Smudge

I love the atmosphere in this beauty bar — it’s clean, very nicely decorated, and has a very relaxing vibe. They have a nice assortment of beauty products available for purchase (bath bombs, creams, face masks, etc) and offer a variety of services but this time, I only got my eyebrows done and I am pretty happy with how they turned out. I didn’t experience any redness or bumps like I usually do when I get my brows waxed. The technicians aren’t overly friendly/​welcoming which can be a good thing for some people but not for others. I enjoyed my short visit here and will hopefully be booking a mani/​pedi soon to see how that turns out!

I wanted to love this new beauty bar as it’s in my neighbourhood and I have always loved the space (the old Young Janes location). Unfortunately, my experience here last weekend was pretty average and I’m not terribly eager to rush back.
I stopped by this place Friday and love what Smudge has done with the place! Really beautiful new interior with soaps, bath bombs and candles (finally! PF Candle Co comes to Ottawa!). My delight at checking things out was stopped short by a frazzled employee informing me that if I did not have an appointment, they were booked for the day. Ok, no biggie, I kinda just wanted to see the new place anyway but I think welcoming the new neighbours with a simple «hello» and a smile would have been a better approach…
Not to be deterred I called Smudge later that evening to book a manicure/​pedicure and left a voicemail. No reply. On Saturday I called back and was told I could book a manicure only as they were busy. No problem as the faded/​cracked shellac on my hands was the main concern anyway.
I came in for my appointment and was told to pick my colour. There were four staff members working and I was the only customer at that point. I was a little irritated to see that shellac runs an extra $ 15 at Smudge with other nail polish varieties running a bit extra too. Lacquer is the only polish included in their treatments. I figured this is a pretty good price for a mani so splurged for the shellac. At this point the same employee doing my nails assessed that she would need to remove the shellac I had on and that I wanted shellac for my mani too. She began working on removing the shellac and as I sat waiting for the acetone to do it’s thing she informed me that the ‘standard mani’ I had booked did not include time to remove or put on shellac… All she would have time for was a quick polish change and nail file. I agreed but was a little irritated as this was not what I had agreed to pay for and was already sitting there with tin foil fingers eg: not exactly in a position to say: no thanks, I’ll rebook or go elsewhere.
The end result was a rush job and not very even or well done. Even after three coats a few of my fingers do not have polish covering the whole nail…
I really wanted to love Smudge but so far the kinks of opening a new business have yet to be worked out. The space is also not suited for groups of more than 2 as I watched a mother and her adult daughters come in and awkwardly be told to ‘sit wherever you want’ as there are only two pedicure spots open at a time.
Overall, I did not get the impression that this business is interested in creating repeat clientele. This was a cheap manicure but cheap and poorly done is not worth the savings in my book!