Varnish Lane Mt. Vernon Triangle — Local services in Washington

Great place, excellent service, awesome mani/pedi. FEMALE FOUNDED & WOMEN RUN!

I was initially hesitant to book an appt, because, unlike your traditional nail salons, Varnish Lane's services are all waterless. Frankly, I didn't understand how this could even work. Turns out, it's a hellofalot better.

On their website, Varnish Lane lists the reasons why a waterless mani/pedi is better; being the professional marketer I am, I did my own research prior to determine whether these statements were true, misleading, or completely false.

They all checked out.

More hygienic, cleaner, less likely to cause infections for customers.

Fun fact: water-soaked nails swell, therefore, after you've got your polish applied, and your nails completely dry, they retract to their "normal" state. This makes them far more susceptible to chipping, because the polish has already been "strained," if you will.

Better for the environment. Duh.

Aside from the style & technique itself, Varnish Lane is so relaxing. Whoever did the interior design definitely has a flair for Joanna Gaines, but puts an urban, modern spin on it. It's open and bright, you can breathe properly when you walk in, and it. is. clean. as. all. get. out. The cleanest. Seriously. It's so clean.

And, there's no TV. No need to worry about a constant stream of news, or an ungodly amount of Taylor Swift, and/or Adele power ballads. No Adam Levine & his perplexingly terrible tattoos serenading you for the 4th time in 40 minutes.

My mani and pedi look awesome, but the service I received from the wonderful ladies who beautified my hands and feet is just as important as the outcome. Shout out to both Emma & Gima for their meticulous, thorough, and awesome work.

In addition, the manager, Gabby, was kind enough to answer some questions I had, despite the fact that I'd overstayed my welcome by about 10-15min.

On top of the excellent service, ambiance, and skill of the techs, Varnish Lane was founded and is run by a mother-daughter team.

#femalefounded #womenrun

At this point, do you need any more reasons to book an appt? No, you don't. Oh, btw, you also get champagne. So...now you have no excuses. Get...

Updated review: I am a very frequent client at this place. Unfortunately, the last time I went there I wasn’t happy with my manicure for the following reasons:

My nails as you see in the photo (with the white colour) have stamps on them. The technician mentioned that this specific colour was problematic. I told her that I am happy to change colour so I don’t make her job difficult, but she said no it’s fine. She fixed 2 of the nails and asked her colleague that books the appointments to finish her job and add some top coat on these 2 nails !!! Then, I kindly asked her to fix the other 2 nails so I don’t leave with my nails like these, but she said that she didn’t have time because she had another client waiting for her. So they offered me to come another day to fix my nails…

I got charged 12 dollars (additionally to the price of the manicure I did) because I chose the dazzle dry brand. I am fine with paying this amount but it’s good to inform clients when choosing their colour that this has an additional charge.

I thought it is useful to leave this updated review here also for the manager of this place so they are aware of these practices.

I hope in my next visit I don’t experience this again. I will give another try to this place because they have some good technicians :)

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Old review: I really enjoyed my experience here. I was happy with my manicure. The atmosphere is nice and you can relax there. Staff is helpful and friendly. They have lots of colours you can choose for a simple manicure or gel. They are clean. I will visit...

I purchased a gel manicure during the buy one get one free offer in January. I was never sent a confirmation email, text, or notification that had information about the voucher. When I asked the front desk receptionist about it, she said that it was a new promotion and that's why I hadn't received anything. There was no indication that it had any expiration date or restrictions and I was never informed by anyone of that either. I called earlier this week to ask how I could use my free manicure and the woman on the phone said to just make an appointment online and then inform the receptionist when I arrive that I had purchased the buy one get one free manicure and was going to use my free manicure. The woman at the front desk said that it had already expired and that there was nothing they could do. I told her that I was never informed that there was an expiration date, nor was there anything on the website during the time of purchase indicating that there was one. I had never even received an email with any of this information!!! She told me to send an email since neither her or her manager could do anything about it. When I thanked her and went to leave, she had the nerve to ask if I still wanted the service and I told her that I was not able to pay for a manicure, the only reason I went there is because I had a free manicure!! Then a few hours later, they have the nerve to charge my card!!! This is so unprofessional and I will be...