California Nail Salon

This place has been my go-​to since moving to Seattle a year and a half ago. It’s a tiny salon run by a family. Looks kind of dingy but service is awesome. I’ve only gotten gel manicures here. They do an great job and my gel mani could lasts nearly 3 weeks. I’ve had a few experiences at other places where I’ve walked out thinking I could’ve done a better job, but never here. Also, they give you a nice 5 or so minute back/​arm massage at the end, I love it! If you live in W Seattle, worth checking out, but keep in mind it’s small and depending on when you go, you may have to wait. I usually go right after work (around 5 – 5:30) during the week days and can get in right away.

I’ve faithfully gone here for over 2 years and have brought countless guests in with me. I have enjoyed the husband, wife & their daughter. So, I was shocked tonight when I paid and was charged an additional $ 20+ for the previous polish to be removed because I had had it applied at another place (out of state on vacation!)! When I explained, I was told by the female owner that it «takes time to remove other salons polish». I pointed out that she had effectively managed her time by waxing me while the foil was on my tips.
Disappointing. In theory I understand the point. However, they’ve now lost a loyal customer. Poor outcome for a short amount of return

I’ve been here twice to get a full face wax and both times I’ve left happy and relaxed. I haven’t made an appointment, just walked in, and both times I was seen within 15 minutes. I’m happy with the waxing job, but what I found most impressive was the professional grade face, neck and head massage that ended both sessions. It calmed my skin and loosened the muscle tension in my face, and it felt fantastic! All for under $ 30. They’ve got a repeat customer in me for sure.

Wow! Rude, rude, rude. That’s all I have to say. Can’t believe you’re still in business with staff this rude. Do not go here. There are two other nail spas next door with nicer staff.

I haven’t gone to California Nails a lot but every time I go I think to myself «why don’t I always go here?». They do an awesome job!!! They shape my nails perfectly and they do a really really good job of painting whether you go with regular or shellac. I’m very picky with the painting part and they do the best!!! They give you an amazing massage, they go way over the normal and it sets them apart. I’m happy every single time I’ve left.

California nails gave me Athlete’s Foot! They must not clean their equipment well. Don’t go there!

Small family run business. Great basic mani and pedi with bonus massage. Mani looks terrific as does pedi. Highly recommend. Only suggestion: get drying stations.

Amazing job & such an eye for detail. Plus, you can’t beat a beautiful shellac for $ 27 (w/​out tip). They even give a complimentary massage! This is my new spot for sure :)

I really enjoyed the service here. While it doesn’t have the look of a nicer place the service certainly was. Will go back

Update: I suck at reading prices… And they were just as great the second time around. Seriously, call first though. It gets busy!

I have gone to this business with fair results. No complaints. Until this last time… I had came in Christmas Eve with my mother and we both got mani-pedi’s. I had shellac done and was so-​so with the results. Then, the next day all my nails started peeling off, and it also revealed that my cuticles were cut pretty poorly. Disappointing for as expensive as it was and a time suck…
I came in a week later due to the holidays and the owners were not please with my late attention. So, after they redid my nails, and nicely this time, I was accused of lying about even coming in for a redue. Even though I told them what day I was coming in, how much money I spent originally, my name, etc.
Hmm the owner accused me of lying about the shellac falling off because his wife has been painting nails for 40 years. Owner also said that I should have called even though I was out of town and it was the holidays… Then his wife repeated over and over that I should have called immediately when they fell off.
You know, despite my schedule… my life and my dollar spent. Which in the end I paid 100 bucks, which INCLUDED a 20 dollar tip because I felt bad that it was Christmas Eve.
This place is not professional. Bad business. I will never go again. SUCKS!!!

Best spa pedicure on California Ave. Well worth the money. The ladies are nice and don’t make you feel uncomfortable even if they are talking about you in a language I don’t understand.

Just like the other negative reviewers, I’ve been a loyal customer of California Nail Salon and come in regularly every two weeks. Every year, they close for a full month for vacation.
So during the month they close, I have to find another salon.
When I went to two other salons while California Nail Salon was closed for their yearly one month vacation, the other salons did not charge me any extras to remove my shellac.
So, California Nail Salon reopened after returning from their month long closure, and I was happy to return. What pissed me off is that they charged me an extra $ 10.00 for my shellac removal «because I went elsewhere».
If you weren’t closed for so long I wouldn’t have gone elsewhere!
This really pissed me off, as I’m a loyal and happy customer for so long.
What also angered me was their inconsiderate and rude response to me. Basically saying it takes time to remove other salon’s shellac, and they don’t care how other salon’s run their business, and they are not going to remove other people’s product for free.
If California Nail Salon didn’t close for so long, I would not have gone elsewhere!
This is not the way you treat your paying, loyal customers.
The other salons I went to did not charge me extra for the removal.
I will never go back again, and make sure all my friends know that this salon does not value their loyal customers at all!
Plus, they raised their prices when they came back from vacation.
You don’t treat your loyal paying customers this way. So rude with attitude.
It’s really too bad, because they actually do decent nail work.

Ugh. I have been a loyal customer of California nail for over 2 years. The only time I stray is if I am out of town, randomly in another area, or they don’t have the time. I usually make an appointment although they are a walk in salon. The salon is relatively clean for what it is, the massage is really what makes this place worth it.
I went in for my scheduled appointment a few weeks ago & they were apparently so busy I would have to wait 30 minutes even though I had called hours before. No big deal. Being a single mom of 2 kids, I just didn’t have the time to wait that day so I popped over to another nail salon… as I have done COUNTLESS times.
Fast forward to my appointment this week. I dropped in and they were completely dead. The male owner of the salon did my pedicure and the entire time complained about how awful my pedicure was from going somewhere else. (It wasn’t) Do they really keep track of these things? He is always a little… off, but he was being very rude to me.
Then when it came time to pay he charged me an additional $ 8.00 to remove my polish. I was blown away. When I asked why he said it’s because it wasn’t «their product». I have had my polish removed by them dozens upon dozens of times and have never been charged, he was simply being spiteful for some reason.
Sad to be treated like this as a loyal customer who popped in every 2 weeks for years now. I will not ever be returning.

LOVE.
Living across the street from California Nail Salon is not only convenient, but necessary. My hands and feet get beaten up from martial arts, so there is nothing better to get a spa pedicure. For $ 30, you will receive the best massage of your life. I was so comfortable that I fell asleep in the chair. Plus the family that works here is so adorable that you won’t mind giving them your money!

While my car was next door at Courtesy Tire I decided to pop in for a fill and pedicure. I will forgive the man for the nick of my cuticle since I had impossible glitter polish and he had to sand it off. His wife then took over and filled and shaped my nails perfectly. I don’t like thick square nails. I like natural looking nails and she — pardon the pun– nailed it.
My pedicure was excellent until the very end when she forgot to put a clear coat over top.
Overall a good experience and I will be back for sure!

Two starts only because they have great massage chairs and wide selection of colors. My husband and me went to get pedicures together. He didnt like work done on him at all. Girls dont speak English and its hard to communicate. My husband’s review: «They worked as machines, completely didnt look at what my feet need. All dead skin that I had on my toes and hills are still there. My feed still rough. They cut me painfully in one spot. GIrl was rubbing my kegs for 10 minutes without massages them — just rubbing with some not natural lotions and cuticle oil. All I want is to go home and wash my legs.»
I dint like my pedicure as well — if I didnt stop them every 5 min and instructed — I would have bubbly paint job and longer nails then I think new pedicure should have.

I would have loved to given this nail salon 5 stars based on my pedicure experience. But I happened to also get pink & white acrylic’s which unfortunately ruined the whole awesome pedicure experience.
So I’m not too entirely picky when it comes to acrylics — I have two basic rules: Please get the tips straight, and don’t make me bleed. California Nails gets 0 out of 2 right. When the lady was applying the tips to my nails, she angled them to be facing inwards, on both sides… really strange. So I politely started to ask if she wouldn’t mind straightening them (before the acrylic went on) and she interrupted me before I could finish and said ‘not yet, later’. I gave her benefit of the doubt and thought maybe it was just a guide for the white acrylic, and she would straighten them upon applying the white.
Nope. Fast-​forward and the pink & white acrylics are on — still crooked. What she said she would fix ‘later’ was the slanted edges of the tips — didn’t help the fact that the tips were on crooked to begin with.
The WORST part of the whole experience was how badly she nicked me not once, but TWO times. My cuticle started bleeding, and wouldn’t stop. She asked me to go wash my hands, so I did — and had to hold a paper towel to my cuticle to get it to stop bleeding. I held it there for a couple minutes and went back for her to apply top coat — and it was STILL bleeding. So she whipped out a mysterious green bottle and dropped it on my cut — OW. I asked her what it was, and she said ‘liquid antiseptic’. She didn’t even ask if I would like to have that stuff applied. It makes me weary putting any kind of unknown liquid on an open wound — i would have preferred to put bactine & neosporin on my own cut later. A week later and you can still see the scab on my cuticle — looks pretty cute with my crooked acrylics.
Also, fellow Unilocalers, there’s this thing called fungus. It grows in between the gaps in your acrylics when the tips aren’t fully glued to your nails. Google ‘bad acrylics’ and you can read all about it. Not saying I developed any, but 8 out of 10 of my nails were separated from my nail bed. So if you looked down at it, you can see a gap where dirt and other fun goop has collected because they are not glued down properly. NOT COOL.
Almost all of the 5 star reviews below me are based on their pedicures. I too, had an amazing shellac pedicure, and might even go back JUST for that. But if you are looking for a full set — please do NOT expose your virgin nails to this place.

One of my absolute favorite nail salons in Seattle, period. These guys go the extra mile to make sure your mani/​pedi is done to perfection. I usually get shellac here and am always happy to see that they have the latest CND colors (even seasonal selections) in stock. They are very clean, well organized and their prices are very fair. Longest leg and arm massages around (and you don’t even have to pay extra)! I’ve never seen a walk-​in turned away and the staff is very accommodating.
I can’t say enough good things about this place!

I’m kind of disappointed. I specifically came here instead of my usual place because of the Unilocal reviews and stars they have, but this isn’t some where I plan on going back to.
One thing the reviews were correct about was the massage. The massage was longer than most places give and it wasn’t a weak massage. But if I wanted a good leg massage, I’d go back to my spa that I used to work at. I came here for service on my feet/​toes, not just a good leg massage.
I noticed that the bottom of my feet weren’t touched, except when she did the massage. Not saying I have bad calluses or anything, but I do appreciate them scrubbing my feet and getting all the old/​dead skin off.
Another thing I wasn’t too thrilled about was the cleanliness. When I go to Amy’s Nails which isn’t too far from this place, they put a plastic cover within the tub so that the water goes into the plastic, not the tub. This just seems cleaner to me. I don’t think these people clean and scrub the tubs with barbicide and/​or bleach, so another little something protecting me from someone elses germs are appreciated. I’m also used to places using tools that come out of packages from the back where they’ve been after being cleaned or are brand new. This place had them sitting out in the open. I don’t want to know whether they were cleaned good or not before I came in. I’m just thinking positive and hoping for the best!
She applied the polish very nice, but when applying the top clear coat, she only applied it to my two big toes. WTF?! My other toe nails would appreciate some gloss, too, please! Ugghh.
So, for $ 22, it was okay, but not great. Another girl came in and she must work there or is their daughter, but she distracted them a lot. While the lady was doing my toes, she stopped completely to talk and look at pictures on the girls phone. Uhhhhhh… No bueno.