THE NAIL LOFT DC — Local services in Washington

I think this place is hit or miss, depending on the nail tech you get. I was in DC for work and needed a salon that did BIAB. The first time I went in, I scheduled a gel pedicure and BIAB “full set.” First off, the online scheduling for this salon is completely pointless. When you get there and “check in,” you’re basically scheduling your services. You can tell they are not tracking what you want. I really found this out the second time I went… They were able to sit me down right away. I only had gel polish on my nails and I’ll admit, they were not in the best condition. The gentleman they paired me with attempted to take my gel polish off with the drill only. I have never seen that. In the past, all salons have wrapped my nails in acetone first. It took a couple of times of him hurting me with the drill for him to finally wrap my nails with acetone. We moved on to the pedicure and, again, he attempted to take my gel polish off with a drill only. My toenails are not generally sensitive, but he hurt me when attempting to take off the polish. I guess he was over it because he requested someone else do my nails. I wasn’t upset about that because I would prefer someone else do them than he continue to try and continue to hurt me. The lady who finished my toes and my nails was great. Very friendly and gentle. She is the only reason for two stars, otherwise, I’d give this salon a one because you can’t give 0. Overall, she did a great job, but I did notice she did not focus on creating an apex with the builder gel. I notice a lot of salons are like this. They just put the gel on and use a drill to take off the excess. This was obvious when I looked at my nails from the side (see picture). The majority of the gel is at the base of my nail. While I appreciate her not making the tips too thick, this method resulted in the builder gel breaking on many of my nails (you can see in some of the pics). That is actually the reason for my second visit. I had a broken nail I needed repaired and I wanted to clean up my cuticles. Again, I scheduled online for no reason at all. I picked the lady who originally did my nails and the website allowed me to do so. However, when I got to the salon, she was busy. It took them a while to find someone to do my nails, although there were plenty of nail techs sitting around doing nothing. When the lady finally came out and sat me down, she wasn’t even tracking I also needed a nail fixed. She started with the cuticles and I noticed she used a lot of pressure. I was nervous she was going to cut me, but luckily she didn’t. When we started the nail repair, she realized that it was lifted some so she attempted TO PEEL THE REST OF THE BUILDER GEL OFF MY NAIL. You do not have to be a professional to know you NEVER peel off any product from your nails so as not to damage them! When I mentioned my concern, she continued to do it until I straight up told her to stop because she was going to hurt my natural nail. Instead of attempting to use acetone, she got the drill out. Ofc that also hurt. She kept on telling me to relax and that she was almost done. I was able to keep my cool at the time, but I’m honestly so livid writing this. This woman should NOT be allowed to touch anyone’s nails ever again. She eventually stopped but had a horrible attitude afterward. She did not realize that I did not have a colored gel polish on my previous set. It was a pink builder gel with clear polish over it. She got a clear builder gel to fix my nail 😑 she also did such a horrible job. I honestly don’t understand how she is considered a nail technician. Please see the pictures. Again, no attempt to build an apex, it is so thick and you can see it even going over the cuticle. Just horribly done. Needless to say, she did not get a tip. If you’re getting a normal manicure or pedicure, you may be safe. Otherwise, I would stay away from this...

[11/25 Edit]

I have added another star to my previous review; I stand by what I wrote regarding my first experience but I am also happy to report that I received great customer service afterwards. While I was unhappy with my first manicure, the owner reached out immediately and was kind, understanding, and open to feedback.

I went back in to have my manicure redone by Ivy and Scarlett (I may have her name wrong) and they were both wonderful and very detail orientated. The photo of the red manicure is the redone one.

Overall, while my first experience wasn't the best the owner had effective customer service and made sure that I was happy with my subsequent visit. I would recommend this salon, specifically Ivy and her sister. I will probably be back.

[Original Review]

Pros: Easy booking system, easy check in process, clean facility, reasonable pricing, good customer service

Cons: The first manicure that I has was not good

I appreciate how easy it was to book and check in, and the pricing for services was very clear. The gentleman who checked me in was very nice and the salon appeared clean. I thought that the pricing was reasonable for downtown DC and the location is accessible via public transit.

Unfortunately, the quality of my manicure is pretty poor. My appointment was in the evening so this might be a case of a nail tech who had already had a long day, but in that case the salon should take into account adequate breaks for employees when scheduling appointments.

Every nail on my right hand has missing polish on the left side of the nail, and most of the nails on my left hand have flooded cuticles. I had a few specks of varnish on my nails from my last manicure and those weren’t removed so now I can still see them through my polish.

I’m sure that the tech would have fixed these issues if I had brought them up, but I prefer an experience where I can relax and don’t feel the need to do quality control after each step.

The pedicure was nice and well done. I can’t speak to the other services but I would skip this place if you like a classic manicure or are particular about nail...

Short version: Stay away or risk ruining your nail health! They filed/drilled my nails down to 75% of their thickness, half have chipped within a week and it's dip powder, all my nails hurt when they bump into something because of how thin they made them. If there was no dip powder I wouldn't be able to touch anything without my nails bending or feeling pain because of how much of the nail is gone. I even yelped out in pain at one point to which she just smiled and kept going.

This place DESTROYED my nails. Ruined years of making my nails thick and healthy. I came in with dip powder on, and have only had dip on my nails for the last 4 years. They removed the powder AND about 75% of my actual nail. My nails were so paper thin when I went to wash my hands half-way through the service, the cold water hurt my nails and they bent while scrubbing with soap. Then when she put the first coat on, my nails burned from the polish because of how thin she made them, I even yelped out in pain at one point to which she just smiled and kept going. The final product, my nails WITH dip powder are now thinner than my nails naturally with nothing on them, which is insane. Not to mention 24 hours later half my pointer nail is broken/chipped. I waited a week to write this review because I had a feeling they would just get worse, and they did. Now FIVE of my 10 nails have chipped, and not just the dip. Because of how thin they destroyed my nails, my real nails just broke too so now after working months of growth (having long natural nails), and years of thickness, my nails are nubs, thinner than they have ever been in my entire life. I am so shocked a nail salon had the ability to do this much damage. I hope no one makes the mistake of coming here because now I will need close to a year for my nails to fully re-grow. I am sincerely so angry, and cannot believe I paid $65 plus a $10 tip for my nail health to be...