Mutha Pearl — Local services in New York

I really wanted to like this place, when I went the first time everyone seemed very nice and they have a really cool space. I got a gel manicure with nail art on a few of the nails, and it was a little over $100 - bit on the expensive side, but I was pretty happy with them... at first. Usually when I get gel done, it lasts four weeks or more if I don't mind my nails growing out. Not even two weeks later, this gel started to crack and lift at the base. One nail was especially bad, and a few others were heading in the same direction. Because I'm used to gel lasting so much longer, I stopped in and asked if they would mind removing this gel and just doing a regular manicure without art to try and get them to last a little longer. Unfortunately, I was told they have a "3 day" return policy. For regular nail polish, sure. But for gel? You expect more given what they charge for it. Eventually they agreed to do this for me (after I was asked to make sure to tip again, which of course I would have done... but okay fine, I can see how some people might not). Then I sat down and the technician told me my nails were fine except for the one really bad one, and that it was my fault for "washing my hands too much". Um, okay? I tried to nicely point out there were several other cracks forming and in the next day or two I'd end up with the same problem if I didn't take care of it now, but she then proceeded to tell me with an attitude that I was "the first person ever to return and want their nails redone" as she began roughly sanding the gel off my nails. I've had gel removed tons of times before at other places and I can honestly say it has never, ever hurt... but in this case, I barely got through it. She actually burned one of my nail beds and the rest didn't fare much better. As soon as she was done, I gave her a tip (which she did not deserve at all, but I'm not a jerk) and left without getting the polish replaced - at that point, I couldn't stand sit in there for one more moment. So over $100 plus two rounds of tips later, I ended up going home, cutting my nails off because they were ruined, and sticking my hands in ice so my nail beds stop burning. It's a very weird and passive-aggressive tactic to agree to make something right with a customer, and then try and make them feel absolutely horrible - mentally and physically in this case - the whole time you're "fixing" the situation. A little kindness would have gone a long way; I would've been happy to assume the gel cracking was a one-off and still come back had they been nice and understanding about it, and I also would've given a nice tip to the second technician for doing me that kindness as well. But after the way I was treated, I definitely will not be returning and wouldn't recommend this place to anyone else either. (Edit: A few days later, if I so much as bend my nails, try and open a can, anything like that - I feel immediate burning pain. Cracks have formed in several of them nearly all the way at the base of the nail… I truly truly hope this technician is never allowed to do this to anyone...

I have visited this salon 4 times and unfortunately it has been a disappointing experience 3 out of the 4 times. The quality of the manicure the first two times was good but the service and wait times were not.

My second time I had an appointment for a gel mani and regular pedi. My appointment was at 3pm and my timestamped photos show my appointment did not start until 3:35pm. As I made an appointment and did not walk in, I was disappointed with the wait time. My tech was kind about it and gave me a structured gel manicure (which I did not ask for) for free instead of a discount. I would have preferred the discount for the below reason. The quality of this manicure I will say was VERY good and i appreciated her making up for me waiting a while.

When I went back to get this gel manicure removed and another done, I once again had to wait 15 minutes, and the nail tech I booked wasn't even available or finished, so someone else took me. This nail technician was fine but did not want to round the edges of my nails even though requested because she did not like doing it and did the manicure very very thick. They then wanted to charge me $25 for the removal of the structured gel - which made me upset because I did not even ask for structured gel in the first place the time before. Additionally I was charged $15 for the cateye effect on my nails when last time I was not charged for it.

I went to get this gel manicure removed yesterday. Firstly I wasn't expecting to be charged the $15 for removal considering I had gotten the gel done there, but was told i needed to pay and then i got home and on every single finger nail there was still significant residue of the gel manicure - very disappointing. I dont even want to go back to see if they will fix it because of the wait times and how I feel like they will be rude.

Overall disappointing bc quality of manicures and pedicures has generally been good but wait times, service, and inconsistent pricing makes me never...

I visited this established about a month ago and had Monica as my technician and had a lovely experience.

However, I scheduled an appointment for yesterday and informed the staff that I would be using pulsd. The technician, Yumi, told me that she does not accept pulsd and that she would schedule me for the next day with a technician that does. Nowhere on pulsd during the booking process does it state that certain technicians do not accept the promotion; however, I went along with it.

Today, I arrived at 5:54pm for my 6:00pm appointment with Sonia. I waited until 6:25pm for her to start while she finished with another client. Upon starting, she never apologized for running late. During the process, she was very rough and she did not even do an adequate job with the pedicure. I attached a picture of my heals post-pedicure). The whole process was rushed. And then after finishing the pedicure she took a break to go to the bathroom, which was baffling as she was already so behind.

I informed her of the color I wanted which I wrote down from my previous visit and really liked. Upon finishing, she said it would be $15 for the gel removal. I informed her the gel was done here to go before and she stated that, “it is our policy to charge for every gel removal even if it is done here.” I am appalled that she would say that after making me wait for so long and running behind so much I had to cancel my plans for the evening and reschedule.

Definitely not a good experience to...