Grand Soho Nails Too

I came on a Sunday — open and empty– for which I love Soho. Many things empty out on the weekends particularly on this street. The lady who helped told me she was Nepalese and we had good chats while she did my spa pedicure. She was kind, sweet, patient and did a great job. Note: this place is now at 72 Thompsom right next door and is called Soho 72. I couldn’t stay for my mani but I’ll be back!

Loved it! Nothing too fancy, just an easy place to get a nice manicure. I got a good hand massage, and she massaged my back while my nails were drying. No bells and whistles or insane prices, which is totally my style.

Too vs two? Get a life or a real job, you jerk. Come onnnnn.
Prices a little steep for my bedstuy hipster pockets but the hours and distance from my job make me smiley!
I only get paint change cuz my nails are perfect, so I can’t speak to the other services. ;)
Everyone is always really friendly and fast with me though. I give them 5 stars just for putting up with the uppity wasp cunts who live in soho.

Don’t even bother going to this place.
I am being very generous with ONE star.
Usually, when I am sitting at a spa chair, I gladly sit back and relax, but from the time I walked into the salon, to the time I walked out (very unsatisfied, obviously) my only thought was to get home quickly to sanitize my feet! I sat with my iPhone in hand, with the ‘Notes’ app open, typing in all the things that were Just. Not. Right.
Let me start from the beginning.
The owner/​manager, I presume, directs me to a spa chair. Old, lingered, dirty water just sitting in the tub…(or was it the dirty tub that just made the water look dirty?)
I am confused, thinking in my head… did she really tell me to sit at this one… she did. I reluctantly sit down, and I keep my feet outside of the tub. I asked, «is this water clean?» She answers with a bit of attitude, «yes, we just have the water there because it’s cold» (??? I don’t know what that means). She drains it, goes over the tub with a sponge, and starts to fill it with hot water. :/​… Can I just leave… but… I felt obligated. So I stayed.
Here is the list of offenses I saved into my ‘Notes’ app as I was sitting on that chair:
*Dirty ass water
*Bandage– cover your bandaged hand with a latex glove! I’d rather feel latex on my feet. It’s a health issue at this point.
*Massage for an extra $ 10? No Thanks. Aren’t those part of the treatment?
*Paper towel– Don’t reuse that ish!
*Are you really talking on your cellphone as you clean someone’s feet? Did you just touch her feet right after touching your nasty cellphone?
*You didn’t wash your hands, after using the bathroom…
*Total: $ 43.00 Pedicure & Manicure, again, with NO MASSAGE?
As I was paying, I hand over my Visa, and the lady informs me that they only accept tips in cash… Uh. ok.
I hand over a $ 10 bill, and ask her to change for a 5’s. Her: «What? You want change back?» … Did I studder?
Upon receiving my change, I hand her $ 5 … she waits… for more. I look at her and put the rest in my purse. How do you even deserve the $ 5 I just gave you? Seriously, what have you really done that didn’t involve your germy, bandaged hands? Now I have to spend extra time at home to sanitize myself.
Just plain dirty.

This is a completely bare bones nail salon, without the bare bones pricing. They use plain hand soap in the pedicure tubs and they really are just tubs, they don’t have jets or bubbles or anything like that. They did a decent job of shaping my nails, but very little in the foot rub and callus scraping arenas. My pedicure was over and done with in about 20 minutes, I can understand that when a place is super busy, but we were the only folks in the salon. My manicure wasn’t any better, it was basically just a polish change, but they charged for a full manicure.
As my nails were drying my manicurist came over and said that she was leaving soon, so she would like her tip. After all of this, I was pretty disappointed, so I only tipped 5 dollars. While I was waiting for my friends to finish, she came back over and said they have a 15% minimum tip requirement. I couldn’t believe it!
I won’t be back.

My nailbeds basically ache when unvarnished, so I’ve been to my fair share of nail salons. It’s so hard to find good help these days, and you never know what you’re getting until you live with the manicure for a few days and pray it doesn’t chip off at the most inopportune moment.
Fortunately, these guys are don’t let you down. My mani’s always last at least a week, and pedicures for almost a month. They do good and careful work, and are willing to modify if you’re not loving it. The space is pretty and never crowded, and they stock Essie and OPI.
I will say, I wish there were fewer ‘bridal pinks’ & ‘mom-​jean reds’ and more current colors… it’s SoHo, not the suburbs!

Yeah, nails chipped already. Too expensive, too dirty.

The price was a little bit more than I was expecting, but the paint job lasted a whole two weeks before chipping. The shaping was good and I really felt like they took the time to do the job right. Color selection could benefit from some more adventurous shades.

Is there a doctor in the house?!
Yes there is, HOLLA Becca S.
So I finally got to meet the subject of my mild stalking: the lovely Becca S. We came here to get some pedicures which I was in serious need of as my feet were narsty. And apparently Becca’s nails were whoring themselves out to the point where she just couldn’t take it anymore. She chose a lovely shade of Downtown Brown, I with pansy. And then I waited. And then waited some more. The woman began on Becca, and eventually someone came over to me. I should probably also mention that they left the sink thingy running. Being eco-​friendly the two of us turned it off… they still charged us $ 29 for our pedicures.
This is basically the same review as Becca’s but I was slightly disconcerted by the $ 29 price tag. Back in Jerz, a $ 20 pedicure gets me the delicious view of snow-​like skin flakes falling gently to the floor as a nice middle aged lady attacks my calluses with a razor. And they also apply some warm. liquid to my heels to make them soft and lady-​like. Not something out of Jurassic Park which I was rockin’ like it was 1994 (are my dates accurate?).
But here there was none of that. There was some half-​assed attempt with a pummice (sp?) stone and I approved because seriously my feet did not belong in sandals. And there was some kneading of such with an almost immediate offering of an extra massage. NO lady, it doesn’t feel good enough that you’ve lured me into more money grubbing. Now scrape off that skin!
My toes look kinda hawt though, and Becca does not lie: some lady was ALL about her color. And I’m getting it next time. And then I’ll be a scientist too. Just because.

For the last two weeks, I have been walking all over the city looking like a prostitute. OK, my nails have. At my most recent mani-​pedi I picked a color that in the bottle looked like a nice deep red, but on my nails in normal sunlight was the trashiest red I’ve ever seen. As my friends and I used to say, F*ck Me Red. And I am not that kind of girl! Usually.
Time for a color change, coinciding nicely with a pedi-​date with my favorite under-​age Unilocaler, the lovely Simona S. We had to wait to get chairs next to each other, but no matter. This time, I made no mistake of picking a potentially too-​red red, and went with Downtown Brown. Downtown Brown is spectacular! In fact, one woman who was waiting saw my beautiful toes and asked what color it was, so that she could have it too. I’m such a trend-​setter! For you ladies who know your Essie colors, mark my words – Downtown Brown is the new Wicked.
The actual mani-​pedi itself was decent, but it was several dollars more than at other basic nail salons, and I wished that my lady had scrubbed my callouses more. That said, she did a great job with the nail shaping and polish. And come on, you’re in SoHo! Hello, fancy pants!