Varnish Lane West End — Local services in Washington

I'm really disappointed with my appointment today. I have been here a couple times before today and I was so happy with the results. Today I got a gel pedicure for the first time. Here is a rundown of my appointment:

The person doing my nails didn't do a good job, she was rushing throughout the entire appointment.

As soon as she saw my feet, she instantly started speaking to her coworker (it felt as if she was talking about my feet) I'll let that slide due to not understanding the language.

My toes have been hurting since I left my appointment. I have never had problems when people would do my nails nor would they hurt afterwards, but today they've been hurting. She was cutting them with a cuticle cutter when the nail cutter was in front of her.

On some of my nails it looks like there is a stack of nail polish and doesn't look smooth at all.

If I had any opinion on my nails, I'd be given a rude glare making it feel like I couldn't have an opinion. If I have to pay someone to do something I feel as if I have some right to have an opinion.

I asked if the lady could scrub my feet a little more. I was told I had picked the main luxe and it would cost more to scrub my feet. Why? It didn't make sense. So are they only putting lotion, oils, cutting your nails, and putting on nail polish? That's ridiculous. I went home and it took me five minutes to scrub my feet to get rid of dead skin.

I wasn't offered any water. If I'm paying for something "luxurious" I might as well feel somewhat of that treatment. There was barely any customers for anyone to have forgotten.

The brush the lady was using fell on the floor FOUR times and didn’t think to sanitize it before putting it on my feet. I should’ve taken that as a red flag and left. These people aren’t clean, they give off that illusion. There was a rag on my chair when I got there which was drenched in oil.

I understand that putting on nail polish on others can be challenging but this is a nail salon and I except people have to go through a training before being a nail tech. There isn't a nail tech at this location that do designs which is unbelievable.

I had planned to have a nice day by getting a pedicure and throughout my entire appointment I was stressed out. For the price, I could've easily done it all on my own for less than $50. However, I came to relax and enjoy my appointment, but left frustrated and sad. I will not be returning any longer and will not be...

I first tried Varnish Lane last year thanks to a gift card from a friend. I had Marjorie & was pleased with the result. For this past Christmas, I asked for a VL gift card since I typically do my own nails. My office is close to here so I made an appointment for 5:05. I asked the receptionist if a simple nail art was possible & she said she'd have to ask. I got there a little early so was happy to wait...ended up waiting till 5:17 for someone to start on my nails. The appointment email suggests this is supposed to take 50 minutes. While my nails are being prepped, 2 nail techs are looking at the nail design inspiration I want - they don't quite give me a clear answer on whether or not this is possible. It's towards the end of the hour & my nail tech wants me to pick out a color - which I was confused about because I showed them, if I couldn't get a design, the Hailey Bieber glazed donut nail I'd want, but I guess that wasn't possible either? As I'm looking, I realize I don't want to get a gel color that lasts for weeks when I really wanted a design in the first place. Everyone at the location was accommodating but I think VL management should sort themselves out because I find it silly that their whole IG feed is essentially designs but I couldn't even get a design on one finger. I ended up paying $27 for bare nails. By the time I leave, it is literally 6:10pm - so I was a little salty for spending an hour there for bare nails that cost me over $30 with tip... VL should make sure their staff isn't overworked/they shouldn't overbook their staff.

*Because I didn't get a design I had to go back the next morning! I've changed the stars to reflect the positive experience from Ari. Much better than the previous day. The receptionist & Ari even asked why a design wasn't possible last night (said I was very confused too!!). I went in & they took my coat, got me tea. Ari was prompt, detailed & gentle with my nails. She's very friendly & I finally got a basic line design...

I was extremely disappointed by the service and lack of care that I received after attempting to get a regular manicure at Varnish Lane this past weekend. First, the manicurist began painting a French manicure onto my nails without a base coat and when I inquired about this, she told me she would do a base coat after the French, which made no sense. She then shared that she actually could not do a French manicure after all after trying unsuccessfully with a blue nail polish, so I told her it was okay and let’s switch to a neutral color instead and forget about the French altogether to make things easier. She then rushed to finish my manicure, again skipping the base coat, resulting in the streaky, unfinished looking manicure shown in the photos (my cuticles also were not cleaned up and the blue from the attempted French was still all over some of my nails). After unsuccessfully speaking up, I asked the front desk person if there was anything they could do, she brought another manicurist over. I asked the new manicurist if she could fix the work her colleague had done and she basically said no and so I just asked her to remove it and do a clear coat since I had already been there for about an hour and a half. After the clear coat, I asked her to clean up my cuticles and she said she did not have time. I then asked if she could at least give me oil or lotion since my hands were extremely dry and she just plopped a huge glob of lotion onto one of my hands and told me to rub it in when my clear coat was dry and then promptly turned around and left. My entire experience was essentially: being dismissed, receiving terrible service, and ultimately not getting a manicure despite having paid for one, thus wasting both my time and money. The front desk person did give me a 20% discount, which was kind but insufficient. This is extremely disappointing as I was excited to try Varnish Lane but I will certainly not be returning if this is the service they provide their...