Inspire Nail Bar Navy Yard — Local services in Washington

I never leave bad reviews but this salon is unprofessional. I’ve been going to Inspire Nail Bar for the last few months, every 2-3 weeks. I’ve had several technicians - mostly ok. Henry gets a personal shout out because he gave me an exceptional pedicure and dip manicure my first time in.

Today I had an acrylic fill with Lily and it was the worst experience I’ve had in the 15+ years I’ve been getting my nails done. First off, my appointment started 10 minutes late but I didn’t say anything because this was way better than last time when they were 25 minutes late for my appointment. Once I sat down I explained to Lily that my nails can be sensitive and one was damaged by a colleague a few fills ago and to go lightly with the dremmel. She thanked me for letting her know but then when she used it and my nail started getting warm and I told her she got visually frustrated. Then I asked her if she could trim the new growth off of my nails. A very standard practice when getting an acrylic fill. She said it will be $10 extra. $10!? This is standard practice! In my 15+ years I’ve never ever seen this. I explained that is insane and I’ve never been charged that, even at this salon, and she raised her voice at me. I was so uncomfortable and wanted to walk out but didn’t want to pay for a 1/3 job! Then when it came to polish time she didn’t use a base. I asked about it and she said you don’t need one with acrylic. Again, first time for this..but maybe she’s right? Finally..the polish job was very sloppy. Pooling of polish at the cuticle and on the sides. Terrible. Terrible. Experience. I worked in the service industry for over 10 years and would have been fired if I behaved the way she did.

Outside of Lily’s poor attitude and performance, I think it’s important to include a pic from weeks ago where another tech ruined my nail. I understand things happen and never made a stink before but clearly this salon needs some mentoring..

Lastly, when I asked for the manager the receptionist said she was not there. I asked her if she’d be in the next day because I live across the street and would happily stop by. She said the manager had a baby and only “pops in occasionally.” Listen I’m all for maternity leave and hope the woman has adequate time with her newborn, but does this salon not have another manager!? Is no one monitoring what’s going on!? Maybe this is why the place is an absolute circus.

Save yourself a headache, a shit manicure, and a the extra $10 to trim...

This place has a lot of promise, but I didn’t have the best experience.

Positives: great color selection (and consistency across regular and gel polish), beautiful space, free drinks and snacks offered and friendly staff

Cons: I didn’t have a great nail technician. -My nails (fingers and toes) were initially filed unevenly, which I expressed. The tech tried to fix them but eventually I needed to fix a few of them myself. Portions of my nails were left unpainted (especially on the sides and bottom)— someone told me the day after that it looked like I’d gotten my nails done the week before, likely because of this -Instead of checking the polish coverage as she went, my nail tech decided to aggressively file off any sides of my nails that weren’t polished which really hurt (I told her but she continued to do it) and my nail beds were sore for at least 24 hours after that. I expressed concern that my nails were filed AFTER the gel polish had been cured for fear of it breaking the barrier that would keep the gel on and I was told it was ‘ok’ which was not correct according to sources I found online so I had to ask another nail tech to add another clear coat to seal the nails Got a design, and I was trying to explain what I wanted and a neighboring nail tech tried to discourage me from clarifying the design I wanted unprompted (I was sure to be polite and patient with my tech while describing what I wanted, even providing pictures) because the nail tech ‘had been doing nails for decades,’ which made me feel uncomfortable.

Again, I think there are a lot of great things about this place, and maybe my nail tech was less experienced, but I do think the service itself could use some finesse. All in all, I would return and give it...

This place started off good. I’ve been here about four times now and the last two times have not been the greatest Customer Service. The first instance, my nail tech double booked me with someone else at the same time so another nail tech ended up doing my nails. my nails were done and incorrectly and I was asked to come back to get my nails redone however they still made me pay for a service that was not correct. the most recent issue was I had an appointment in the morning and none of the Nail Techs were there on time apparently due to traffic. I was asked to come back later and that I would receive a call however, no one ever called me. I had to call back to follow up on what time I should come back. I also was not made a priority, considering the fact that I was one of the very first appointments right when they opened and was told that my original nail tech could not accommodate me due to the fact that she had an appointment at that time that I was planning to come, however I should be made a priority and nothing was offered in terms of a discount for the inconvenience for the delayed service . This place seems to lack Customer Service. also if you ask a nail tech to do something sometimes they will push back on you and not listen to your request. I will only be returning if it is a last-minute emergency to get my nails done outside of that I’m not sure that I would continue to give this place my money due to their lack of good customer service and the multiple...