Coco Nails art — Local services in New York

OK BUCKLE UP PEOPLE this is gonna be a long one. But I promise it’s worth the read.

So I’ve been getting nail art for a long time, and when I say a long time I mean over a decade. Back then there were no nail jewels or press ons or stickers or any of those cute lil things that you can get on your nails now. I used to find random things— trinkets, Pendants, pieces from jewelry that I broke off— and would bring them to my nail appointments to have them glued on. Basically, I’ve been in the game for a while, and there are not a lot of things that I say, I know, but I know nail art.

I started going to Nicole in 2015 when it was just her, one other girl, and her mom, working with just two chairs in flushing. I traveled two hours round trip (sometimes more in traffic) once a month EVERY single month 12 months a year to see her. Her creativity, attention to detail, and pure genius was something rare and truly one of a kind.

I was so excited when she moved to this location in Murray hill—the larger space that she deserves, that we all deserve, because now more people can experience her genius. The space is big and bright and always very clean.

Now, when you see somebody consistently, every month for every year for 10 years straight, you get to know them. And Nicole is the hardest working person I’ve ever met— she rarely takes a day off if ever and goes on maybe barely one vacation a year. For that alone, I love supporting her business and seeing her flourish; nail art is ubiquitous now and it’s not an easy job.

She has now trained her staff to the same level of expertise in nail art, and I trust any one of them to do my nails (just look at the photos I attached, the recent ones were all done by her staff as she kept a close eye on progress !). They are super detailed and so fast and efficient, which I always appreciate immensely. They can do ANY design you throw at them, and I mean anything at all. Beyond the mastery of the craft, Nicole and her staff are just great human beings. I got engaged recently and before my trip I had a hunch, I knew what my ring would look like and described it to them , and Nicole and her staff put their heads together to thoughtfully create a beautiful design to complement my yellow diamond, while still staying true to my individual style. All of my manicures here stay perfectly intact until I go back to remove the following month (4-6weeks).

If you love pretty nails, you should read that New York Times article (the price of nice nails). This is not an easy industry— the workers are constantly inhaling fumes, it’s long hours hunched over , And who wants acrylic nail dust (or real nail dust ) all their hair and clothes constantly? complicated designs take a long time to create and the price can and should reflect that, so keep that in mind when you think about cost. Most of Nicoles staff have been with her for years, I like that I go into the salon and see familiar faces all throughout the years. I can only assume that the staff are happy, which is why they’ve stayed for so long.

If you can’t tell by now, I’m a big fan of Nicole and coco nail art, in more than one way. If something happens during your appt and you are unhappy with your service, please speak up to the technician, they would rather hear your thoughts and correct whatever it is than have you go home unhappy— and trust me, even though I’ve been coming here for 10 years I can still be a Karen about having my nails just the way I want it! If you haven’t come yet and are debating, I urge you to give it a shot because not only will you walk away with gorgeous mesmerizing nails that will distract you all day, but you can feel good knowing that you’re supporting a really great business with really great people. Love you coco...

I've come to Coco's on and off for about 10 years (I work at NYU). I'm not consistent b/c their techs are not consistent. I like nail art and sometimes they miss the mark, but I would go back b/c it's convenient,. Last night will be the last time.

I want to start by saying that I had my nails done by Daniela back in April, and they held up well until May 22, with only minor chipping due to nail growth. I was pleased with the results at that time. When I returned for a new set, I showed her the chrome design I wanted. After the first coat, I noticed it was transparent and mentioned it to her. She assured me that a second coat would fix it, but when that didn’t fully work (you could still see my nail), I suggested switching to a regular green gel color instead. At that point, a manager informed me that I would still have to pay for the additional $45 for chrome, which didn’t make sense. I explained my preference for the chrome (so it wasn't a color change) and stated that if it remained transparent, a color change was necessary. The manager dismissed my concerns, claiming it was my problem and the work was already done, even after reiterating I DID mention something prior to the 2nd coat. I ended up leaving with plain black nails instead of the green and gold I had wanted for my birthday. I’m attaching a photo to show how my natural nail color was visible through the chrome.

I'm also posting b/c of how disappointing the transaction was. There was no problem solving on their end. They didn't offer to add a 3rd coat, or change to a different chrome that was less transparent. I understand it was late (my appointment was at 6pm and at that point it was after 8pm - I paid for gel builder/hard gel), they didn't even offer me to return tomorrow to correct with more time My only option was "cover it and pay for a service you didn't receive". I did not do this, and I shouldn't have been asked to do so.

Even with their inconsistent results and expensive prices, I used to still recommend Coco (and followed them on IG) to friends and colleagues because they were clean and efficient. However, the way I was treated last night was really off-putting and made me question "why ME". I have my theories about it, but instead of dwelling on that, I’ll just share my experience and explain why I won’t be returning, which is disappointing for someone who has been a customer for...

Probably most annoying experience, I made an appointment to get my nails done. i had long nails and i made it clear i wanted to keep them long and tech made it shorter than i wanted . She filed it so bad that i had to literally take the filer from her hand and do the job myself , she never compared the sizes and lengths of my nails , so thanks to her my nails look asymmetrical. everytime id explain what i wanted my nails to look like and what i didn't want them to look like she'd be very sarcastic and laugh, which was very rude. I paid to get hard gel but what's the point if she applies the hard gel and files it entirely. While my hard gel was drying my nails hurt so much i could barely take it, she said its ok because the product is strong, guess what? it's not normal , nail process shouldn't hurt that much and she was also rough on filing my nail . at the point where i asked to get the design on my nail, i wanted to get silver design on my nail which was 3D , she failed to draw the design and didn't make it 3D and claimed it wasn't 3d in the picture however in the picture you clearly can see that the deisgn is above the surface of the natural nail. Whatever , then the design looked nothing like the picture and i nicely asked to have it removed because it wasn't the same as in the picture and if i let my nails stay that way , id get bothered to have to look at it. ,,, i wanted to get a pink diamond in the center of my nail and she said it wouldn't look good with brown base, well thanks for the opinon but that's the design i want, im paying for it and i said i wanted pink gem again wnd she is like you should match the color of a base ( brown) with design, i was like..... I want pink gem and she said she doeen't have it . like ..... that's a lie, cus the place looks like they have a lot of things , what about purple i asked? she said no. Red? - no. that was weird , her name was like Senna or something like that. I paid 115$ + tip to get my nails look like this. Never...