Peach Bling | Japanese Nail Atelier — Local services in New York

TLDR: The shop will say this is just a misunderstanding but misunderstanding aside, this place is overpriced and not worth the hype.

I arrived 12 minutes early. My appointment was at 10:10, I arrived to the building at 9:58 and was in my seat by 10:00. I booked with Erica for their weekday mani pedi combo. I have short nails and was prepared to pay extra for very minor extensions—I type all day and do not like long nails. When explaining to Erica that I might need extensions due to my nails being so short, she told me there wasn’t enough time for that.

She then went to a coworker, explained the situation, and returned to tell me that I could either have the extensions added and no pedi, or I could have the mani pedi on natural nails. Already, that rubbed me the wrong way, because I arrived early and this was just really rude. I told her it was fine, though, and that I wanted to mani pedi so we should just proceed with the service.

We started with manicure prep and then moved on to my pedicure. The pedicure was just alright so I don’t really have anything to say about it, then we went back to my manicure. We, apparently, actually did have the time to do tips and so Erica told me it would be extra—I thought the number she said was $15, turns out it was $50.

I chose not to tip when I was done, because paying $128–or even $150 if the extensions I put on were say $15 or $20–is something I was more than fine with. But $186? That feels a little crazy. After leaving, I received a text (screenshotted below) inquiring about my choice not to tip, to which I responded that I felt like the service was overpriced for such a basic experience—this was honestly the icing on the cake because I have NEVER been asked about a tip like this before. They told me Erica just didn’t explain things clearly enough, though, and I agree.

There’s also more I can say about the customer service, starting from being greeted very rudely (like it was an inconvenience to them that I was there) upon entry—but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt for that since I was one of the first people in the salon and not everyone is a morning person. But I’m for sure never coming back.

Overall, I think this place is extremely overpriced for the kind of work received. I have no issues paying nearly $200 for nails if the nails were actually something outside of (like cat eye nails, adding a design, etc.) a basic single-color gel mani and pedi. This salon seems to have an answer for every negative review and I’m sure mine won’t be any different.

Update: a nail is already chipped just...

They ruined my nails. The 1st time I went the appointment went alright. They filed my nails down quite a bit but I wasn’t too worried as I haven’t had any enhancements for months. I really enjoyed the cat eye polish which is hard to find. They do lack in the regular color department compared to other salons. The place is also not very sanitary. They do not require anyone to wash their hands before starting and the same nail bit and hand file used on the client before me was used on me. It was very obvious they had been used on multiple people and honestly maybe even more than one day as they were quite dirty and worn down. The only thing soaking in a sanitizer was the cuticle clipper and brush used for gel application however they both had a lot of build up on them. My polish lasted 4 days before chipping. My 2nd appointment is when everything fell apart. While removing the previous color they took off too much of my natural nail and it began to hurt and it hurt even more going under the lamp with my first ever heat spike experience. I ended up getting clear because I was in so much pain I just wanted to leave. They kept urging me to get a color but I declined. Once I walked out I realized why they probably wanted me to get a color and it’s because my nails were terrible and now it was visible. I had a ring of fire on multiple nails, everywhere they filed before was red and the tips of my nails were so thin they were transparent. This manicure last 3 days before chipping and by day 6 all of it had fallen off which should definitely not happen for the price. Since my nails were so damaged and thin, the tips basically tore off without the product to protect it. When looking from the side you can tell how many layers were removed as it visibly dips in as well as you can still see the obvious filing pattern compared to my new nail. It has been about 1.5 month since my last appointment here and my nails are still just as painful and all I can do is wear clear regular polish and keep them short until the damage is gone. I will never forgive this salon and urge everyone thinking of coming here to seek out other...

I have been growing out my nails for a few weeks now and it’s been a while since I’ve treated myself to a manicure because I wanted my natural nails “to breathe”. Lo and behold, I discovered Peach Bling when I came across their post on IG of a beautiful purple cat eye manicure. I saw that they specialize in non-toxic Japanese hard gel, which the manager preaches “is better than acrylics” and that was perfect for me since I wanted to take a break from acrylics. So I decided to take a trip to Peach Bling! The salon is conveniently located near the E train.

I got a Structured Gel Mani done by Yamaguchi. I let her know that I wanted to keep my length and then, she meticulously filed my nails into my desired almond shape while making sure all my nails were the same length. One thing I highly appreciated that Yamaguchi did was test the intensity of the electric files on herself before applying it on me. She was very careful and gentle while removing my cuticles with the electric files. Taking inspo from their IG post, I decided to do a berry cat eye (I’m not sure what exactly the name of the color is, but the nail polish bottle said “purple” on top of the cap). Yamaguchi did one nail to make sure I was satisfied with the result and once I confirmed, she continued with the other nails. I appreciate that she was constantly checking in to make sure I was satisfied before proceeding to the next step. Overall, I admire Yamaguchi’s work and customer service. The manager is also kind and communicates expectations to clients clearly and concisely.

I’ve had horrible experiences in the past with nail techs at other salons over cutting my cuticles to the point that it would hurt and bleed, as well as, over-filing my nails to the point where they were incredibly thin. You don’t have to worry about all this with Yamaguchi! 10/10 recommend, will...