Fabulous Nails & Skin Care

My daughter and I were walk-​ins and they took us right away. We wanted to have a Mom/​Daughter treat to celebrate the school year ending and the beginning of summer. Even with a casted wrist/​arm, my teen daughter received simply the cutest pink mani, and she is delighted. She is a blogger, so perfection is photo-​worthy to her. I am delighted to begin the summer with a French, and I would return to this location. It really should be crystal clean, yet frankly, so should my house. and that’s not going to happen anytime soon :)

Fabulo-​WORST!!! Worst nail experience EVER! Nail tech didn’t soak off my Shellac long enough when I insisted her to. She decided to rush through the process and «drill» off the remaining shellac and nicked my finger and what was left of my natural nail. When I told her to slow down she just smiled… they don’t speak ENGLISH. When I complained to the «manager» she told me it was the Shellac’s fault and charged me $ 20 anyways. The nail tech shaved ¾ off my nail and I was left with the thinnest, most paper thin nails you have EVER SEEN! I should have just walked out without paying… I really didn’t want to make a scene and the headline news in sleepy Los Altos though. DON’t go there… they are lousy, disrespectful and should be run out of town!!! IMHO
(anyone who gives them a 5 star – works there)

My friend and I visited this salon or the first time yesterday, for pedicures. The result looks fine. Customer service was lacking. When I told the employee doing my pedicure several times that the position she had my legs in was very uncomfortable, she ignored me. My friend had a similar experience. I left Fabulous Nails quite unimpressed.

Cons– Abrupt staff, pricey, not the cleanest
Pros– FAST. I came in here for a gel manicure and was out in 25 minutes. I was shoved through, but usually gel manicures take about an hour and can be rather tedious. If you don’t need a pampering experience and just want to get in, out, and have your nails done satisfactorily (not AMAZING, but totally acceptable… I get gel manicures regularly from various salons, but this was my first time getting one here) go to Fabulous Nails if you’re pressed for time and don’t have an hour and a half to kill while your hands are being picked at.

There are many nail salons in downtown Los Altos, and this is one place to skip.
1. They are rude-​the lady very abruptly told me to sit in my chair with no greeting at all. I understand that this is a nail salon, but you can at least say hi!
2. She did not cut my nails at all, and they were long! She filed them and that was it.
3. She filed them unevenly. Seriously NONE of my nails match. Sorry, I know I sound picky, but if I am paying over $ 30, I would like my nails filed evenly.
4. She did not buff them. At all.
5. I got a gel manicure and there is a HUGE gap between ALL my cuticles and where the polish starts.
6. I don’t know about the other techs there, but mine did not massage my hands at all– she just gave me a little lotion and rubbed it around.
7. The polish is UNEVEN. I asked her to check it again, and she said «When they dry the will be fine.» I let them dry, and they were still uneven… I was so disgusted that I took it off so no pictures to show…
Please, do yourself a favor, do the research, and find somewhere else to spend $ 35(40 plus tip– and I feel that I should have been more demanding or not tipped!)

I don’t know why this place has such negative reviews. They did a great job on my pedicure and gave a wonderful foot and leg massage. They have a drying station too. Minus one star because it is neither the cleanest (no bowl liners) nor cheapest ($ 30) in town.

Any place that puts «fabulous» in their name is sort of setting themselves up: options are to be truly fabulous or get ripped a new one in reviews. This is the latter.
I was a walk-​in, it was a weekday afternoon and maybe 2 – 3 other gals getting their pedi on. I asked for a gel manicure & regular pedicure. Instead of giving me an actual chair at the pedicure station, they sat me at the manicure station and had a portable pedi water tub next to me. I’ve never had this experience and should it occur at any other salon I’ll just walk out.
The manicurist was pretty bi-​polar, she was very gruff and then the next second smiling. The entire gel process is pretty simple, but she’s not good at filing, getting old gels off, and she stacked 2 gel machines on top off the other. I left feeling ridges on my nails, and I could tell it was not a smooth filing along the edges. To add to this, I’m turned sideways in the chair for the other woman to give me a pedicure. The pedi wasn’t terrible, but the output was not good.
Neither of these processes were relaxing, and I ended up with a semi-​ok mani and smudged toes. Listen, I get that it takes time to warm up to people but I had a really strong sense that I was of the wrong ethnicity for this salon. They were super friendly to the other patrons who were Caucasian, and extremely abrupt with me.
I paid $ 62 for the worst mani/​pedi ever, with a healthy heaping of poor service that was not fabulous. The worst part is that this was a friends recommendation and I have no idea how to tell her.

I just had a great experience. Lynn took her time with my manicure, best one I’ve ever had. Then I got the shoulder massage and it was worth it. I didn’t find it that expensive, I felt I paid for quality. The shalaque ended up beautiful. Very happy!

I went here the other day with a friend of mine and the lady I got did a nice job on my pedicure. Although, she was a bit rough when cleaning my nails, but her roughness translated into a very good leg massage. I would like to give this place a higher rating but I felt like they were trying to swindle as much money out of as they could. After a pedicure, a painful neck massage (not complimentary as I thought it was), an additional 10 min leg massage (that I guess I agreed upon) and paraffin wax, all totaling 1 hour, I ended up shelling out $ 70 for everything. Seriously? I think I’ll go to La Monique for my nail care. They have a fantastic pedicure with hot rock massage, paraffin and leg massage for $ 30.

Don’t know what the complaints are about a place that the tip in cash is recommended. It’s been explained to me at other places and is really for the benefit of the person working on you. If you really appreciate the mani pedi then just pony up and have some cash for them. Sheesh
Really like this place and have a gf that’s been going here for years. They take good care of me and are almost always ready for a drop in though I try to at least call ahead.

(Takes deep breath)
K. So I had fake nails for 3 years. I had not seen my real nails in over a year. I knew that it would be difficult for the unfortunate soul who had to take them off for the first time in years. Unfortunately, the ladies at Vivians Nails on Camden in San Jose apparently super glued stones to my nails, so it was going to be even more difficult.
I am a student at a very nearby school and had no choice with my schedule but to ditch my normal wonderful place (Sunrise in Santa Clara) for the day and try this place.
The ladies who did my nails did a good job at first. They soaked them, then filed, then soaked, then filed, etc. The process took a VERY LONG TIME. Especially on the nails with the diamonds. I also got a manicure to fix the weak nails.
So the bill comes to $ 20. 20 bucks for over an hour of several ladies’ time. I decided to give a ten dollar tip since they had really taken such great care of my nails. OK I know this is super super generous, but I really thought they deserved it!
She takes one look at my credit card, looks at me, looks at my card, looks at me.
«Oh, no cash?»
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
Thats a 50% tip!!! And youre ungrateful because it isnt in your preferred form?
Ya well, I won’t be returning and I reccomend that anyone who doesnt want to be treated poorly doesnt go either! BuhBye.

I’m pretty surprised by all the bad reviews Fabulous nails has on Unilocal!I have been going here for several years now for manicures, pedicures, and eyebrow waxes and I’ve never been disappointed. More recently, I’ve been going twice a month for shellac gel nails and this place does them better than anywhere else. Although they are somewhat expensive ($ 35) they do not charge to soak off the previous gel which many places do, and it always looks great and lasts a full two weeks. Lyn is especially good at pedicures, and almost all the ladies I’ve had give a great 5 minute foot massage free with the pedicure. My eyebrows always look great and the lady is very fast at doing it, which I appreciate because it cuts down the time I’m in pain. Overall, in Los Altos I’d say this is the best place to be, considering everywhere is pretty expensive!

I go to Fabulous Nails six to eight times a year. Yesterday they replaced all the original black massage chairs with new brown leather and wood chairs. The bowl for the water (for your pedicure) is a pretty copper colored glass. Everything looks brand new with these new chairs. The massage functions of the chair are amazing. I had a wonderful pedicure and head, neck and shoulder massage today. The price is lower than most other salons in Los Altos but they still provide a good service in a clean environment. It’s well worth it and not out of the expected range for downtown Los Altos. The women who work there are pleasant and it’s a very relaxing environment.
I will continue to go back more often!

They do a great job at acrylic nails– lasts at least 3 weeks each time! They always recognize me and are very friendly. Once my nails broke quickly, and they fixed them without a charge. Great value for this area.

This place is really hit or miss.
The price is outrageous for a mani/​pedi, but 80% of the time they are executed flawlessly. The other 20% are when they put the wrong color on (!), file the nails in weird shapes, or do a mediocre job. The eyebrow waxing is $ 15, but sometimes they miss hairs and don’t go over the waxed areas with tweezers.
So, I recently got the OPI Axxiom manicure on my nails and the girls did a FABULOUS job. The shape is perfect, the polish is flawless, and the procedure was worth the money.
Interestingly, they boast Shellac manicures, but CND doesn’t list them on their website, so I’d maybe avoid that.

So sorry to be giving Fab Nails 2 stars. It’s the place I go with my out of town friend who loves the place — mostly for their massages. Last time I went the woman doing my manicure stabbed my big toe by mistake and I was seriously sore for a week. I ended up putting neosporin on it to avoid any kind of serious infection. Yikes.

$ 39 for a sub-​par mani/​pedi. There were bubbles in the nailpolish on my nails after the manicure, and it just wasn’t very good. I also didn’t like how they offered to take my money for tip FROM MY WALLET after I had been sitting for 20 minutes. Thanks, but I’ll be in charge of my money.
Overpriced for the quality of the service. Two stars only because they have massage chairs, but I’m not coming back.

So how fabulous is Fabulous Nails and Skin Care? Well to me, it’s semi-​fabulous, mid-​fabulous or maybe in the middle of fabtastic and fabalright. Why? Well let me take this in two parts:
FABULOUS PARTS
***Overall ambiance is nice: Nice massage chairs, nice clean tubs (saw them washing them out w/​cleaner), and nice ladies
***Extra special care: Came unprepared so I was wearing closed-​toed shoes. They had the cheapy foam flip flops that feel like they came out of a pop-​up book; not a great fashion statement, but guarantees that I don’t mess up my toes. I tried to put them on myself and my girl shook her head… she didn’t trust me; well good for her! How did she know I was such a klutz, I would have hit the polish?
***A BAG! I’ve never been impressed before when anyone has given me a plastic bag, but as I was sitting waiting for my nails to dry, they came over and took my loose shoes, popped them into a plastic bag and tied them up. In my history of getting pedis, that has never happened to me. Really nice touch!
NOT SO FABULOUS PARTS
***Holy Macaroni $ 44 bucks for a decent pedicure w/​flower on big toe and simple mani clear coat… Even if I deduct a dollar for the bag they put my shoes in and another dollar for the foam flip flops, I’m still thinking this is kind of Burke Williams expensive (but w/​out access to the steam room and free tea)…
***My friends’ ho toes: here’s a secret about many women: having a flower on their big toe makes them feel pretty… but if that flower is not neutral, it borders on tacky. So while my toenail flower sported white petals with a subtle silver middle, my poor two friends had brightly colored middles to their flowers. Now they will have to hit that puppy with a Sharpie, and that’s just no fun.
I’ll come back to Fabulous Nails and Skin Care again, but will likely skip the manicure to keep the cost down, and watch the flower painting like a hawk.

I walked into this salon while I was in desperate need for a gel fill and pedi. No waiting as I had arrived before the afternoon crush of clients (5 pm).
For the first time in a long time, I had a pedi while another tech did the fills. Great for me because I was running out of time before a trip. Both techs did a great job and got my nails into tip top shape in under an hour. It was a clean and nicely decorated place with a flat screen TV mounted and playing Oprah while I relaxed.
Glad to know there’s a great alternative to my favorite salon up in Los Altos for me when I’m in the area, which is almost every day!

I’m honestly surprised to see the new a-​hole that Unilocal ripped on this place… I thought it was a tad pricey for the gel french manicure, but honestly the spa mani/​pedi deal is something I will most CERTAINLY go back for.
I usually don’t get regular mani’s because they don’t last long enough to make it worth it (especially working at a computer all day) but seriously the deal was too good to pass up. It was $ 39 for the spa mani/​pedi, but had some SERIOUS work done on the customers…
Check it: Full foot massage. Full lower leg massage. Hand massage. Arm massage. Shoulder massage. Back massage. Some facial/​scalp massage. You have two women, seeming more like masseuses than manicurists, giving you the royal treatment while you are sitting high and mighty in your leather massage chair with foot spa. I think this place got the memo about their poor Unilocal reputation, because they for sure stepped up the game.
My mani was well done, but when I go back, I’m for sure getting the mani/​pedi spa combo. Basically all the women were sitting there eyes closed enjoying the luxurious massage… for near an hour! Such a good deal, and there was no wait. (Not to say it was empty – there was about 5 people in there continuously in the chairs during my whole time there…)
Fabulous.