As someone who loves going to the nail salon, Coronavirus restrictions haven’t exactly made visiting the nail salon easy. Luckily, my home salon never closed. Before the pandemic I visited the salon every other week, and I loved the experience; not only because it was relaxing but I had befriended the technicians at the salon as well. When I moved from Los Angeles to Evanston last month, I did not realize how much I would miss going to the salon. As I quickly scrolled through Yelp looking for a new home salon, I noticed there weren’t many in the area. Many salons are temporarily closed due to restrictions, but some are permanently closed because they are not able to pay their rent. As I was scrolling one salon caught my eye: Dazzle Nail Salon. Dazzle Nail Salon is conveniently located in the heart of Downtown Evanston, and they offer a 10% student discount. It is a woman-owned salon that is fairly new. According to one of the technicians, the salon opened about a year ago.
When I walked into the salon, I was greeted by a smiling face and the satisfying scent of essential oils. The relaxing ambiance of the salon can’t be beat, and I instantly felt the stress of midterms lift off of me as I walked through the door. The salon was nearly empty, as there was only one other customer in the salon. I was handed a menu with over 20 services on it, and was instructed to pick a color. Dazzle Nail Salon offers regular nail polish, or ‘Dazzle’ nail polish which is a non-gel quick drying polish with no chemicals in it. Because I was wearing sneakers, I obviously opted for the ‘Dazzle’ gel, which was only 5 dollars extra.
I sat down in a massage chair and felt relaxed. During the pedicure I received a massage and warm lotion, and my nails were neatly painted in a vibrant white color. I also purchased a manicure, and the technician added heart designs on my nails for free. Because I purchased the ‘Dazzle’ polish, I was able to put my sneakers on after only 5 minutes of air-drying them.
As I spoke to the nail technician, I was reminded of my nail salon back home. The same feeling of community and comfort rushed over me. She was kind and funny, and we talked about random things from college life to memes. Dazzle Nail Salon offers the kind of environment I was looking for in a new home salon: The workers are welcoming and cheerful, and love to conversate which made me feel comfortable. But, when speaking to the technician I learned that Dazzle Nail Salon is struggling with business because of the pandemic. They opened about a year ago, just before COVID-19 took over our lives. With such a slow flow of customers, Dazzle Nail Salon could be another local Evanston business facing closure. It would be unfortunate if another local business were to shut down due to the pandemic, and I encourage others to visit the salon. During such a stressful time in the quarter with finals coming up, who wouldn’t want a spa day?
With fair prices and a beautiful mani pedi, my experience at Dazzle Nail Salon was nothing but pleasant and relaxing. I will definitely be returning, and Dazzle Nail Salon will be my new home salon in Evanston.