Why Salons Suck by M. Ziskin

What is going on with the Asian nail salons in New York City? I have dealt with this issue at least FOUR times in the past year! You want a french pedicure (which is usually pink with a white line on top) and end up looking like you have no polish on because they use a light pink and make sure they rub ALL excess off the brush before applying.

I went to get a french pedicure after work yesterday at a place called Iris. I sat down and the woman did not offer to turn on the massage chair. So I turned it on myself. Another woman was reading magazines, I was never offered ONE.

When it came time to put the polish on, she put a light pink that looked clear and then the white strips over it. Frustrated, I spoke up. She said "oh you want darker, OK". She went to get something that looked to be the same color, showed me and I said "NO". She said "OK you pick"..so I found a decent *pink* color. She said.."this too dark, not gonna look good"..she actually said that! So then what does she do? Paints a thin layer over what she already did, so the white strips still show through only now are pink. I actually said "are you serious"? She said "I told you not looks good". I really felt like I was on Candid Camera or Howie Do It. I told her to please put the pink polish on first THEN the white over it. She said "Ohhh, you want American French, what I do is European French most people want it". UH, last time I checked, this is AMERICA.

Finally she was done, it wasn't even what I wanted but it was way better than a clear looking nail with white strips on them...which looks horribly cheesy to me, like someone was too lazy to paint their nails but tried to jazz em up by putting white strips on em. She then ushered me to the drying station, and while I was watching all the other patrons get mini back massages while their nails dried, no one offered me once. I paid her, and blatantly did not leave a tip.

Hair salons are doing this too. You go in with a picture of what you want, and they give you something totally different. I once asked for a blowout curled at the ends, and the woman proceeded to use a curling iron....Excuse me, for under $20, I can fuck up my own hair and nails. These salons are not hiring professionals anymore, they are hiring people willing to work for peanuts who have no training whatsoever.