When I first moved to New York, I was worried about a lot of different things—living with roommates, having difficult classes, being safe in the city— but finding a good, reliable, decently priced nail salon was definitely one of my top priorities. So for the past couple of weeks, amidst classes, food runs and getting myself acclimated to the city, the question of who I would trust to take care of ten of my most prized possessions was always in the back of my mind. Finally, I picked a place a couple of days ago: Jay Nails. It’s very conveniently located for me as a Brittany kid because it’s right on Broadway (780 to be exact), less than a two minute walk from my residence hall.
Upon entering the salon I was pleasantly greeted by a receptionist who asked me what I wanted to have done. Having had acrylic nails for more than two years, I knew what I wanted but I was immediately shut down: the salon doesn’t offer acrylic nails as a service (FYI: A lot of nail salons don’t do acrylic, only gel nail polish and regular polish so if you love your fake nails as much as me start saying goodbye now). I asked for the next best thing, gel nails, and then the receptionist did a curious thing: she gave me the price of my nails right off the bat. I don’t know if it was because I had to pay to get my acrylic nails taken off (Another helpful tip: if you do have fake nails and plan on getting your nails done, soak the nails off before going into the salon. It’ll save you a lot of time and money; in my case I missed out on saving $15 dollars and about a half an hour of pain) or if it’s a regular occurrence, but that’s never happened to me before and I really appreciated it. I did not, however, appreciate the price: $55. Even without having the acrylics removed, gel nails cost $40, but don’t be discouraged there. A simple manicure is only $12.50 and a french manicure is $15. So, it all depends on what you want to get and what you’re willing to spend for it.
I had about a ten minute wait before my nails were started, and during that time I was given a very wide selection of colors to choose from, which I very much appreciated. After that my nail stylist got started with the taxing, 35-minute process of peeling and scraping off my fake nails, and when I say that it took 35 minutes, I’m not over exaggerating. I watched the last half of Love it or List It and got updated on the New York Nightly News, all while she took off the acrylics (seriously, soak them off: it’s so much better for everyone). Then she did the typical nail salon routine and about a half hour later my nails turned out very nicely. My stylist was very nice and polite, and not to mention she tried her best to sympathize with my pain of getting my nails yanked off one by one. Overall she did a very nice job and made my nails look a lot better than before. I would definitely recommend going to Jay Nails and I plan on going back there in the future. But, if the price, location or another factor aren’t to your liking, here are some other nearby nail salons near a few other dorms.
Brittany:
Jay’s Nails
780 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
10:00-8:00
Manicure: $12.50
French Manicure: $15
Pedicure: $29
Gel Nails: $40
Gigi Nail Spa
207 E 14th St, New York, NY 10003
Mon-Sat 10:00-9:30
Sunday: 10:00-8:30
Third North:
Dyanna Spa and Waxing Center
40 E 21st St, New York, NY 10010
10:00-8:00
Change Polish: $10
French Manicure: $18
Gel Manicure: $30
Pedicure: $26
Annie Ji’s Nail Salon
10:00-8:00
($15 mani/pedi’s Mon-Thurs)
Palladium:
Top A Nail of 14th St Inc
424 E 14th St, New York, NY 10009
Mon-Sat 10:00-9:30
Sun 10:00-8:30
Broadway Nail and Spa
818 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
Mon-Sat 9:00-10:00
Sun 10:00-9:00
Manicure: $10
French Manicure: $15
Change Polish: $7
Pedicure: $25
French Manicure: $32