Nails by Lee

Lee and Tony gave me friendly, personal service. I’m very happy with my mani-​pedi. I also treated myself to a fantastic 30 minute foot reflexology massage. I am happy to support this local business which has been serving the Santa Monica community for decades.

I’m a first time customer to this nail salon. As I walked in, the place was empty. That should have been my first clue that their work sucks. So I ask for French tip gel. She tells me $ 25 and sits me down. To remove my old gel she soaks my fingers in acetone then gets a drill to remove the rest of the old gel. I’m sitting there thinking to myself, that drill is going to remove layers of my own nail as well. She then starts my French tip. As she is slowly moving along, they are looking as if a 5 year old is doing my nails. I have to constantly ask her to fix this and that. I let her finally finish, and I was in shock! The French tip was so uneven, the gel was so far from the cuticle, all over my skin, and you could see the lines from the medium pink gel. This was the worst experience ever. I told her that they look horrible and to remove it. She once again soaked my nails and brought out the drill again. I walked out with paper thin nails and clear polish. So upset! Once I got home I had to cut all my nails off because they started breaking. Warning!!! This place is horrible!

Worst place I’ve ever been, 1. They don’t greet you as you walk in. 2. I wanted long nails and they made them too short, don’t you think If I’m paying that I should get what I want? They also overcharged me on nails that were not long AT ALL ! 3. I wanted a few rhinesstones and they completely did a horrible job on the placing and kept layering nail polish and crazy glue that it ended up looking like a pile of glob. It took 2 people to put those rhinestones which was not a difficult design at all! And they both wouldn’t listen to me when I would tell them that wasn’t what I wanted if anything they said they would have to charge me more because of the amount of stones. (which I never told them to use that many) the lady rushed me out the door so quickly before my nails drive that she ended up smearing the polish and shut the door right behind me and when I knocked she said to come back another time. I payed $ 40 for the worst experience of my life. I’m pretty flexible and a great tipper but these people do NOT listen an don’t care. Would NEVER go back.

Never been to nail salon. I was headed there one day after reviewing hours of service on Unilocal.They actually close at 7:30 not 8:30.

This place is the absolute worst.
I usually go to main attraction, it’s the best, and they charge $ 20 for mani pedi. I go once a week and they know me and know what I want.
This place on the other hand doesn’t care about what you want and is soo money hungry. I went here as a last resort last minute mani pedi. I get them done very often so I don’t like gel or need gel bc it’s more expensive and it’s not worth it when I go in as as often as I do to keep them very short and nicely filed.
As I walk in, it was empty, the owner I believe rushed up to me and was pressuring me to get gel and I kept saying no no no no no no no no. Then she says over and over you want French tip? Look very nice, look very nice. No I don’t. But it looks very nice. Okay fine whatever. It was outrageous. Then there were two other employees. They began my mani pedi and the owner was lounging on the chairs near the door, feet up, talking loudly on the phone. There was no other noise in the spa so that was irritating. Then she comes over to me and starts to massage my back for a min or two then asks if I wanted a back massage and I told her no it’s ok bc it wasn’t good at all. She said oh well I already started it’s $ 10. Whhhaatttt?! So instead of my usual payment of $ 20 I spend $ 42. Wouldn’t be so bad if they did a good job but it was terrible! They barely took them down, like I asked a few times, I like them very short. The French tip came out crooked, and different sizes. Never never will I come back!
Go to main attraction!

$ 75 total for mani/​pedi shellac… 25 for mani pedi, 25 for gel on nails, 25 for gel on toes. Redic. Never paid more than $ 55 for both spa mani pedi and shellac. Nope.

Love this place and have been going since I was in middle school, I’m now 25yo. My mom gets her pedicures every two weeks, Tony is amazing with them as well as his massages. I get full sets and Lee does them by hand and does such a good job. I live in the marina where u can easily get an «okay» job done for a ridiculous price! But I travel here to get the opposite, a great job for only $ 20. The place isn’t the cleanest but the tools are sanitized and she washes my hands for me, I love it. Highly recommend it, plus they always have great classic colors!

This Place is a Rip off. and Lee is a Thief. Some of the other reviewers have hit it on the head about the nickle and dime-​ing but I bet none of them got Ripped Off like I did when I looked at my Bank statement and realized this woman not only put a 20 dollar tip for herself but also an extra 55 dollars! I am appalled. Bringing the total to a whopping 243.99 for nothing more than a lousy job. First she acted as though I owed her the money and was indignant saying «I tried to call you» you no pay for the facial you see?“but she hadn’t called me because she didn’t even know my name! but she sure as hell had the receipt as she must have kept it to the side to see if I had caught the mistake. It was all BS She is a liar and I could see what a phony scam artist she is!
First of all the mani pedi I received was horrible! The color never dried, and no top coat applied and my nails started splitting immediately and my guess is they fill and/​thin out their bottles with acetone remover because my nails looked worse than when I came in, I was in a hurry to go to a party… then she started in with how bout a facial how bout a waxing on your face how bout a massage… none of which she did… except for a 10 minute steam on my face and a supposed waxing… and I left for a party with a Mustache and my eyebrows not done as she said they would be. I was completely ripped off. When I brought my bank statement a few days later (she played me for a dummy and thought I was stupid) she kept trying to hug me and saying relax honey, writing fake charges and numbers on a page. She said «you see» you owe me so I took money! Isn’t it against the law to add money to a charge card?
I had bought some face crème from her she kept saying why don’t you return the crème” I said «I don’t want too (I wanted the cleanser she has, its really good by the way) you never did these treatments to me and you know it» and twisting the numbers and adding numbers to the page,(ex: while adding the total she would add the ‘carry number’ as though it were a charge, she didn’t know that I can add in my head) like I was an idiot when she saw that I knew exactly what she was doing she tried to give me 20 bucks and she started manhandling me, pushing me grabbing my hands all with a smirk on her face like we were best friends… trying to get me in a chair to fix the mess! I kept saying I will get a third party in here to fix this… then her co worker approached and she then took out a paper where she starting adding things again and he saw that she had been out right lying…” I called you you see I called you”!!! she hadn’t ever called me! I took out a notebook and had all the supposed charges and it was over a hundred bucks of Thievery from my debit card. I could tell the guy working there was very embarrassed and as though he had gone through this before. He talked to her in their language and she offered me 55 dollars which I took and ran out the door, tired of fighting with her and swore I WOULD NEVER EVER GO BACK. After that she wanted me to hug her she says OK we are good OK honey… yeah? No Lee, we are not good… you lost a good customer over a hundred bucks, and others need to be warned about you.

Cheap but u pay for what u get. Not the best or cleanest. But very friendly and they are very artistic with their flower art.

I have been going to Nails by Lee for 20 years. The service is great. They always treat me like I am a special client. They do a great job.
Lee does great manicures and Tony gives heavnely massages.
I can always get an appointment and they never make me wait when I arrive.
What more could one ask for!!!

Came here a few weeks ago because I needed a mani pedi last minute and this place was the closest to my house that was open late (at 8pm).
I got gel nails and a pedicure. Lee did my mani and her assistant (whom i think was a bit slow) did my pedi.
The assistant who did my pedi knocked over a bottle of nail polish while trying to help me choose a color… broke it. No big deal for me but hopefully she did not get whipped for that one… eeek!
They sat me at a table and used a tub of hot water to soak my feet. The salon I normally go to that charges that same price in Brentwood sits you on their nice massage chairs so that was a bit of a disappointment.
Lee and her assistant were both very sweet. Only one other person came in while I was there.
Lee tried to sell me on waxing my eyebrows next time (as she saw I had just had mine done), a facial for my acne (kinda rude since I hadn’t asked her anything about my acne… and funny thing was I also heard her try to sell the SAME special acne facial to the other woman for wrinkles!!! Ha!) and a massage/​cutical treatment (typical of any salon).
My nails were nice after… gel nails always are!
I would recommend this place if you are right by it and need a mani/​pedi quickly. Otherwise I’m sure there are better places out there. My favorite is Wilshire Nails — they really are the best for the price.
Gel Nails were $ 20, Pedi $ 15. Street Parking was easy.

I really love this place. They are so friendly, time efficient
and definitely kinder on the wall let in times like these. They do a great job from manicures, massages, facials, waxing-​you name it.
I will never go anywhere else.

Avoid at all costs! Lee, the owner is so pushy and rude. I went in for a mani-​pedi. That’s all. $ 100 later… She ‘forced’ a facial waxing, eyebrow shaping and tint, and didn’t even do a very good job. But that wasn’t enough for her. She kept on and on about how bad my skin was and that I had to have a facial. Um, no thanks. Not after you’ve insulted me.
The guy working on my feet, Tony, pulled out a callous remover (a skin shaver) and took a chunk out of my heel. I didn’t know anything about it until he put an astringent on it and it stung so bad. No apologies or any thing.
The place was empty. Now I know why. Terrible establishment.

Literally, this is the first review I’ve ever written, and usually I try not to be negative and give opinions unless they’re solicited, but I am just SO EXTREMELY disappointed in my experience, that I felt it needed to be shared.
So, I am new to the area, and was driving by, actually on my way to another nail place that I had received a flyer for, and saw Nails by Lee. I pulled in just to check their pricing, thinking that it’d be fabulous to find a good place close by. They said it would be $ 25 for a gel manicure, and it was a special price just for me. (Ok, don’t try to sweet talk me, I know it’s not, especially since I just saw you let the lady from next store walk out without paying). But, that’s a decent rate, and the place was empty (should have been a clue), so I thought I’d give it a try.
Lee started and didn’t really do much clean up to my nails, ie my cuticles are still really rough and underneath my nails beds are flaky. I asked for a regular french tip, and she offered a sparkly layer. I said no just clear, and she still ended up using a light sparkle base. Not happy. There are two nails that have little particles of dust (probably from the hand dryer they had me put my hands under for 9 minutes after each layer) and two more that have bubbles. During the manicure I even called out on of the nails that had some little dot/​dust (whatever it is) stuck on it, and she said oh it’s fine no one can see it. WRONG, I can see it and so can everyone else, it’s a black dot on a white strip, it stands out. She was just too lazy to redo the whole nail like should have been done. And even further, the white french tip polish wasn’t cleaned up nicely, some of the cuspus’ are not straight lines, and one is already chipping (it’s gel, it’s suppose to last 2 weeks, hello). Then there was no hand massage or lotion, but rather she put the cuticle oil all over my palm (and then proceeded to read it), which was super oily and made it difficult not to get the grease all over my wallet. Plus, when she asked if I wanted to leave tip on the card and I said yes, she ran it without letting me add tip.
When she could tell that I wasn’t super happy with the outcome (my mood was cheerful when coming in, and definitely way more quite towards the end after such a horrible job), she tried convincing me, by saying that everything looked so good.
Additionally, they constantly tried to upsell me while I there. Whether it be getting a pedicure, a facial, eyebrow wax, face lotion (basically said my skin could use some help).
Honestly, I don’t think I’m being overly picky. If I pay for a service, I want to enjoy it, and I am not happy with the end result from Nails by Lee. I won’t go again, but maybe you’ll have better luck. It wasn’t the worst thing of my life, but if you’re a nail salon, I expect a better experience.
(Oh, one plus, they did have parking in the back though, so I didn’t have to feed the meter in the front).

I don’t get manicures or pedicures. I go to Nails By Lee for a foot and neck massage. Lee is great! She is a natural masseuse. The chairs are comfortable and Lee always makes my feet and neck VERY relaxed. I LOVE it!

I’m surprised to read such horrible reviews on this place! I’ve been going here for close to two years and so far I love it! This place is a little smaller, but it’s much more relaxing compared to the loud and super busy nail salons I’ve gone to before (Main Attraction Nails and Spa). They really take their time and make sure everything is just how I want it! I did get the $ 10 neck massage offer, and it was to die for!
I usually get a full set of gel nails (doesn’t come out thick and fake looking like what I’m used, which is a PLUS! I like the natural look), and pedicure done by Tony! Lee is sweet and funny and really knows how to take care of my facials and eyebrows!
My daughter and I really like coming here to treat ourselves!

If you’re looking for a fancy nail salon or you’re high maintence, then this is not the place for you.
But, if you’re in the neighborhood, have time to kill, and want something cheap then this place will do. It’s pretty small, with very few stations and a very relaxed and casual atmosphere. The guy that did my nails was pretty slow, but I had nowhere to be so it was fine. The polish selection was good, and yes they do add things to the polish to thin it out — quite frankly I prefer this to very thick coats (and lots of ‘fancy’ salons do the same). Obviously, if you walk into this place you cannot expect state of the art technology and technicians in suits.
The clientele left something to be desired, but the overall work was fine. If I want something more upscale, I’ll head to Montana but I live a lot closer to this place and can’t complain about a $ 23 mani/​pedi that gets the job done.

Anyone who gives this place high ratings must still be going to a nail place that puts your feet in a bucket for the soak. I went to this nail salon to see how their work and prices fared and was greatly disappoined, no wonder the place was empty! First off this is a NO frills place, I repeat ZERO frills. It’s dirty and dindgy and ghetto. I would expect this type of place tucked into the far corners of South Central but not Santa Monica. The color selection was extremely limited with cheapy brands and they all looked old. The manicure I had was especially shotty (one nail smudged by the nail guy which he was too lazy to fix) although the guy was nice. He literally was finished with my complete manicure in less than 10 min total and that’s including the previous polish removal and lightening speed massage. The pedicure was slightly better looking but they try to
upsell you all the way. I was nickel and dimed for callus removal = $ 5, flower design =$ 5, a lady came out and tried to haggle me into a
shoulder massage = $ 10/​for 10 min. It was crazy. So pushy. The only
non pushy one was my manicurist who you could tell didn’t want to be
doing any of this in the first place. Anyways, my nails would have looked
better had I done them myself. And do you think any of them even offered to help me carry anything over to the dryer after they kicked me off the prehistoric spa chair? NO! I had to try and not mess up my wet nails while picking up my purse, shoes, magazine and drink. No one gave two poops about that. Don’t waste your money, seriously, there are
plenty of «good» nail places in the immediate area. You will not save money here as it’s just as expensive as the other places and with the upsell, it will be even more expensive. This place has gotten bad hype deservedly!

This was hands down (pun intended) the WORST mani/​pedi I have ever had. The OPI they used was obviously thinned out to save money, the woman doing my nails had to fix a bunch and they still looked terrible. They have a shady vibe going on there. I do not recommend them AT ALL.

I’ve lived in the neighborhood for a couple year but have been wary of this place, simply because I hadn’t actually talked with anyone who could vouch for it. But now that I’m 8−½ months pregnant, and tired, and can’t reach my own feet, I decided to give it a shot. I’m glad I did. My pedicure is beautiful. The staff were very friendly too; my only tiny complaint might be that the owner REALLY wanted me to have something besides a pedi and I ended up paying for a 10-​min neck massage. It was a great neck massage though! I will definitely be going back, even after I can reach my feet again.