Element Spa for Nails

I had a gift certificate given to me for this place so I tried it (happen to go on the first day of reopening) The girl who did my nails was one of the best I’ve had, she filed them perfectly to just what I asked for and my shellac polish looked amazing. I’ve never had so many compliments and it is 3 weeks later and they are still perfect. The only downside to me was the décor/​atmosphere, it didn’t have a relaxed or salon type feeling. I would recommend for if you are going alone to quickly get your nails done after work one day but it isn’t somewhere I would go with girlfriends for a mani pedi afternoon.

Was so excited to see that they had finally reopened. Unfortunately my FILL took an hour and a half. My gel polish is all clumpy and uneven it looks like I did my nails myself with my left hand. (I’m right handed) I had a meeting I had to be at and one of my co-​workers commented on how bad they look… Awesome. Also they tried to charge me more because my nails were long? (They aren’t long, my nail beds are long yes but I’ve been getting my nails done for 15 years and not one single nail spa has ever tried to charge me more due to my nail length)
Downsides
— clumpy gel polish application
— clumpy acrylic application
— takes extremely long
— they do not use brand new files for each client
Upside
— easily accessible location
— lots of gel polish colours to choose from
I see a lot of reviews saying the prices are cheap but they really aren’t. It’s on par if not a little more expensive than a few spots in Yaletown.

They are usually very nice but I’ve always wondered about their cleanliness and sterilization of the tools. There were times my cuticles were cut too short and I bled. The last straw for me was when my sister and I went and while we were there a woman came in with her dog. I love dogs but they DO NOT belong in a nail salon.
They gave the woman a seat next to me, she took her dog to the seat, didn’t even get it to lay down by the door. She was yacking on the phone the whole time, so rude, I felt bad for the woman doing her pedicure. Anyway, the tech starts shaving the callouses off this woman’s feet and dead skin is going everywhere and the dog started licking it up. Gag! It was so gross. The tech was trying to get this rude woman’s attention to control the dog. Myself and my sister, who actually used to have her own esthetics business and was an award winning nail technician, were so disgusted
Anyway, I realize they have no control over rude humans but they do have control over saying whether or not dogs are allowed in the salon or at the very least where other people are also getting their nails done.
It was just so gross, not going back.

When I put my hands in the water with rocks (part of the manicure) I was disgusted to see some other persons rather large piece of skin floating in it. The staff apologized and rinsed it out with tap water and gave it back to me.
Two of my cuticles were cut, and after wiping the blood on their towel, the «antibiotic» was applied. It was definitely just alcohol and stung through the rest of the manicure.
Very rushed, very sloppy and likely risky in terms of infection control
while I wanted my nails shorter, they are now below my finger tips and quite uncomfortable.
This on top of being talked over in vietnamese the whole time, means I won’t be back.

I had an excellent experience with Thuy, who did an amazing acrylic fill for me. She is precise, efficient, and friendly. The shape and length of my nails is perfect. The best part is that she can use pink acrylic powder so that no polish is needed. I love the colour and the fact that it will never lift, peel, or bubble! I will definitely be back.

If you want a reasonably priced Mani/​Pedi or if you’re looking for a new place (well priced) for your nails this place is awesome. Yes, it does cater to the «yaletown girl» and yes, it is your «typical nail salon» — but the staff are polite and do a really good job, and if you don’t like something they will fix it.
The have OPI for their standard nail polish and China Glaze. They do French tips, the Kitty Kat claws (Stiletto Nails), acrylic and pretty much any other request.
I’ve been going for about 3 years now and have had excellent service.
Pro Tip: Make an appointment anytime before noon and I can almost guarantee you won’t come across a «Yaletown Girl»

Very rude staff. After ruining my fiancé’s nails, she returned to have it rectified. At first they were just rude, once she complained about the way they were fixing her nails, the staff member erupted and yelled at my fiancé and kicked her out of the store. Turns out that staff member was the owner, Thuy Nguyen. I emailed her and attempted to give her a chance to rectify the situation but she has ignored us. No way to treat your clients, especially as an owner! What makes this worse is that my fiancé has been going there for years.

will not be going here anymore, staff is rude in an underlying way, I guess I did not tip enough as she asked «is that all for all three of us?» I thought it was more than generous. and its a gratuity… there is way too many places in Yaletown to have to go back here!~ also make sure they sanitize their tools not once have I seen that and always ask for a fresh files

Sorry been twice for a fill. First time my nails were way too thick i couldn’t even pick up a coin from the ground and broke with in a week at that.
Second time from a different tech they drilled so deep into my nails leaving those harsh red half moons :(and last I find the quality of products is low the top coat on my gel polished started to do this weird tint thing changing the colour of my nails. I will not be going back again. I also felt like they didn’t understand shape. my nails are inconsistent in shape and size.

Friendly staff and good manis and pedis but the seats aren’t very comfortable and the smell of nail polish remover is very strong here. Maybe better ventilation would help. Not the best range of nail polish colours too.

If your looking for a cheap place to do your nails your at the right place, this is not the place for you if your trying to relax while there doing your nails. Thou they do it in efficient way, with Betty I always get a excellent job with my nails!
Also they do free repair (chip, smudge) on your nails if something happens!

Love getting my mani pedi’s here, all the ladies are super nice and friendly. They do a great job on making my feet smooth as a babies bum and my toe nail color seems to always last for ever! They have massage chairs and they will always run out and plug my car with quarters if needed.

My wife got a bad fungus infection… Obviously they don’t sterilize their tools properly. We made several attempts to contact the owner Thui, finally we got her on the phone and she said she was busy. They would not face up to this situation at all. BAD, BAD, BAD!!!

Decent place to get your nails done. Cool décor, the staff there have always been friendly to me and my friends. They have a good selection of nail color, I always go for the shellac polish because it last long. I have only gotten pedicures there and they do a good job painting the nails, they also give you a little massage to go with it. The salon is near the yaletown skytrain and near some pubs. Usually will hit this nail salon up then go out to the closes pub for a drink.

In town for two weeks, staying in an apartment on homer st so it was very close for me. I’ve gotten many manicures in many different cities and I think this is the best mani pedi I’ve had. I got the gel polish on my finger nails and normally, the polish near the cuticles is always uneven and ends up having air bubbles after they dry. The lady who did my nails took her time and they look great. My pedicure looks awesome too. All of these reviews that say «my nail polish chipped» are irrelevant to me because if your polish chips, that is probably your fault. Would definitely come back and recommend this place! The only reason I rated four stars instead of five is because they did my nails and toes at the same time which make it not as relaxing as I wanted it to be.

Pros — I’ve found their work itself is pretty durable. Gel nails last a while, can take a beating. The place is well decorated, the massage chairs you sit in for pedicures are pretty nice.
Cons — I have always felt incredibly rushed and I think the finer points on the work suffer for that. They really hustle to get you done and out of the chair to serve the next customer and it feels like a cash grab; not very relaxing at all. Related to that I find they don’t really listen to you because they are trying to get you efficiently served, not working towards the highest quality.

The pedicure/​treatment itself was amazing. wax on the feet. I mean really, that feels GOOD. However, my polish lasted a week and that was disappointing. Considering how much I paid for it!

Three strikes and you are out. I have tried Elements spa three times because it is very close to where I live. The first time, I went in for a polish change and it chipped in 2 days. (My regular manicure usually lasts 10 days) the second time, same. The third time was the WORST. Every single nail was shaped very differently, which looked VERY unprofessional (like a 10 year old did my nails) and she did not paint my entire nails, she left huge gap so it looked like my manicure was 10 days old. Worst, it was before my xmas vacation so I had ugly nails for Christmas. I went into Posy to get it fixed and even the lovely manicurist agreed that the were uneven. She made them look very nice for me.
Well, 1 star for the friendliness. They are friendly to compensate for their bad work.

Once again, I left my nails unfilled WAY too long. Once a nail actually broke — that was it — time to go.
Leon (my regular Nail God) was booked and it was around 5 pm. I was desperate.
No more «I’ll do it tomorrow «
No … It was tomorrow.
I was on Homer as I had just finished viewing a condo on that street. I look and beside me was Elements.
I popped in to ask if I could be seen. Yes, in 20 min. Perfect ! It gave me time to run and grab a magazine or two.
I return, and took a seat. Took some photos. Waited… apx 10 m later, I was taken over to a station. No offer of a drink or something to read. Lucky I had prepared.
The lady was not overly friendly. Fine with me. I wanted to read anyway. Since 2 had broken off, and they had grown so much,
In reality she should of suggested a new set.
I went with a fill, thinking it was lower in price, and I could return to Leon for full set.
It took longer then I am used to — one of the reasons I love Leon — he is fast !!
I read my entire first magazine cover to cover, started in on the second, caught A bit of Dr Phil, and most of the 6 pm news.
I was also subjected to «Yaletown Girl» taking about herself on her phone, and to her nail tech, and another friend on the phone (who came down the salon to repeat the Vegas conversation I had now heard 4 times …)
Finally my nail lady was almost done. She plugs in the UV gel nail light, puts my fingers in and leaves. One snag — the light was not on .
I wait for her to return. Nope. Ignore. I wait. I try to get her attention — not a chance. Finally «Yaletown Girls» nail tech sees me And comes over. She can’t turn it on. Some back and forth across the salon Asian yelling — but to no avail. They try to trouble shoot, finally it works.
My original lady never came back over. Once my nails had cured under the light. Nail tech 2 comes back over to finish them.
She mutters under her breath, and I see she isn’t pleased. I am told if they break come back to repair no charge.
OK so finally time to go, and I wait up at front. The girl who finished my nails tells me that it was 62 $ !!! WTF the sign says 27 $ now it’s 62 $ for a fill ?
I pay it and leave, not very happy, it’s only when I am almost home that I realize that they never cleaned out the underside of my nails with the drill .
Not impressed !

I had a mani pedi here, and while they were competent enough it was probably the most unrelaxing experience ever! The massage chairs they have there are actually quite uncomfortable, but my main gripe is that 3 of the employees there spent the entire time having an argument as they did mine and another client’s nails. I couldn’t tell what it was about as it was in Vietnamese, but they were definitely at each other’s throats… it was super awkward, and SO unpleasant have to listen to when I’m trying to relax.
There are tons of other nail spas around, so I will definitely avoid this one in the future.