A nail that has lifted away from the bed
If the nail plate has separated from the skin underneath, the gap is not a place to put product. It grows out; we can shape and tidy around it and see you when it has.
7 refusals, in writing, before you book
Nails we cannot work on
Being told no at the beginning of an appointment is better than being told nothing and finding out in a fortnight. These are the situations where we stop, and why.
Anything that looks infected
Redness, heat, swelling or discharge around a nail fold. We stop and we say so. What it is, is not ours to say — see somebody who can look at it properly, and come back when it has settled.
An open cut or a raw cuticle
Product on broken skin is how sensitisation starts and how an infection gets in. We will do the other nine and leave that one clear, or rebook you.
A thickened, crumbling or discoloured nail
There are several ordinary reasons for it and one or two that need looking at. We do not diagnose and we do not cover it up with an acrylic, because covering it is how it gets worse in the dark.
A set somebody else has glued back on
Household glue under an extension is common and it is a mess. It is a removal appointment, not a fill, and we would rather book you the right one than start the wrong one.
Gel or acrylic on an under-twelve
Children's nail plates are thin and their nails are still growing in shape. It is regular polish and nothing else here until twelve.
Work over somebody else's damage, without saying so
We will happily work over a set from another salon. What we will not do is put a new set on a nail that has been thinned to the point of pain and pretend it is fine.
What happens on the day
We look at your hands before anything starts — two minutes, and it is the most useful part of a first appointment. If one of the above is in front of us you hear it then, with what we can do instead. Often the answer is nine nails and one left clear, which is a perfectly good appointment. Sometimes it is a rebooking, and then there is nothing to pay.
We do not diagnose and we will not guess
A thickened or discoloured nail has several ordinary explanations and one or two that want looking at, and a nail technician is not the person to tell them apart. What we will not do is put an acrylic over it, because covering something is how it gets worse where nobody can see it.
Saying no is not a judgement
Nobody here is going to make you feel bad about a set you picked at, a nail you glued back on yourself at midnight, or six months of not being able to afford to come in. Every one of those walks through the door most weeks. We just would rather fix it properly than build on top of it.
There are nails we will not work on. There are nails we will not work on, and there is a page that lists them. Being told no at the beginning of an appointment is better than being told nothing and finding out in a fortnight.
Files and buffers are single use. Files, buffers and wooden sticks are single use and binned in front of you. Steel is washed and steam sterilised, and every pedicure gets a fresh liner.
Six tables · three pedicure chairs · a published price for everything
Book an appointment
Pick the service and any add-ons and the calendar adds up the minutes before it looks for a slot, so the times you are offered are times that actually fit what you asked for. A pedicure also needs one of the three chairs, and if none is free at four o'clock on a Saturday it will say so rather than book you in and hope.