An Beauty Nails

Last Friday I went into An’s for the $ 25 mani/​pedi they have advertised on their door. I usually go to another place on W 72^nd but there was a wait there and I could see through the window that there were 3 free manicurists at An’s just a few doors down so went inside. I did not notice that in very faint, faded lettering on the bottom of the sign it said, «Mon — Wed» so in fact the price was more. Ok, my mistake, no biggie.
However, the woman who did my nails did a terrible job. She was the person sitting at the first manicure table directly to the right as soon as you walk in. Usually, the person at the front in these places is either the owner, manager, a relative of the owner, etc., so they seem to do a great job. However she was awful.
1^st of all, when we were doing the pedicure, I mentioned I’d like a chair massage after the mani/​pedi. Maybe for that reason, she didn’t massage my legs at all (normally one gets at least a minute or two on each leg with lotion) She also was very careless in terms of the cuticles and polish — she left wider than usual strips of nails unpolished on either side of the center part of the toenail. I didn’t say anything, thinking she’d «fix» it, but she didn’t. I have had great pedicures where they leave a tiny strip so as not to get polish on the skin which looks messy, but this was clearly her «lazy» version of that.
The manicure was no better — she didn’t properly prepare the nail bed (I have had enough manicures to know the steps) and was very careless with the polish. OH, and no hand/​forearm massage either.
At that point, I just wanted to pay and get out of there. I told her I changed my mind about the back rub (had a feeling it would have been a wasted based on how unenthusiastically she did everything else) I tipped her 2 dollars less than I usually would; she acted very grateful so she must be used to terrible tips! And I’m not surprised.
I stayed to let my nails fully and then that night went out to dinner — i.e. no housework, cooking, nothing to damage the nails.
Not surprisingly, within a single day the polish chipped!
I’ll never return to this place — there was a good reason they had no one waiting for their services!

This is my go to nail place on the UWS. An’s is very affordable, not fancy and they do a solid job. I always spring for the extra leg massage, which they are really good at here. They also have a large selection of Essie and OPI nail colors. Walk-​ins are welcome.

This place was a great discovery for a stop in for a mani pedi while I was trolling the streets up the Upper West Side. The people there were also very friendly and not pushy trying to sell me a ton of other services. They had a good selection of colors as well. Not to mention they take walk-​ins bonus!!!

Cheap Prices and friendly people but the quality of the mani /​pedi is horrible. The children I take care of at work could do a better paint job.

Strolled in here after a massage gone creepy at a spa on Broadway. I just wanted to relax and for the price it seemed perfect. Also, the woman at the desk told me they were open until 10PM– pretty decent for a nail salon if you ask me.
Buttttt I should have known the $ 25 mani-​pedi wouldn’t last very long… It took about 2 hours for my manicure to start chipping. My pedicure probably last a week. No bueno. I actually went to Duane Reade after to buy my own polish to do it at home. It was that bad.
There’s so many nail salons in the city, places need to learn to stick out. Yeah, the $ 25 mani-​pedi is a great deal, but the quality sucks.

This could be 3.5 stars but if I can’t make it there Monday through Wednesday, I won’t go at all. Not a huge window of opportunity to get a mani/​pedi but when I do it’s probably the best one in the neighborhood. Why don’t I go outside of Wednesday? Well every other day of the week, the mani/​pedi combo goes up to $ 32 from $ 25 for those three days. It’s the principle of it — the mani/​pedi are worth $ 25 to me — not $ 32. The girls are quick and efficient, again like most of these walk-​ins welcome kind of places, you get what you pay for but you get better quality from some operators and not others. Wish they had the special like the place I reviewed earlier every day, or this would be my exclusive place and would have a 4 star rating.

I like this place a lot. I have been there for a mani/​pedi and even waxing and I enjoyed their service. My nails looked fantastic, my feet were soft and they made sure that my legs were well waxed. I do not recommend them for eyebrow treatment. The lady really tried hard to make it as good as possible, but she just couldn’t do it.
Definitely a great place to relax, get a nice mani/​pedi and waxing! Good prices!

I’ve been to this place 4 times have had 2 great experiences, 1 good experience, and 1 terrible experience. Let’s go in chronological order:
Numero Uno: French manicure. I had Jackie, the Chinese woman with curly hair always tied back in a ponytail. She did an excellent job, counseled me on what shape would look better, and made pleasant conversation with me (in Chinese). Because of her, I came back a second time for a regular manicure…
Numero Dos: Horror manicure. I had some woman whose face I’ve blocked out of my mind. I didn’t ask her her name and nearly fled out of the salon after leaving a meager 15% tip. She did such a slapdash job, I could have done it better with my left hand. My cuticles were nearly ripped out, the polish was slapped on, and she didn’t really do anything in the way of a manicure. I stayed away for a couple months, until I happened to be in the area again while waiting for a movie so…
Numero tres: Amanda. She’s the Indian (?) one with long straight hair. I chose dark purple polish for my manicure, which a lesser technician would have had problems with, but Amanda was amazingly meticulous and did a great job. She wasn’t very conversational at all, but she did everything that I asked for. Then the weather started getting warm so.
Numero catorce (according to Bono): My first mani-​pedi at this place. I had a Korean woman with square glasses whose name I forgot to ask. She did a good job but not a stellar one. Could have been a bit neater, but I guess I was her last client of the night, which explains why she took the tip out herself (=0) when I paid her. I didn’t notice until I was getting ready to leave and leave my tip… that kind of miffed me.
Other technicians in this place include big boss lady (older woman, short-​shorn hair), seemingly token Latina (self-​explanatory), and ridiculously young looking technician (long straight hair, ponytail, young). They also seem good and friendly from the send-​offs their clients gave as sailing out the door, so maybe that one horror manicure lady is gone. An Beauty Nails is nestled on a block with at least 4 other nail places that all have the same prices, so I guess it fits right in with its good but only sometimes great service.

An’s is a pretty solid choice for an affordable mani-​pedi. I believe they charge $ 25 but the woman doing my pedicure was so good I sprung for the extended leg massage and later a ten minute back massage, which I neeeever do. Totally worth it though — she beat the shit out of me, which was quite to my liking.
They vascillate between taking their time and being fairly efficient. I think for a mani, pedi and 20 minutes of massage I was out in an hour and a half including drying time. Everyone was friendly, and the owner was wandering about asking clients how everything was. Good selection of colors as well.
Holler.

I’ve been coming here for about five years (maybe a little more) and am generally satisfied. Definitely a solid manicure for the price ($ 9) I’ve paid more at some other places and really don’t notice any difference in the longevity or look of the manicure. As with most places, there are definitely certain technicians that are better than others, but I’ve never had a horrible manicure here. The pedicures are also reasonably priced at $ 20ish and again, no difference between here and the much higher priced chains. The color selection is great –lots of Essie and Opi and if they don’t have it out, they will try their hardest to find the color in their stock. They also have a club card, so the 11^th manicure is always free, which is nice.