Sakura Nails

I was shocked when I called Marie Nails for an appointment, only to find that they were completely booked up for the entire month!  I was in desperate need of a manicure and really wanted my nails done before our Mini Sakura Meet-up this weekend, so I decided to try somewhere new~

I went to Sakura Nail & Spa on the lower east side in Manhattan.  I called them two weeks in advance and they had lots of openings, they were able to get me in with no problem at all....I wonder why?   MAYBE BECAUSE THEIR PRICES ARE RIDICULOUS.  Ugh, I'm too ashamed to even say how much I spent on this manicure.  $20 gel removal, are you kidding me???  It's not like they were that difficult to remove since they were falling off anyway, and most places do that for free!

And I'm not even that satisfied by the quality of the manicure or the salon experience either, but I'll get to that later...

Here are my sakura nails that I got done at Sakura Nail & Spa for Sakura Matsuri...that's a whole lot of sakura.

Pink glitter gradation with flower stickers - $$$

This manicure took two freaking hours.  For two hours, I expect it to be impeccable but upon close inspection it's a bit sloppy.  My nails don't feel as smooth & invincible as they usually do with the gel.

I didn't get exactly what I wanted either...I didn't feel that they had much of a wide color selection, I wanted hot pink glitter but they didn't seem to have any.  I also had to ask a few times to see their sticker selection (for some reason the lower east side location doesn't do acrylic 3D art, just stickers...the upper east side does though), and even then the lady brought me just stars.  When I asked if she had any flowers, she came back with these white ones...I would have preferred pink.  Don't get me wrong, this manicure came out pretty but it's not what I wanted and the rest of my experience doesn't make me feel any better.

The salon is also set up with two seats and two manicurists at each station.  I can see how this would be nice if you're going with a friend, but it's not so nice when the woman next to you brings her little kid that is climbing all over the place.  I don't go to a nail salon to babysit or make friends with little kids, I go to relax...

The receptionist was extremely sweet and I liked her a lot.  Most of the manicurists were pretty quiet.  For some reason, the lady who did my nails was way too amused that I picked flower stickers.  She kept talking about them and then saying something in another language & laughing.  It made me uncomfortable.  I definitely prefer the sweet & friendly atmosphere at Marie Nails.

Maybe I'm just nitpicking, but I probably won't be going back there.  When I really want something, it's hard for me to restrain myself...but the price I paid at Sakura just isn't worth it, no matter how desperate I am.