Sunday, November 22, 2009

The Square Nail Studio, Somerville, MA


I'm currently on a train down to NYC and am too tired to do any detailed review of my latest experience with The Square Nail Studio in Davis Sq (Somerville, MA). But I thought I'd post some of my iPhone pics of the place itself. Very shabby chic and entirely too cute as always.

Oh I got OPI Russian Navy Suede on toes and OPI Lincoln Park After Dark Suede on tips. (They use Essie Protein Builder basecoat and Seche Vite topcoat.) Very pretty but I'm still not won over to the Suedes.

Manicure tables (only two in the place total):







Tools in disinfectant in cute cups. Yes, those are nippers. I don't remember them using nippers before though. Might be because it's a different nail tech than I had had for the two years I went to this place. (Was sad not to see her but she got married and had a baby so quit half a year back.) Note the paint brushes. :)



Pedi platform (again, only 2). No hard to clean jetted tubs here! They use metal wash basins with big marbles, all of which are cleaned between clients.



If you look next to the wicker shelves, you can see one of the big basins they use. Also, in the sink: a hint of some of the marbles they use. In one of those shelves is their graveyard of dead and undesirable polishes: apparently, not much thinner on premises? (Yes, I looked through them. Some old label OPIs but nothing really rare or interesting.)



Pedi tools, including coconut oil as cuticle and massage oil. The pedi consists of a foot and leg massage and exfoliation using a salt scrub.



Marbles in action:



Color selection is on the wall. Primarily OPIs with some recent Essies thrown in. Fairly sedate: no glitters or neons. Couple of blues but no interesting greens. :( Sad because one of my favorite pedis ever from here was using OPI Hey Get in Lime with Call My Cell-ery on top.



Ceiling. Seriously.



A couple of dabs of coconut oil before slipping plastic baggies over my feet (to keep my pedi from being destroyed by socks and boots). I'm pretty sure the Suede pedi had dried completely by this point though. Better safe than sorry! :)



I'll try getting a better pic of the mani tomorrow. I asked her to take off some of the length and to do a more squoval shape than I usually do (regular emery boards used here).


Yeah, I'm not sure that I don't like my more rounded tips better. My nails feel so much shorter but they were due to be trimmed down some. If only because I had been getting paranoid that I was going to break a nail soon and have to start again from nubbin.

Anyway, my train's approaching Manhattan now. Wish it was either day or that my iPhone camera was better. There really isn't a more beautiful skyline...

Cannot wait to get to bed! I'm totally worn out. 3 days: a total of 14 hours spent at the conference, plus shopping (I hauled some great Nicoles from Marshall's), plus having various meals with nearly a dozen of my old friends. And a total of 14 hours sleep over 3 nights.


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4 comments:

Lucy said...

Hope everything is cleaned well. Don't want to get any germs! Nice mani & pedi. I guess it depends on the cliental what colors they buy.

Kirsten (The Dutch Nail Blog) said...

That conference sounds exhausting. That mani-pedi was definitely deserved.

I don't get the plastic baggie thing but maybe that is a cultural difference. You mean they do the foot bath, massage and scrub, paint your nails, slap on oil and then make you put plastic bags on your feet over the wet polish, put your socks and shoes on over them and you are out the door?
They can't even wait for a quick dry topcoat to dry?? Jikes!

When you get a pedi here they have a special area in the shop where you can relax with a magazine and let your mani and pedi dry while having a (complementary) cup of tea or coffee. Anyone that enjoys actually having customers wouldn't even dream of kicking a paying customer out with wet nails!

flinty said...

Oh, they didn't kick me out! I had to leave to catch my train to NYC. They generally let you sit around for as long as you want afterwards.

Kirsten (The Dutch Nail Blog) said...

Oh that's good to know.
Doesn't that feel weird though? Plastic baggies in your socks? :D

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