Enjoy Nail & Spa III: Flushing, Queens, NY
Blue and Black Marble for Nabi
design by: Unknown
technician: Unknown
price: $$$
Studios are rated in a 1-3 star system. To learn more see our studio list.
Overall:★★
First things first, we want to apologize for a lapse in articles. I’ve been upset since this last nail appointment. I’m over it now, but at the time I almost cried, though that was probably because I hadn't eaten all day.
Located in the heart of Flushing, Enjoy Nail & Spa III is the most prominent nail studio in the downtown area. Though their advertising has a semi-tacky vibe, the interior of the studio is very different. The space is clean and modern, with well trained and relatively friendly staff. I was torn over whether to give the studio three or four stars, but I went with three because I don’t think the art justified the price. The total for this set was $135 with tip.
STUDIO: ★★
After a brief walk up, the second floor studio is well kept with a lot of plant decor. Behind the front desk is a textured wall with the studio’s name in what seems to be three different fonts. I didn’t make an appointment so I had to wait for about 15 min on the couch before I was seated at one of their many manicure tables. The chair was comfortable and they were playing some sort of Chinese variety show on a large television for the whole salon to see. I came in rather late, around 6pm maybe, and all the technicians were hard at work all the way until 8pm when I left. There is a significant discount when you pay with cash, but I did not have enough, so if that’s something that is important to you I would get some before your appointment.
NAIL CARE: ★
Alright, so I came to Enjoy Nail & Spa with my acrylics on from Barry’s, and as I’ve said before in my previous article, the removal at Barry’s was really damaging to my nails. My tech at Barry’s decided that she could just cover it up with acrylics, so even though underneath it was a mess, it looked fine on top. As I was going to Enjoy, I was hoping for the best, but I wasn’t sure whether or not my nails would be able to survive a second removal. I had also never had acrylics removed before, and based on this experience I’m definitely going back to hard gel. I didn’t like soaking my nails in the acetone, and the fumes from the acetone burned my skin. It also took a really, really long time. Much longer than it would normally take to file off hard gel. If you also have never had acrylics before the process is like this, first they remove any gems, which I had and doing so actually hurt. Then they soak your fingertips in a bowl of acetone sitting in a bowl of hot water. The surface of the acrylic slowly dissolves into a goop like substance and then scraped off. This process is repeated until all the acrylic is gone. I thought that maybe this process would be more gentle on the nail (or present less damage risk) than filing off hard gel, but based off this experience I think they are equal in pros and cons. I much more care about the health of the skin on my hands than my nails themselves, which is why I will be avoiding large bowls of acetone from now on.
My tech at Enjoy did a fine job of removing my acrylics. However, I could tell that like many of the other Asian Spas I’ve been to, she wouldn’t let me get away with unhealthy nails. When she saw what was underneath the acrylics she insisted I cut off most of my length, saying that if I wanted to keep the length I would have to get extensions. I knew she was right but it wasn't what I wanted to hear. She could see that I was hurt, so at the end of my session she told me that my nails would be much healthier after this manicure and would grow back stronger. Was it nice to hear, yes. Did I totally believe her? Well, I guess we will just have to see if she’s right.
ART: ★
I really wanted to do tortoise shell nails, but my tech said that this other design that I also liked would be less expensive. I felt like not spending a lot of money that day for some reason. They told me the price beforehand, but they weren’t super clear about what that price included, because during my session my tech mentioned that the gold stones, which were included in the picture I showed them, would be extra. I’m not sure if she was just double checking with me that that’s what I wanted. At this point, to be real with you right now, all I could think about is how devastated I was about having to lose all my length. So I wasn’t totally paying attention. It is good practice, however, to listen to people when they talk to you about money. 10/10 would recommend since my nails ended up costing $135 for only okay looking marble. I didn’t like how my tech at Enjoy only marbled with one color, black or white, on top of the base color. I particularly remember that when I got marble at Judy’s, marble not only with black or white, but a lighter version of the base color. I also recall her doing two passes of marble. Judy only charged me $40 which is insane and probably why she doesn’t do nails anymore.
My tech was very gentle and hyped up the salons nail care, so if my nails really grow much better after this session maybe that will justify the $135 price. For now, I feel like you can stretch your dollar further at many of the other salons in Flushing.
LONGEVITY: ★★
It’s been three weeks now and none of my nails have chipped or lifted. Occasionally a strand of my hair has slipped under the polish, but it has not lifted of my nail the way hard gel usually does. I’m very happy with how the polish has lasted so long, it’s making me believe that my nails are really growing back stronger like she said.