Elegant Nails

I was happy here at first. Slowly, I began to notice things I didn’t like: My gel and shellac nails barely lasted 2 wks and looked bad at 10 days. The last time they didn’t last a week. My technician answered all incoming phone calls, made appts, and greeted walk ins as she did my nails. The same files, etc. are used for each customer. Technicians carried on constant conversations in their own language as if no one else is present. Appointments can be made, but might or might not be honored. This salon is much closer to my home than any other. I’m giving up that convenience.

For some reason I came into this nail salon that I have avoided for my whole life living in Santa Fe, I couldn’t tell you why… actually no I can tell you why. I wanted a QUICK gel polish on my fingers. I get manicures with gel regularly and love them (regularly).
I came in on my lunch break, ended up waiting about 30 minutes when I was told 5 to begin with. Sat down, and I told the owner (I assume) that I already filed them how I wanted and all I wanted was the polish.
She did not buff my nails before applying the first layer of gel, did a horrible sloppy job on the rest of my nails, and left them totally bubbled.
By the end of the day one of them was already starting to lift, and a day later the polish completely came off of one of my fingers (I believe because she didn’t buff before starting) and another day later another one came of.
This place is gross, not clean, and I would not recommend it. Hate to be harsh, but I’ll stick with what I know.

Worst mani pedi I have ever paid for. Uneven, dingy. The massage sucked and she pinched the hell out of me doing my cuticles. I also noticed she used the same tools on the girl after me without cleaning. Also she didn’t exfoliate my feet at all which is the main point of a pedi.

I walked in yesterday for a fill, a friend of mine recommended this place. They took me right away and they didn’t take very long. The only thing I asked what that they leave the tips of my nails the same as I already trimmed them down and filed them the way I wanted, which she ignored. The technician did have a great personality and was super friendly.
The first thing I noticed when she began working that she pulled out a paper towel that had already been used rather than grabbing a fresh one. The files that had seen better days still had powder from someone else’s nails on them. When it came time to wash my hand before polishing, the sink area was dingy at best, I didn’t even want to touch the trash can to throw away my towel.
The technician did a great job with my polish but that is all I have to say about the end product that is positive. When I got home, I looked closer at my nails and saw that all the tips were crooked and uneven. Some of my nails have dents in them either from a poor job with the fill or her filing job. I had to redo all the filing I had already done to even out the tips, now my nails are much shorter and don’t even look professional. I will not be going back again.

For some reason, I decided to give this nail salon another chance. I had an okay experience with my pedicure the last time I went in and figured it was a safe bet. Boy, oh boy, was I wrong. I walked in and was sat in a chair to soak almost immediately. The person that came in after me was given a wait time of 30 minutes, so I thought I had made it just in time. Ten minutes later someone sat down to start my pedicure. Not a moment later a woman walked in and announced that she had an appointment with the technician that had just sat down to start with me. She got up and walked over without telling me what was going on and started on this other woman. I waited for 20 minutes in the water before anyone even acknowledged me. I get that I’m young, but that doesn’t mean I’m any less deserving of respect. The technician that finally joined me was slow and did a sloppy job with my nails. She didn’t buff or file them properly. That is seriously one of the most vital steps in the process. My toe nails ended up looking like jagged talons. I went over to pay and then asked for some acetone so I could remove the nail polish (so I could later re-​file my nails.) They made a HUGE deal out of this and insisted I let them «fix” whatever my «problem» was. I told them that my nails were unevenly filed (if at all) and they sat me down in the chair to help me. I told her I would be okay with just having them filed like they were supposed to be in the first place. She cut them, barely made any effort to file them, and asked me over and over again if I wanted polish even though I kept saying no. The whole process ended up taking at least an hour altogether just to fix the issues I ran into and even then I wasn’t fully satisfied with the results. I still have to fix my right big toe nail because it is so asymmetric. This salon is still just as unsanitary as the other reviewers have said in the past. I would not be shocked to hear that they haven’t read any of these reviews. I will never recommend this salon to anyone.

Got a gel manicure and gel pedicure. Pedicure was fabulous but I was less impressed with the manicure. I am knocking off one star, I was left unsatisfied with the shape of my nails but the paint job was very well done. $ 62.75 for the whole appointment. May return unless I find better prices elsewhere.

I don’t know about their gel/​shellac nail services, but as for good ol’ fashioned acrylic nails, this place is the jam. $ 15 for acrylic fills and I was in and out in 15 minutes too. And they did a much more natural and prettier job than my original full set done elsewhere. They will be my new go-​to place for quick fill-​ins.
I tried calling the top Unilocal-​rated nail salon in Santa Fe first (which shall remain nameless), but after a brief conversation with the snooty receptionist I knew there was just no way I was going to drive all the way down there to wait an hour and end up paying a lot more. At Elegant Nails, they gave me exactly what I wanted and it was a no-​nonsense transaction, just the way I like to do business.
Ask for Mimi, she knows what she’s doing.

Terrible. I went in for a pedi as I was in sante fe for a weekend getaway and was desperate for a fresh pedi. This was the only place open on sunday. The polish selection was horrible, no OPI or Essie, only brands I never heard of. It was messy, too warm in there, no magazines to read. As the tech cut my nails I was very afraid she was going to hurt me with those nippers on the corners of my big toe. She would grasp and twist then cut. The nail file was about dead, no grain left on it to work. The foot and leg massage terrible. The polish looked lumpy, many sides of nails not covered in polish. She poured acetone in the topcoat. When she was done she just walked away, no quick dry spray or anything. I had to ask if she was finished after I sat there for 5 minutes. Don’t go here, you will not be relaxed or pleased with results. The worst pedi experience ever hands down.

Went in for a gel pedicure. I had already had gel on from a previous pedicure and normally have it soaked off, as is normal procedure. But no, not at Elegant Nails. They used a BLACK AND DECKER mini handheld saw. Immediately I withdrew my foot from the technician’s hands and refused to let him use that on me. After refusing and tell him to soak the polish off, things seemed to be better.
At this point, however, the salon became quite busy and more women came in for pedicures. Instead of having them wait, they made me move to the hand station and the technician sat on the floor while painting my nails there.
It was extremely awkward. I felt swindled (admittedly, I mostly wanted to sit in the massage chair a little longer) and like my business wasn’t appreciated.
I’ll never return to Elegant Nails.

Elegant Nails is great. I get a (gel) mani /​pedi + eyebrow wax here once a month. Mimi and the other technicians are friendly and professional. The polish is good quality and lasts. The new massage chairs make for a relaxing experience. I highly recommend this spot.

I have been having my nails done at Elegant Nails (De Vargas) for many years and would never go anywhere else. This salon is the best I have found in Santa Fe… always courteous, considerate of customer’s needs and always… a beautiful job done! I highly recommend this salon for all your manicure and pedicure needs.

I go to this location religiously! Every person is so nice, and it has a friendly atmosphere. I love talking with Mimi. I always get a wonderful pedicure (french tips typically), and it lasts forever AND they look fantastic. They do wonderful free hand flowers to top it off. The few times that I have gotten my nails done, both normally polished and acrylics, I have never regretted it. They are attentive, friendly, and caring! I love Elegant Nails: D

I was in Santa Fe for my birthday and wanted to get a manicure and pedicure. We found this on google maps and went to get out nails done. The pedicure was simply amazing. The best I’ve had in a long time. The shellac, however, was the worse I’ve ever had. They do not allow the correct time to dry, so my nails chipped the very next day. If I wouldn’t have already been in Denver, I would have gone back and made them fix it. By 3 days after this, all my shellac was chipped or peeling off. This place is good for pedicures, but I wouldn’t go there for anything else.

Worse nail salon ever. I went with my cousin, she for a pedicure and I for both a mani/​pedi. My technician talked on a phone for the massage part of my manicure, holding the phone with one hand and giving me a one-​handed massage with the other. She did not bother to remove all of my old polish, it went on unevenly with little bumps and bubbles and carelessly splashed on my cuticles as well. All our fingers and toenails were left ragged and uneven and the polish began peeling the next day because they don’t clean off the lotion thoroughly before applying polish. This place is a joke and they even tried to overcharge my cousin at the end – never again, will continue my search for a decent nail salon in Santa Fe.

I got a full set of acrylics 2 weeks ago. They were perfect. The offer white tips– so no need for polish at all. My hands were transformed from winter-​worn nightmares to something far more pleasant and acceptable.
Yesterday I went in for a fill and Le Le had it done in 20 minutes for $ 15. You can’t beat it. My hands look gorgeous– as seen in the photo I submitted.
They do not cut my cuticles. I did not bleed. I did not get nail polish, but the acrylics I got are flawless.
Every two weeks I will be at Elegant Nails.

NEVER GO HERE. This place was atrocious. My girlfriends and I were visiting Santa Fe for the weekend. We called to see if they did CND Shellac manicures, they said yes and to come on in. As soon as we got there, we realized that they did not give CND Shellac manicures at all. They completely lied about that. So we figured we’d stay and get a regular mani/​pedi anyway.
My «technician» made my toe cuticles bleed and every toenail she cut was left crooked and jagged. As for my gel rebase, she did it in about 20 minutes (it should notmally take an hour) and every finger nail was cut slanted and with dangerously sharp 90-​degree angeld corners. I had to go home and file them down. And when I asked if I could have pink polish (like what I had on when I came in) she told me no!
My two girlfriends asked to have their mani/​pedis redone because they were so bubbly and bad. The staff ignored their requests and basically we had to leave because the place was closing. And to top it all off, my girlfriend paid for all 3 of us with a credit card and they automatically added 20% tip to her credit card bill! This was by far, the worst nail salon experience I have ever had.

Unsanitary, overpriced, rude. Cuts corners on quality. I had to remove my nail polish when I got home because it looked so bad — on cuticles and uneven — and was not dry 30 minutes after being painted, probably because of the low quality polish used and the lack of UV lights to dry. Only tool sanitizer I saw was being used as a magazine stand. Floors were less than clean, and customers had to ask for paper slippers to wear. Get your nails done in Albuquerque. Wish I could have back the time and money that I wasted here.

My first time at Elegant Nails at DeVargas Center I had a mani/​pedi and was thankful that I had my Hep B shot. I frequently get my nails done and have never bled before or been in pain the next day. My fingers are raw and sore and the nail polish is old and bubbled. I am removing it. Don’t risk your health or waste your money here.