Yukie Nail: Midtown, Manhattan

Four stones for dali

Technician: unknown
Design by: @bonis_nail_
Price: $$$

Studios are rated in a 1-3 star system. To learn more see our studio list.

Overall:★★

If you’ve been following our studio journeys a) thank you so much, we love you and b) you might have remembered how Nabi and Allison tried to go to Yukie Nail before, but when they arrived they were told they didn’t have a reservation. Now, after my recent visit to Yukie, the verdict is in. Although the salon had quite a few quirks, like gel that felt like it was giving me a chemical burn, the result was satisfying enough to warrant four stars.

Note: You have to put down a credit card to reserve an appointment, and if you cancel less than 24 hours in advance they’ll charge you. The final price for my design was $87. I had cash and gave my tech a rather large tip for no particular reason. If you don’t have cash you can tip on card.

STUDIO: ★★

Poshly situated next to Tao on 58th Street, between Park and Madison, Yukie Nail is a classic New York City upscale experience in an obviously small, prewar building. This was exaggerated due to my seat next to a loud radiator. When I arrived at the building, the entrance was locked, and I had to buzz the second floor to enter much like an apartment. After walking up a flight of marble stairs, I entered the dark wood covered salon. I checked in, with no complications, and the staff offered me a drink and to take my coat. The lighting was soft and relaxing, evoking a spa like vibe. I sat surrounded by upper east side women and Goyard bags enjoying their weekly boring manicure. In the back there is a hair studio that I only peaked at, and was largely separate from the nail salon.

The studio reminded me of Marie Nails for a number of reasons. First, the salon staff was speaking majoritively Japanese. Second, it also had a small, dated feel, though without the cramped and frantic elements unique to Marie. Yukie Nail is moving, however, so keep in mind that if you look them up and they are no longer on 58th Street you might have a different experience.

NAIL CARE: ★

My nail tech was working at Yukie for what I guess you could call sabbatical; she has her own nail studio in Tokyo and decided to come to New York for fun. I was removing the set I got at Marie, and it was topped off with hard gel so she filed them before soaking them in acetone. She soaked my right had for an appropriate amount of time, but my left hand soaked for too long because she decided to do both the removal and shaping of my right hand back-to-back. The acetone was burning, and I was about to tell her that I wanted to stop soaking when she took my hand out. My fingers were discolored for a while, which was annoying, but it eventually went away.

She pushed back my cuticles and cut the skin around the base of my nail, but looking at the result now I feel like they could be in better shape. I also would have preferred if she supported my nail while she was filing. The length of my nails is a bit uneven, not that anyone would really notice. When she shaped them — I went with square this time — she didn’t round the corner as much as I wanted her to. I not unhappy with the nail care, but it wasn’t everything I’ve ever wanted.

ART: ★

The theme of this experience is chemical burns, apparently, since I also had a weird experience while the gel was curing under the UV lamp. All gel releases heat when it cures, but it’s usually not noticeable. As I was about to put my hand under the lamp, my tech warned my that it might feel hot and I should take my hand out if it felt like it was burning. I shrugged the comment off and put my hand in, only to find myself waving my hand in the air to cool off the gel moments later. It was really that hot. So hot, so burning. I was thinking, ‘what is going on?’ I still don’t know why it was so hot. Especially the clear coat. I didn’t suffer any injuries from the gel, but it was definitely a weird experience.

I showed my tech a picture of what I wanted, and though she replicated it well enough, I missed the perfectionist vibe at places like Arete. For example, she picked the large stones out for my four accent nails and placed them on, but she didn’t fill in the gaps between the larger stones with smaller ones to really make it look pretty. There is nothing wrong with what she did, but it makes you feel good when you go to a salon that goes the extra mile. She then covered the stones with hard gel, dulling the sparkle. I know that a lot of salons stand by putting a gel coat over gems, but I disagree. The over affect is still cute. I guess you get what you pay for, and I was surprised that it was only $87 total.

My tech and I talked for a while about where to see the best cherry blossoms and where to get good Japanese food. She was really super sweet and very gentle with my nails. I do think she was a good tech, and a five star person.

LONGEVITY: ★★★

I’m convinced that these nails will last me a while due to the sheer number of coats she put on my nails. There was a base coat, three coats of color (upon my request), 2 coats of clear hard gel, and then a top coat. I appreciate that my tech made a conscious effort to give the design longevity, and I’m almost certain it will last a while. Yesturday, however, the coat of clear gel fell off one of the large stones. It looks so much more sparkly now! I kind of wish it would happen to all the others.

UPDATE: As suspected they lasted a while, about 4 weeks. Some of the other stones’ gel caps fell off within that time, but it made the effect more enjoyable.