Reporter shares her experience with local Rhode Island nail salon.
It’s been almost two weeks since I moved back to Rhode Island for my second year at the University of Rhode Island, and over these two weeks, the most common question I’ve been asked has been “I love your nails! Where do you go?” Each time, my answer is the same, “oh I got them done right before school, but I’m looking for a good salon in Rhode Island.”
I’m sure that it comes with no surprise that I have “find a good nail salon” on my to-do list as an 18-year-old sorority girl. But, with that, that also means there are a ton of girls (and guys) also looking for a good nail salon — a home away from their usual salon, you could say.
After talking to some of my sorority sisters, and just other girls around campus, I heard about Stellar Nails & Spa in Narragansett. However, I couldn’t form my own opinion on the salon until I went and got my nails done myself.
The first thing I noticed when I walked into the salon was the spacious set up and decor. With charcoal wood panel flooring, black brick walls and chandelier lighting, the atmosphere was calming and gave me the initial assumption that I would have a good experience.
My roommate and I made appointments for 5:30 p.m., figuring that we would have plenty of time to get our nails done before we had to be back on campus at 8 p.m. However, the nervousness started setting in after we sat in the waiting area for 30 minutes. We were finally helped by the time it was 6 p.m., but I was already skeptical of the salon.
When I sat down with the nail tech, I told him that I wanted a simple French tip. To this, he simply responded, “no.” I was so confused, as my roommate, who was seated next to me, was getting a French tip manicure.
Moving on, I just decided to get a simple white manicure, and showed the nail tech the color I wanted.
He proceeded to file, buff and continue on with the manicure in a timely fashion. The nail tech made a few comments to me throughout this process, aggressively telling me to “relax” while shifting my hand around. I guess the way I had my hand positioned made it difficult for him to work, but he was very rude in his approach and continued to roll his eyes throughout the appointment.
However, things didn’t really go downhill until it came time for him to apply a fake nail. When I arrived at the salon, I was only missing one fake nail, so he was able to just fill in the grown out areas of the intact nails with a UV builder gel base.
He applied the ibd Hard Builder Gel on my nails, and told me to harden them using a UV light. However, the minute I put my nails under the dryer, I was in pain. The hardening gel caused a burning, pulling sensation on all of my nails, especially on the finger that he applied the fake nail to. I ended up pulling my hands out from the dryer because it hurt so much — and I have a high pain tolerance.
After asking my roommate if she knew anything about why it hurt, she said that it happens a lot when using UV gel.
I am somebody who gets their nails done a lot, and I have never felt any sort of pain when receiving a manicure, so I was shocked. In my opinion, salons should not be using any sort of products that can cause pain, especially if there are plenty of alternative products they could be using.
The only thing that kept me going at this point was the fact that they had such a good playlist on, filled with non-mainstream Taylor Swift songs and throwbacks like “The One That Got Away” by Katy Perry.
Once he went to paint my nails, he again asked me which number the color I had asked for was. As many of you know, nail salons have a huge assortment of colors to choose from, so I really wasn’t sure.
I responded to him by saying, “I’m not sure, it was a while ago” in a genuine, non-sassy tone. To this, he rudely responded, “oh yeah, SO long ago.”
At this point, I was just confused about what was going on. I understand that people have off days, but I have been working in customer service for years, and I would never treat a customer so unprofessionally.
He ended up applying a color that looked like it would be an opaque white, but after he applied a few coats, my nails were painted with a sheer eggshell color. I didn’t have the heart, or time, to say anything.
Finishing up, he wiped each nail with an alcohol pad and applied lotion to my hands, letting me know that I was all set. It wasn’t until I said something that he noticed that he forgot to apply the clear top coat to my nails.
Laughing it off, he quickly fixed his mistake, while my roommate got our bill. At this time, all of the other employees were cleaning the store around us, as no one else was there because it was so late.
Once again, as someone who has worked in the customer service industry, I believe it is rude to clean while customers are still in the store, as it implies that they need to leave.
I ended up being charged $56 for the basic set of nails that weren’t what I wanted in the first place. On top of this, I of course tipped him, and ended up paying a whopping $64 for my manicure.
Compared to other places I’ve been, this is super expensive for the service I received.
So, the moral of the story is don’t go to Stellar Nails & Spa unless you want to be scoffed at, overcharged and left with a throbbing nail.