Nails By Elizabeth

A novice at acrylic nails, I spoke with several peers and heard that Elizabeth's was a local nail salon that had a decent reputation. Cautiously, I walked in to the shop a few days before my service to check their menu of services available and related prices. I was greeted by a young man in a white smock while another young lady was working on a client. He answered my questions concisely. Less than a week later, I went in and requested a set of "pink & white" acrylics. I was directed to a young Asian lady who was adequately fluent to carry on a conversation in English. I had a few questions that were more technical, and a Caucasian coworker had to come to answer my questions. The young Asian lady proceeded to do my nails, and I was rather pleased that she was perfectionistic about her work. While I was pleased with the look of the nails when they were done, I was not pleased by the multiple bleeding nicks she left just south of my cuticles that were created by the metal forms she used to shape the whites of the nails. The shop has a perfect health score, and there health practices seemed to match the rating. I walked away with a set of nails that I received compliments on over the upcoming weeks. As per the norm, two weeks later I went to have "fills" done. I was greeted by an Asian man who barely could speak English. There were two other Asian employees in the shop, one of whom was fluent in English. No one was smocked and they appeared to be "hanging out." The man who greeted me was assigned to do my fills. He proceeded to resurface, grinding the top layer off of the old acrylic, and then roughened the new nail growth with a high grit sand drum. I didn't notice a problem until he went so deep that he hit a nerve. He did this on three of my fingers. He applied the new acrylic bulkily, so the nails seemed extra thick. Dark pink semicircles showed where he had gone too deep. I was advised by the fluent worker that the pinkness would go away. It didn't. Three days later, I returned to the shop to have my nails redone by Elizabeth herself. Elizabeth simply said the pinkness was due to lifting of the acrylic. When time came to have the nails filled, this time I decided on removal. I did not return to Elizabeth's. Instead, I went to a shop recommended by a close friend. Removal of the acrylics was painful on the pinkened fingernails. As the new shop attempted to restore my nails with a simple manicure, they were distressed when they noticed the irregular surface marks that became evident when my nails were painted. The store manager confirmed that the non-fluent Asian man at Elizabeth's had in fact damaged my nails. I'm suffering now with thin, flimsy nails that I'm trying to protect until the damage grows out. Please note that Nails by Elizabeth in Millbrook does not display their required licenses (I found them in a basket when Elizabeth worked on me). There's no way to know if the person working on you is licensed.