Lavande Nail Spa

I convinced my brother-in-law to come with me to get a manicure and pedicure from Lavande Nail Spa this afternoon. I've actually only gotten a pedicure or a manicure once before, so I'm faiely new to this still. But all my friends seem to love this place, and at $35 for a mani/pedi combo it seemed worth a try.

The place looks nice. They clearly put a lot of thought and effort into designing the decor and feel of the salon when building it. Which is why I was surprised to see the nail technicians carrying their gear around in plastic yellow bins. They were not very cute or fancy, and seemed to clash with every other aspect of the place. It just seemed... odd. I thought it might have been a wise investment to get some whicker baskets or something (even if the inside is plastic) to make it look a bit nicer.

The technicians we had were very nice, but foreign and didn't seem to understand English all that well. They also cut the cuticles of my hands and feet with cuticle cutters, which I've heard over and over again is not a very good idea. This also surprised me somewhat.

Something else that surprised me was the bill-- I paid for both of us, and somehow our inexpensive mani/pedis turned out to be $100 with tax and tip included. Later on I figured out that they must have added a couple dollars to the $35 charge I was expecting. I guess the price list I have at home that I had from a few months ago may be out of date.

I don't want to give a negative impression-- it was definitely nice to be pampered like that, and get to sit back while someone massaged my hands and feet and made them look all spiffy and pretty. The true test will come over the next few days-- I've given up on painting my own nails as they literally begin to chip within 24 hrs, and I'm curious as to how long this manicure will last. Either way, I may save these for special occasions and simply invest in some better nail polish to use at home and do it myself the majority of the time.