ON THE TIP OF A TREND
As manicures move from simple grooming ritual to fashion accessory, they’ve become a statement that says as much about you as your latest Facebook update.
Yet nail fans are more challenged than ever to find salons that can keep pace with ever-changing nail colors, top coats and textures that offer numerous possibilities to personalize polish.
Partly to bolster their recession-battered business, nail salons have transformed by adding more spa-like services, fresher and better-smelling air, and more emphasis on fashion. Simple neighborhood salons have adapted by offering optional massages or discounts for cash or multiple services.
Getting a manicure, especially in these dour days, is “an affordable accessory that changes your look and your outlook,” says Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, executive vice president and artistic director for OPI. “I call it psycho-a-nail-isis.”
Though steady sales of mid-priced nail polish indicate that women are doing DIY touch-ups to stretch manicures, salon visits haven’t been abandoned, according to Sarena Kirby, brand manager for China Glaze, a top-selling polish collection.
“It’s a little spa trip that doesn’t break the bank,” she says.
In search of salons that deliver a little more than fresh polish and neat cuticles, I spent a month visiting nail emporiums across Los Angeles County to scope out options in price, service and color trends. I found services that can match your budget, your mood and your lifestyle.
State of the art
Robbie Schaeffer spent nearly $3.4 million to build Rob/B, the nation’s first OPI Concept Salon. As nephew and son of OPI founders and executives, Schaeffer brought a lifetime of nail knowledge to the year-old Studio City salon.
While many nail salons smell like Superfund sites, Rob/B’s high-powered ventilation system passed my sniff test and is part of the salon’s pending Gold LEED certification, a “green” building rating system. In addition to being eco-friendly -- bamboo towels, recycled glass and other sustainable materials throughout -- it’s also gorgeous.
Frosted glass and bamboo partitions separate clients, chatter and fumes. Shimmering glass bowls on the reclining European Touch pedicure “thrones” look great and feel better, thanks to the programmable massage function. The manicure stations feature ergonomic Aeron chairs, individual sinks to improve sanitation, flat-screen TVs and artwork made from OPI polishes.
The salon carries the 230 OPI polish colors, plus dozens of specialty strengtheners, top coats and beauty products.
A series of extra scrubs, soaks and softeners turned my $45 spa manicure and $50 pedicure into priceless pampering, and not just because they were about $30 less than similarly indulgent services in upscale spas. My mani-pedi included warm-towel wraps and extra-long massages, but I especially liked the intense sanitation procedures.
All metal tools were blasted in a medical-grade autoclave and dispensed in sterile envelopes. My cuticles were coated with a sanitizing gel before any implements touched them (lest a hangnail invite infection). The pedicure basin circulated water that’s emptied between clients. And that gurgling water-wall fountain? It dampens noise and moistens the salon’s air.
I floated out of the salon with my first pain-free manicure and pedicure.
Rob/B OPI Concept Salon, 12246 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. (818) 980-7622. www.robbsalon.com
Haute hipster
Not every nail salon has the artistic sensibility to apply what I call a Goth-glitter manicure -- a textured trio of navy blue, gold glitter and the new China Glaze Matte Magic top coat, made to dull the final finish. Wicked.
But Gloss is in Silver Lake, where a tattoo is practically required for preschool admission, and the 4-year-old nail salon is accustomed to the neighborhood’s avant-garde tastes.
Co-owner Thien Ho grew up in Echo Park and in the nail business (her manicurist mom works at Gloss) and longed to create a moderately priced salon with upscale ambience. With a strip mall location, concrete floors, walls curtained floor to ceiling and a nook for fancy beauty products, Gloss gives off a gritty glamour. I would have liked fresher air and a cleaner, neater environment, but then, the basic manicure is only $15. A mani-pedi is $35.
My manicure included cuticle and nail grooming, a wrap of warm towels, a perfunctory massage and skilled polish application. The emery board and buffer were obviously new and fresh. Most manicures are performed in pedicure chairs, which required stretching an arm across my body to reach the technician, who sits to one side. Good thing my technician worked fast, neatly and painlessly.
Gloss has become a popular place for girlfriends to do group services, partly because the vibe is relaxed and the pedicure chairs are placed close for conversation. The salon is also known for its shelves of free books, where customers now bring their own best reads to exchange. I scored a Carl Hiaasen bestseller and great Goth-glitter nails, cheap.
Gloss, 2911 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 669-3977. www.myglossnailspa.com
Eco-conscious cuticles
You can be a block away and blindfolded yet pick up the scent of most nail salons. Cross the threshold at Recess, however, and your nose will think you’re in a spa. At the 1 1/2 -year old Beverly Boulevard salon, there are no noticeable fumes from anything other than the essential oils that perfume the pedicure baths.
Owner Nidhi Lal points out that Recess doesn’t offer acrylic nails -- a plus for the fume-sensitive such as pregnant women. Nail polish, by definition, can’t be organic, industry experts say, but Lal aims to make other aspects of the treatments gentler and less potentially toxic.
I had a leisurely, $50 spa pedicure that began with a soak in my choice of essential oil blends. I picked Indian Spice because its chai-like aroma matched the exotic Eastern decor of the spacious salon.
The amenities here are deluxe: You’re handed a flute of sparkling cider while lounging in an upholstered mani-pedi chair, watching movies on the flat-screen TVs. The technician wore surgical gloves while grooming my feet with implements sterilized in an autoclave.
Next? A gentle salt-sugar scrub, an oil foot massage, a warm paraffin wrap and a hot towel finale. I had a choice of dozens of polishes from Spa Ritual, but chose Zoya’s iridescent purple-green for some seriously sparkly toes.
As my polish dried, the technician cleaned the foot files and emery boards and gave them to me. It was a reassuring gesture that illustrated how Recess follows the rule of law and the high standards of the eco-conscious.
Recess, 8408-B Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 782-9919. www.recess-la.com
Cheap chic
With thousands of nondescript nail salons across Southern California, sometimes the selection comes down to price and convenience. I headed to the San Gabriel Valley, which is known for big discounts on labor-intensive services such as manicures, and landed at a friend’s favorite spot, Nail Time.
The strip-mall salon attracts a cross section of San Marino swells, Pasadena ladies and thrifty college students. It’s simple and clean, parking is free and, with the doors open, the air smells fresh.
Pay cash and all prices are discounted about 10%. A $10 basic manicure buys an efficient but not exceptional polish job and an iffy, sometimes painful cuticle trim.
It’s illegal, but unfortunately common, for salons to reuse any implement that can’t be sterilized, such as emery boards or buffer blocks, and violators risk a $100 fine. My wooden emery board and buffer sported streaks and dust, making me wonder if they had been used before. Two fingers into a cuticle trim, I began to notice what I thought was an unusual buildup of skin near the nipper’s hinge. But when I asked the technician if she was sure the implement was clean, she couldn’t understand my English -- nor I her Vietnamese accent.
My deep purple-black polish choice, OPI’s Lincoln Park After Dark, is challenging to apply well. Yet even after the technician scraped off excess with her own nails, dark polish remained on my cuticles.
Had I more time or money, I’d have gone for the $1-a-minute massage options, which include foot massages. A polish change is an affordable $5. Fill a frequent visitor card with 12 services and you earn a free spa pedicure.
Though I smarted about what I worried might be lapses in sanitation and the aggressive cuticle trim, my manicure lasted a mighty seven days without a chip.
Nail Time, 2245 E. Colorado Blvd., No. 102, Pasadena. (626) 449-7228.
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