Nail FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions or concerns answered 😊
Q: Where are you located?
A: For right now I am working out of my home in the Bronx ( New York) near the 231st stop on the 1 train - I will follow up the day before your appointment for my exact address.
Q: When are you taking new clients? Is there a waitlist?
A: To reiterate, I work out of my home therefore have full discretion of who I want to bring into my space. My client list is full at the moment and will not be seeing new clients for the foreseeable future. There is no waitlist, if anything is to change I will make everyone aware.
Q: Why don’t you have open availability on the weekends?
A: I have a kid so my weekends are dedicated to him and my personal life, thank you for understanding.
Q: Do you do cuticle care and prep?
A: All clients receive a dry manicure pre-gel application, which means no soaking in water but cuticles are pushed back and trimmed in a non-damaging manner. I cannot work miracles, if your cuticles are jacked because you pick at them I won’t keep picking at it either. Let your cuticles heal please lol - cuticles are essential for healthy nail growth.
Q: I am so used to acrylic, what do you offer that’s similar?
A: For extreme clarification I do not do acrylic (never will), please do not book me to remove it — take care of your removal before your appointment date. I only offer gel. Moving on, hard gel (structure gel, builder in a bottle, it has many names) is a great alternative to Acrylic, it creates a layer over the nail to protect it from bending, cracking, and natural wear and tear.
Q: What is hard gel?
A: It is a gel when cured under LED/UV light turns very hard, you can create extensions with it as well. Hard gel comes in soak off and non-soak off versions. Soak off means it can be soaked off with 100% acetone, non-soak off cannot be soaked off and needs to be taken off by a professional with an e-file.
Q: Will gel or hard gel weaken my natural nails?
A: Gels are not necessarily damaging to the nail, a lot of gel products are now formulated without a lot of toxic ingredients - some of which I have in my kit. The most damaging part is how you remove your gel, if you pick or peel it off it has the potential to rip your natural nail into shreds kind of like acrylic does (I really hate acrylic).
Q: I made an appointment now what?
A: Thank you for paying your $20 deposit, I will be following up with you via Instagram for your nail inspo. If you have no idea what to do I have a bunch of nail art saved on my phone but I prefer my clients know what they want so we are not sitting there staring at pictures. The rest of your remaining balance is due after your appointment, I accept payments via Zelle, CashApp, and cold hard ca$h monies.
Q: I made an appointment but I have to cancel, now what?
A: If it’s 24hrs or less before your appointment you lose your deposit. Sorry. If you cancel before that I will return your deposit if it’s COVID related and you can book again when you have a negative test or I can reschedule your appointment on my end, on the booking confirmation email you can also reschedule your appointment, you can reschedule yourself up to one time — if you do it twice I will cancel your appointment and your deposit will be forfeited.
Q: I made an appointment and have crappy acrylic or gel on my nails from another salon, now what?
A: I prefer you attempt to remove it at home on your own as I do charge $20+ for removal of work not done by me, it’s very time consuming for me to remove. Can you fill in my previous gel? I can but your previous salon and I may not use the same product so it can be problematic. In an ideal world if you’re a new client, please come with literally no product on your nails. Thanks for understanding.
Q: I made an appointment but now I want super extra nail art and I only picked the basic girl one, now what? or the opposite…
A: I’d rather you over book me for time as you only pay $20 to reserve an appointment, if you pick a tier 1 and you want extra stuff I won’t be able to do it if I have an appointment after you. My schedule would then be off, ya know? You will be charged according to the time you booked. Changing your design from tier 3 to tier 1 is unacceptable during your appointment. Please let me know ahead of time so I can fill in another appointment. If you decide to downgrade your nail art during your appointment you will still be charged for what you chose during booking. Tier 2 is mostly what girls book and there are upcharges sometimes depending on extras, thank you for understanding.
Q: ZOMG IM RUNNING LATE ELIZABETH DONT KILL ME?!?
A. If you’re my only appointment I’ll usually just tell you to chill but like don’t be too late, let’s respect each other’s time constraints. If you’re late and I have another appointment, I can try to push my next appointment but if I can’t then please understand I won’t be able to do all the nail art you wanted originally. If you’re more than 20mins late and don’t send a message, I’ll cancel your appointment altogether.
Q: Thanks for doing my nails Elizabeth, tell me a little bit about aftercare and longevity?
A: Your nails are not pliers or screwdrivers, please treat your nails nicely and try to get some cuticle oil to keep them hydrated between all the washing and hand sanitizer. Gel manicures typically last 2 weeks or longer, results may vary person to person and also depending on your lifestyle and occupation. If for whatever reason something happens to your nails (like lifting/chipping) within 5 days of your appointment, feel free to send me a message/DM and we can coordinate to fix it - ASAP but not after 7 days. I cannot be your guardian angel if you’re sitting at home opening coke cans with your nails and break it, ok? That’s on you lol
Q: How do I remove my gels at home?
A: You can order a kit off amazon to easily do it at home, which I recommend. Amazon Nail Stuff
For returning client I will remove gel for free when you arrive. If you have hard gel on and its the non-soak off formula please don’t do it yourself as I only need to remove the color and a fill in will be provided for the hard gel.
Q: Are you taking any COVID-19 precautions?
A: Masks are worn by you, the client, and me to protect each other. If you are not feeling well please let me know and we can reschedule you for a later time. All my tools and space are sanitized with Barbacide, 99% alcohol, and wiped down with Clorox wipes. Please wash your hands when you arrive and wear your mask while here, please do not bring a guest unless they’re a friend and also have an appointment before/after you. Should another lockdown occur I will hold off on taking appointments.
Thanks for reading that, you’ve reached the bottom now. Appreciate everything 🤍