SpaSpy: Manicure and Foot Spa @ Nail Artz Salon, Kiulap
A colleague and really good friend of mine gave me a coupon for a Free Foot Spa (worth over $70) at Nail Artz for my birthday, which was over a month ago - and I decided to use that coupon yesterday just to kill time on a quiet Sunday morning. Plus, my feet really needed a pedicure anyway.
So, yesterday morning, I made my way up to the salon, which, earlier in the year, I thought to have closed down (I have no idea why I had that impression in the first place). I had not gone to the salon since 2004, but I’d always had a good memory of the place as I remember the beauticians as highly professional in what they did.
I was pleased to find that the price for their basic manicure hasn’t changed after all these years: Still $15, so I added that service to my treatment. Of course, there had been significant changes to the place- new furniture; there was a barrier to separate customers doing full manipedi to just manicures; and indeed there were more staff. They provided more services too; e.g. hand treatments, waxing, eyelash perming.
I was brought towards one of their blue reclining(?) sofas, located behind the barrier. Next to each sofa is a side table where a few magazines are already placed upon. I was attended by two of the beauticians. They proceeded to doing my manipedi almost immediately after I sat down; and with very little chatter: which I thought was best because I really wanted some quiet time.
The manicure starts with a hand wash, followed by salt-soak. Then of course there’s the usual filing, nail shaping, cuticle trimming and treatment. I initially wanted to put colour on my nails, but decided afterwards to just have my nails buffed and shined. I wanted to save myself the agony of maintaining the colour from chipping after playing my guitar the next day - which was what I intend to do most of today as it is a public holiday and I haven’t got much to do. The great thing I LOVE about this place is buffing is included in the price - which isn’t what I could say for most salons. Perhaps that was one of the reasons why I used to frequently come to the salon those many years ago.
The foot spa starts with a jacuzzi-style soaking, followed by the usual pedicure procedures: nail trimming, cuticle trimming and treatment. My feet were then scrubbed and filed (with what looked like an electrical wheel for pottery - only very miniscule) and then scrubbed again, massaged and then placed in a cute pair of electric heat booties. After about 20 minutes or so, the booties were taken off, and my feet were massaged again, this time with some luxurious-smelling lotion.
… So, what do you think? Does the above description make the place sound really neat? I sure think so. It’s a great place to give yourself a treat, really and I can see why my colleague recommended this place to me.
However, I do have a few complaints about the place. The first thing I noticed when I walked into the salon was the smile-less expressions of the people in it: they didn’t seem very happy that I was there as a customer; which kind of put me off a bit. Perhaps it was because I came in without an appointment? But then again, it wasn’t like there were many customers around. I think I might have been the only one at the time…
Also, the sofa was ridiculously uncomfortable. Okay, fair enough, I’d already woken up with a bad back yesterday morning… but sitting on that sofa for more than an hour made it worse. The sofa looked like it was one of those reclining ones, and it had a footrest and all, which was great- but it didn’t recline. And if people are paying more than $70 for the services I’d just had, they should at least be given a more cozy place to sit on.
Never mind. I suppose those things aren’t nearly as important as the end result of the manipedi. My nails still looked pretty gorgeous regardless.
How much am I rating the spa? Hmm… Perhaps a 6.5 for now. I believe I will come back, though, to try their hand treatment spa; because it sounded really tempting.
