. honey and lastly for the shop you should never bulk gel on the nail and make a client get under the lamp. It burns the natural nail. I just knew I should've stopped when ppl kept coming in saying their nail chipped or broke, but 1 hand was done. My pedicure lady did amazing on my feet,n gave a great tip. But the nail quality everything is a no go.. you can't only do gel at your shop and mess up on that service everytime. I don't usually do this but I'm just truly disappointed. Here for update, because it's only right, I did not want to return however Nicole was professional enough to speak to me n talk to me and wanted me to come in for her to fix my nails.. she offered to do my nails free of charge to fix whatever was broken, and for any lumps and my shaping..overall I still stand on awesome pedi...

I went in for a pedicure and I will not be back. The nail tech made me bleed twice. One of those times, she grabbed onto my cuticle and pulled it until it ripped, rather than cutting. I yelped in pain. Several of my toes hurt today.

Aside from that, this place just also isn’t great. The massage was less than three minutes long, and she barely applied any pressure. I thought she was maybe building up to more pressure, but by then it was done There is a large TV, but only four of the manicure stations can see it, leaving more than half of the manicure stations and all of the pedicure stations without a view (it would at least be nice to have the option). The staff started cleaning up about 20 minutes before closing, using so much bleach that they had to prop the door open to air it out because it stunk so bad. My eyes were stinging from the bleach. Also, they don’t use any quick dry applications, so prepare for 15 minutes, staring at a wall with a fan on your nails. But none of these things would have been that noteworthy if I hadn’t been bleeding and hurting.

2 stars instead of 1 because my nails do look ok and they didn’t pressure me to tip, which I wouldn’t have so that was a nice...