It is one of those days…the morning of an important business meeting, and you notice what you thought was a perfectly manicured hand was chipped beyond repair because of your bootcamp training session earlier that morning. “Stay calm, nobody panic” is what I told myself as I negotiated with my time crunch that I could in fact squeeze in a quick mani before my meeting. On the run I did a quick Google search for the closest salon, and attempted to navigate my way around the confusing streets of the Financial District. Peace no judgment for a girl like me with no sense of direction – following a map in New York’s Financial District requires a masters degree!
After 20 minutes I finally came across ‘Hair & Nail Salon’ (I know what you are thinking, original business name – right?) located on Beaver Street. As I walked up the dirty narrow stairwell I started to worry that I had made the wrong choice, but I didn’t have many options so I forced myself to go through the door. I was surprised; although small it was very clean (huge relief for a clean freak like me). A friendly greeting by what appeared to be the salon owner further grew my confidence as she seemed to know what she was doing. After showing me the new spring colors from Essie and OPI, I decided to go with a rich deep navy aptly named ‘After School Boy Blazer
’ by Essie. Let’s be honest, it is too early for spring colors – with the brutal winter we are experiencing I can’t think of anything worse. The manicurist did a great job and was very thorough. I am not sure if she didn’t understand my Aussie accent, but for the life of me I could not draw her into any conversation, so there I sat in silence, almost an impossible achievement. I couldn’t complain though, because I managed to get my mani done quickly and had 5 minutes to spare before my meeting. Overall I would say a successful morning.
Until next time,
Ruth
Hair & Nail Salon – 22 Beaver St, Financial District, New York
Ambience: Talk-back radio on in the background, you do not go to this salon to relax.
Cleanliness of salon: Cheap and cheery, clean and cluttered
Polish: ‘After School Boy Blazer’ by Essie – Retails $8
Polish job & chip factor: Chipped at the 3.5 day mark – not bad for the price, but not ideal
Brands they stock: OPI, Essie, China Glaze, CND Shellac and IBD gel
Color range: They have an extensive color range
Customer engagement: Friendly on arrival, manicurist was very quiet and spoke out of necessity
Price range: Mani’s -$8, Pedi’s – $17, and Mani/Pedi Special $25 (Monday to Friday)
