Michelle Nails

I’m not one to complain especially when you’re paying little for beauty treatments, but I thought it would be worth telling others about my unfortunate experience at Michelle’s Nails.
I booked a mani/​pedi a few weeks ago. Service was great, short wait, nails were perfect and surprisingly my manicure lasted more than a week with minimal chipping. I decided to return a few weeks later and up the stakes. This time I booked a facial. When it comes to my face I can be very particular about where I go, but provided the positive reviews from my flatmate I decided to take a chance. The facials at Michelle’s are super cheap ($ 45), but the service was shockingly terrible and I felt rushed the entire time. Couple things to note about this place — there is ZERO privacy in the treatment rooms. The divider is a thin sheet that resembles a bed sheet with hooks. Whilst I was getting my facial a man entered to get his back waxed. He was there for several minutes and the curtain was never pulled back. Imagine trying to relax and all you hear is another person moaning and groaning. Better yet, Michelle assisted the beauty attendant several times with the man’s wax, leaving me alone on the table for several minutes at a time. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, Michelle answered not one but TWO phone calls throughout my treatment. Yes, one hand on my face and another hand on the phone. The worst part was… how do I put this nicely, a bit of saliva jumped from her mouth and guess where it landed? Yup, you guessed correctly. Yuck. At this point in time I had had enough, and without being rude I decided to block out the noise and try to relax. In the end my skin looked and felt great, but getting through it was the hard part. They massage the face really well, but lack the treatment part. I didn’t feel pampered nor did I leave feeling semi-​relaxed, but I guess that’s what one gets for the price.
PROS: Quick, efficient, cost efficient, long lasting manicure, centrally located
CONS: Noisy, no privacy in treatment rooms, attendants seem distracted, facials aren’t relaxing.

A gazillion of these nail & beauty salons have sprung up along Bondi Rd in the last few years, which is great because the competition keeps the prices waaaay down…
To be honest they are really all much of a muchness to me so my decision on which one I’m going to visit really just depends on which one is the least busy that day! I went to Michelle’s and had a $ 35 mani-​pedi. The Thai staff were very sweet, I had no wait time, and got a great mani-​pedi (with the usual attempts at an upsell!) My beautician gave me a foot massage as well which was unexpected but a nice treat. Happy feet!