Nail-a-Holics: A budget-friendly spa experience?

Hello ladies,

Today I share with you my foot spa experience at nail-a-holics nail salon & spa SM San Lazaro branch. Do know that this happened 2 weeks ago, hours before my sister's debut.

So, I was from 24 hour hospital duty that day and it had not occurred to me to take pictures of the whole thing and place as I was not expecting to post about it. I genuinely thought that the service would be ok and that it's not super extraordinary that I'd go blog about it. Anyway, I originally thought that their foot spa as well as the hand spa (if that was the term for it) already included a manicure/pedicure with it. Unfortunately, they did not so I took the 700 peso package which included the foot spa and mani-pedi.

Around this time I was really looking for some good massage for my feet as the past few rotations have been a torture to them and I've been suffering mild aches and pains on my soles. And since I've read a good deal of reviews from nail-a-holics, I was expecting a good service.

So now, let me share to you the experience.

I am not that picky about certain things and I guess I don't get easily grossed out but I just can't stand seeing their towels, the seats, and the throw pillows. I know that the branch had been there for quite sometime, but I think it's only appropriate that they do change the sheets on the seats or throw pillows once every 2 months or what. The seats look exactly like they've been sat on by a lot of people and all the sweat and dust have stuck on them. The towels were battered and a little dark so you know that they've been using those probably since the store started and they've only been washed and rewashed. I wouldn't have any problem with that if I had had this service with some mani-pedi lady from my province or some salon where it only costs around 50 to 100 for both hands and feet, but, to have your business named nail salon and spa, I think an occasional spring cleaning to keep with appearances is necessary. Maybe dispose of those unsightly towels and wash those seats. I don't know if this is only in SM San Lazaro branch, but even so, shouldn't they maintain quality of their equipment in all branches?

Next, I really would have let things go since probably this is the "norm" in other nail spa as I've only been to three. However, when your feet still feels similar to velcro when you're walking on your bed I cannot let that go. Let me make it clear that the lady who did my foot scrub was nice, but I guess she overdid the scrubbing a little? I have never had this experience with my two previous foot spa and I do not understand how it could even stay like that for more than 2 weeks. Here's a picture of my soles.

Lastly, I did say I wanted a good massage for my feet. On my previous experience of foot spas, they do thoroughly massage not just your soles but also includes your calves/your legs and they ask you how hard or how soft you'd want it. Here, however, there was no such questioning, she did not ask if I wanted it hard or soft. Ok... I don't really mind either way. But the massage was only good at first, then in less than 10 minutes she was done with both foot and leg. The only massage she did for my legs was two "karate chops" and it was done. What was that? It was the same for my hands.

I was in a hurry that day so I asked if they had a nail dryer or a quick dry solution, which they had... so she put liberal amount of the solution on my nails and it looked like I had eaten a really oily piece of meat with my bare hands. It did dry up quick but after a day, the nail color started looking like they had bubble underneath and it looked so ugly I peeled it off my hand. Yes, peeled.

So overall, I was not happy to have spent 700 pesos for that service because I know I'd be able to get better service with the same amount or even less. So I do hope they try to take some of the suggestions especially the first one. Anyway, I won't be going back there anytime soon.

Cheers,

LIZ