One L Professional — Local services in New York

I visited this nail salon today with a friend, hoping for a relaxing and healing experience, but unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had.

From the very beginning, the service was uncomfortable. During the removal of my old nails, the technician used a drill with high intensity, such excessive pressure that it caused pain, and she never once checked to see if I was okay. The lack of control even caused two of my nails to break, requiring repair work.

I had extensions on three fingers, and while I initially asked to keep them if possible, the technician advised removal due to cracks, which I agreed to. However, after the basic care was finished, there was still a thick layer of old glitter polish remaining on 3–4 nails. When I politely asked for it to be removed, I was met with rude responses such as, “Why are you worried?”, “You asked to leave it,” and “There’s no need to remove it.” Regardless of the extension situation, isn’t it a basic procedure to remove old polish completely before applying new nail color? This made no sense and was extremely frustrating.

After that, the technician started drilling the lower part of my natural nail (the arched area, under the free edge) rather than the surface where the old gel was still present which needs to be removed, trying to thin out my nails. It was such a bizarre and concerning situation that I asked her to stop. But by then, I was too exhausted and frustrated to say anything more, so the new gel polish was applied directly over the thick, leftover gel.

Despite this, the technician proceeded with the next steps. During shaping, she was unable to achieve the shape I had requested, and I ended up having to file my own nails. Normally, any rough edges with hanging nails or loose nail pieces would be cleaned up before moving on, but she skipped this entirely and applied the base, color, and top coat over a messy, unrefined nail.

I was told the service would take two hours, so I scheduled a meeting afterward. However, the basic care alone took two hours, and the entire process just for a one-color gel ended up taking 2 hours and 40 minutes. Not only did I miss my meeting, but I also left physically and mentally exhausted, and my nails were hurt and damaged.

If the technician lacked skill, the experience could’ve been salvaged with good communication, decent English, efficiency, or even just awareness. Unfortunately, none of those were present. So many fundamental things were missing, leaving me feeling incredibly disappointed. However, I do want to mention that the receptionist was polite and welcoming.

Allowing a technician with such inadequate skills to work on clients shows a lack of respect for customer care and standards.

Unless you’re looking to walk out more stressed and frustrated than when you walked in, I would strongly advise...

Updating—Olga contacted me regarding my experience at One L after I posted the original review and was happy to get me in to fix the nails I had an issue with. I came in today and Jenya did a great job (quick too) of fixing the shape and even mixed a custom color to match the rest of my nails as they did not have my original color at the Maiden Lane location.

Jenya did a hard gel russian manicure for me. For the most part my nails were okay, and I wish that I had looked them over more carefully before I left, because when I got home I noticed the shape on my one of my middle fingers was off and there was excess hard gel under the free edge of multiple nails. Honestly, this wouldn’t be such a big deal if the manicure wasn’t pricey. I’m not paying such a high price and tipping the technician to have my nails be just okay. I would like them to be perfect for 120+ dollars. I didn’t say anything or call them as I had already left and I’m 40 minutes away from the salon. About a week later, the corner of one of my nails chipped off, so I booked an appointment to have it repaired the same day. I came in and asked her to file the excess gel off from under the free edge of my nails, as well as repair the broken corner. She repaired the corner, and in the process got uncured builder gel on the skin of my thumb. You can develop contact dermatitis, or a “gel allergy” from having uncured gel on your skin/nails, which is why nail technicians make sure that your gel is cured fully under the lamp. She didn’t do a great job of wiping the gel off, but I elected to not say anything in the moment, which I regret. When she polished my nail, parts of the cuticle got flooded, and the repaired nail ended up being lumpy and thicker than my other nails. I asked her to make sure that there wasn’t any polish on my skin/in the cuticles and she didn’t fix it. I spoke to the woman at the front desk about my initial manicure and how I wasn’t quite satisfied. I did not mention anything the second tech had done as she ended up not charging me for the repair. She was calm and understanding and asked me to just inform the techs the next time I’m not happy with the details of my nails next time, and she did not charge me for the nail repair. Honestly, given that it’s my second time here and the nail technician who repaired my nail did not fix the polish on my skin when I asked her to, this was not the response I wanted—I would have really liked if she had gotten another tech to make sure ALL my nails were completely perfect. I don’t think I’ll come back for a russian...

I was going to this place for a while to do my nails I’m 7 months pregnant so I can’t stay 4 hours and plus to do my manicure and pedicure. I always plan a month ahead my appointment for gel manicure and gel pedicure in the same time but every month the day of my appointment I get a text saying the technician is in hospital cause of an car accident the first time I didn’t say anything cause I believe them I felt bad for the girl(I lost my little brother on a car accident) but when I got the same excuse today with a different technician two days before thanksgiving!! I was super upset and I told them to cancel all my future appointments. Too bad for them I was spending $200 and + at this place every 3-4 weeks and I’m not going to give them any more cents! If you girls want your nails to be done for a birthday wedding, holidays or simple event don’t go there they will cancel part or all of the appointment on the last minute and you will be left without nails done for your important event. Stay away!! Oh and by the way before they try to argue saying that they offer me alternative yes they did but not at the same time like I always do and I wasn’t able to stay there 4-5 hours specially after them lying to me everytime about a girl getting into car accidents. (Answer to your response) yes you told me it was an accident and not a health issue please stop lying! yes you ask me to reschedule and stay 4-5hours instead of the 2 hours that I’ve schedule month ago and I reminded you that I’m 7 month pregnant, and that i can’t stay that long. But instead of looking for a solution you were very rude and you told me now you have to make a choice either to come or to cancel. Well I canceled and I will never give you another chance. I already find a professional and caring nails salon that does the same technique. And please stop asking all your friends to put a good reviews for you instead you should improve you customer service to earn real good...