Nailed It! *Updated*

I am typically very loyal. When it comes to anything, but especially services. I've been going to the same hairdresser for about twenty years. I only had one regular person before him- since I'm only forty. I went to my nail place for seventeen years. Since I was seventeen. I don't like change and I'm a Cheers kind of gal. I like to go where everyone knows my name. My old nail place, Joanne Nails in Dumont, they would always fit me in, they'd put two people on my nails at the same time to quicken the pace, which I loved, and it was like home.

I moved in 2006 though and I still kept up going to Dumont. Even though I had plenty of nail salons nearby. But it would take me almost thirty minutes, with traffic, to get there. Once I had a kid, and really no help, I couldn't do that drive. Thirty minutes there, an hour or two in the salon depending what I was getting done, and then thirty minutes back. It was like a half day excursion.

 

I started going somewhere near me. But every time I'd find a nail technician I liked, she'd be gone the next time I came in. Then I also switched up what I was getting done. Nail technology changed and I changed with it. I used to get silk wraps, which I could fix or do at home, so it would be less expensive, and just have the nail salon clean it up. If I did have it done in the salon, it took forever. UV gel nails came out and I jumped aboard. I couldn't fix them at home but I also didn't need to go every week or two. Then I started doing the gel/shellac polish over the gel nail. With the UV gel & shellac, I have been known to get away with four weeks and no broken nails. Only catch is, at the place I was going, the only technician who could do the gel nails at the time, and who became my person, was in demand, and off on my most convenient day to go. It got to the point where I couldn't get an appointment that worked for me for a whole week. My main issue though was I was bored of their nail color selection. I guess those shellac polishes cost more than regular ones and they just won't buy new colors fast enough.


I started hopping around. I need to go on a specific day of the week when my son is in a two hour drop off class. I went to one across from his class. It's a nice place. It's clean, convenient, and they have a ton of colors. But they are more expensive than the place I was going so I still wanted to shop around. I went to one in the same town that did a nice job but it was an odd experience for many reasons but I really didn't go back because it was the longest manicure ever. I should've had more than enough time, meanwhile I was watching the clock and getting nervous because it was taking forever. I actually started falling asleep while she was working on me. I kept nodding off and jolting awake. They also kept trying to push other services on me and using guilt like I saw in comedy act recently.

Then, I went somewhere that I just pulled into as I saw it. It was raining and cold and I didn't have time to mess around. It was the worst manicure I've ever had. I told her I needed a gel nail fill-in. This is where it goes awry. Because all these nail places call services something different. Gel nails and gel polish mean two different things. But fill-in is supposed to mean the same everywhere. Yet, somehow it doesn't. I said gel fill-in and she told me $29. I looked at the price board and didn't see $29 anywhere near the fill-in prices but thought maybe she was giving me a special for being new. Next thing I knew- I had these little foil pieces on every finger. I looked like I had mini baked potatoes on me. I had no idea what the hell was going on. Then she's just scraping off my polish with some kind of scraping tool. Also never happened to me and I was freaking out on the inside.

After she did that, she said- oh, gel fill-in? I felt my adrenaline going and was like, "YES, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I SAID! A GEL FILL IN!" So she mutters something and said, "Ok, fill-in $40, gel polish $14, so $55". I'm no math scholar but even I was like- That's not even correct math! So at first I said ok. Because what was I going to do- I had scraped nails and no way to fix them. But then I quickly told her no way, that she's more expensive than anyone I've ever heard of, and to just put regular polish on top of the gel nail. I hadn't had regular polish in a dog's age. I was pissed. I was pissed because had she told me $55 from the get-go, I would've just left and picked one of the three other ones nearby. She made my gel nails so thin, within 2-3 days, one broke off fully and three had pieces that chipped off. I had to go old-school and buy glue and spent the next two weeks gluing like crazy. Of course most of them separated so I got water in there and got a fungus on my thumb. It was awesome.

I couldn't take it anymore, so I went to the new place, Fei Fei Nail & Spa down the street from my store. It's brand new, it's super clean, and it was a DREAM. It could be the best manicure I've ever had. Or at least in a REALLY long time. Most of these newer salons do little back and neck massages at the end of your manicure. But sometimes it's hurried and not that great. This was wonderful. Strong and not too short. More important, the actual manicure was fantastic. I got my nails done about a week ago and they're still perfect. The nails aren't too thin or too thick. They have a ton of shellac colors. It was just a very lovely experience. I'm going to assume most or all their people know how to do UV gel nails too so I am not stuck just waiting for the only person in there to be able to do my nails. It cost me five dollars more than the place I was going but it's worth the $5.

All the rest of the prices are pretty comparative to any place around me. But what I really like best is that they have more "levels" of spa pedicures. Many places just have a regular or a spa pedicure and it's the difference between $22 or $50. Or $22, $35, or $50. Fei Fei has six price points above the regular pedicure at $22. They also have detailed explanations of what you're paying for. Usually you just say spa pedicure and you don't even know what you're supposed to be getting. I just always hope for a longer massage. But this menu seems great. They also have all the usual things, including waxing and what not, but you've probably read all about my wax-tales. I'm definitely loyal to my girl Tara for that.

Oh, and Fei Fei is open on Sunday, which none of the other places in downtown Glen Rock are. There is Eden on Prospect, but it was really hard to get in on a Sunday there. For some reason they don't do Sunday in the downtown. Sunday is the only day my husband is off and I could possibly run out to get a quick pedicure. So that's definitely a plus for me!

Check out Fei Fei. 192 Rock Road, Glen Rock. 201-251-3870
http://fiannanailandspa.com

Day 16! Stretching it as long as I can!