California Nail Bar

This nail salon is not fancy but it did a good job. They honored my appointment and got my fill finished in 30 minutes. They carry OPI products. The prices are clearly listed.

Um, what?
Here’s how it went down…
12pm :I call: «Hello, can you take an appointment for 2 manicures at 12:30?»
California Nail Bar: «Yes, 2 together?»
Me: «Yes, please.»
CNB: «Sure, no problem.
:walk over to California Nail Bar, arrive at exactly 12:30:
Me: Hello! I just called, we’re here for the 12:30 booking.
Sad woman: «Oh, no. Sorry, not available.»
Me: «Hmm, like. What?»
Sad woman: «No, no one is available.»
Maybe in their free time they just burn money in the back? I’m not sure, but I cannot understand this place at all. It looks fine enough, but the communication and customer service seems non-​existent, at least on the non-​busy weekday lunch that I tried to book in for.
Disappointing. I won’t venture back. I ended up at Fabulous Nails on Blandford Street and actually at least got my nails done, even without calling to «make sure» they’d be free!

An 8 minute walk from work? Dangerous!
Background: I’m from California, land of the weekly mani/pedi’s, but I’ve never seen anyone do such a good job. I didn’t have to ask her to specifically do anything else because she did it right away. Perfect, really.
Walked in here and they were luckily able to accommodate me immediately. I had the loveliest, sweetest lady make my hands and feet look pretty. I had gotten a really poor manicure the day before, so her work was like a breath of fresh air. She removed all the cuticles and worked to give me a Shellac French-​tip manicure. Free-​handed the french tips and they were perfect. She literally was done in a half hour. SPEEDY!
My Shellac French-​tip pedicure was done beautifully as well and took under an hour to finish. Once again, she free-​handed it.
Bonus: Awesome 90’s music videos playing in the background. WIN!
As for other ladies interested: They do gel nails, shellac, regular manicures, regular pedicures, deluxe pedicures and shellac pedicures. They have tons of colours for whatever you fancy and they’ll do it and well, just be aware that it’s on the pricey side.
Prices: My Shellac manicure was £35 and my shellac pedicure was £45.
The only advice I would give toward business improvement is to recommend offering more than just water to guests. If you’re charging upwards of £25+ for a manicure, you might as well offer tea or coffee to add the comforting feel of a nail bar. That way, the ladies are more comfortable and a bit more inclined to pay the extra fare.
Thanks to my manicurist and California Nail Bar, I have pretty hands and feet. I’ll be returning for sure!

«Meh. I’ve experienced better.» is Unilocal’s definition of 2 stars, and that’s exactly how I felt about this place. Perhaps I’ve just been spoiled by the amazing pedicures I could get in the US for $ 20-​$ 30, but this pedicure left me with polished feet and not much else.
When I showed up for my appointment, they took me immediately and let me pick from a reasonable selection of high-​quality polishes. Seemed like a good start. But then I sat. and sat… and sat with my feet in lukewarm water for 15 minutes. No one checked on me or said it would only be a few minutes, and I eventually had to call for her to ask for the water to be warmed up. Granted, part of the reason was an awful other customer who was complaining and holding everyone up, but still.
Once the pedicure started, it was very thorough, and my feet were smooth and happy by the end of it. But it just wasn’t a relaxing experience. No atmosphere to the place, the pedicurist kept complaining about the difficult prior customer, and she sped through the last bit of my pedicure when a «regular» came in. Then they forgot about me again during drying, so I had to wiggle out from the dryer after a while (easier said than done — you try getting out of a pedicure chair with a dryer balanced on the basin!)
All-​in-​all, it seemed to be the best priced pedicure I could get in the area (unfortunately, I suppose I just need to adjust to London prices), but I’ll spend a little extra for some better treatment next time around.

Just as an FYI, most nail salons in California aren’t like this…
2.5 stars.
£45 for gel removal + new biogel. Took only 30 minutes for the whole thing. Speedy.
But pretty damn expensive if you ask me. I only had gel on three of my ten nails and was still charged the service fee to have it removed. They also filed the gel off, instead of gently removing it using the «acetone + foil» method. As in: cheap and bad for your nails.
They only do basic nails here. Manicure, french tip, etc. Nothing fancy. I just wanted some vertical «messy» stripes of glitter gel (which my nail tech discovered is actually pretty damn easy), but he was opposed to going out of his comfort zone until I convinced him otherwise.
— The nail techs speak pretty broken English, so come with pictures.
— It’s dirty inside, so I wouldn’t advise you to get a pedicure here… too risky.
— There is a loyalty card, but it’s based per visit, not on the amount you spend.
— Credit is accepted, but not Amex.
They don’t do your cuticles unless you ask; then it’s an extra charge. I prefer this anyway because I don’t trust the cheap-​o nail places to mess with my cuticles in the first place.
The gel here is biogel. Which is UV hardened. You can still remove this gently with the method I mentioned above. However, it’s not as healthy for your nail bed as Calgel (which I prefer). They also had a limited selection of shades for the biogel which was sort of lame.
I wanted a design which is purposefully sloppy, so I’m not going to critique that. However, I will say that the gel applied was pretty thick (not normal of course) and was also uneven in a few spots. But this place was fast, I ended up with a look close to what I wanted, and if I ever get desperate again (which I was), I might stop by this spot again since the location is convenient for me.

Pros– great selection of OPI and Essie colours, reasonably priced (13 for a manicure)
Cons– extremely rude and unfriendly staff, my manicure was done fairly badly

I feel obliged to review California Nail Bar since, when I set out to get a decent mani pedi this weekend, I felt that the information available to me was — at best — inconsistent.
I’m an American working in the London area for several months. This weekend I had a friend in town, and we were looking for things to do that would get us out of the on-​and-​off London drizzle. We both decided that we craved some quality manicures and pedicures. I wasn’t entirely convinced, though, that you could find a reasonably priced and still well executed pedicure in the area without totally breaking the bank. Though I’ll refrain from saying where this happened, back in March I had what I would consider the worst pedicure on the planet at a salon elsewhere in London. I spent the «treatment» cramped up on a hospital-​style exam table, with my legs bent and feet in a tiny tub of sudsy water at the foot of the table. It was awkward, uncomfortable, and the pedicure failed to cleanse my feet of all the dead, rough skin. I mean, I can paint my own toe nails — that is not the true essence of a pedicure! It’s about having my feet feel rejuvinated and a bit massaged.
Knowing what a low-​cost London pedicure could be from that past experience, I focused my search this weekend on higher end spas. However, my friend and I found two issues. First, the prices were prohibitively high. And second, it wasn’t so easy to get a drop-​in weekend mani-​pedi appointment. We gave up on higher class «spa experience» and settled for California Nail Bar — a no pretense nail salon in the Marylebone/​Baker Street area. It’s small: there are only three pedicure massage chairs, and room for maybe 5 people go have manicures. But I’ll tell you what, this place was busy all afternoon. We walked in at 14:00 and had to come back at 15:30 to get appointments. By the time we were settled in, we watched person after person try to come in for walk-​in appointments, and many were turned away. Lesson learned? Book early!
Both the manicure and pedicure were professionally and pleasantly executed. My feet felt clean and amazing (adiós, dead skin!) and my fingernail cuticles got the clean up they desperately needed. There was a good selection of OPI polishes, and Frenches were available for only 3 GBP more per service. The mani and pedi together cost 35 GBP, hands down the best price I saw after a weekend of online sleuthing, and the results were exactly what we wanted and needed. I highly recommend the California Nail Bar, but once again suggest booking appointments. They also mentioned some kind of loyalty program — ladies who seek regular manis and pedis should definitely inquire and see what kind of deal they’re really offering.

It was a good surprise on a rainy Sunday afternoon, when my nails desperately needed TLC. I wouldn’t imagine calling my regular spot in Kensington for an appointment on same day, of course it is impossible! so I thought I will try this place– they took me in straight away even when the salon was crowded
the manicurist was efficient, fast, removed all cuticles and applied a nice French varnish all in 15 minutes (as opposed to 60 minutes at my regular nail bar). I stayed for an extra 10 minutes to make sure colour was dried perfectly
how much did I pay? £16
that was a pleasant surprise (I usually pay 35 for a French nail colour)
cons: very unfriendly staff– don’t expect hello, bye, please, or even thank you. I guess that is acceptable for what you are paying
nail colour is chipping after 2 days ;-(even though it Essie and I usually wear it and it lasts me 5 – 6 days
will I go back? absolutely yes — saving time and money and having a good job done
maybe next time I will take my varnish bottle with me

Once upon a time I lived in California, where fast and affordable nail salons appeared magically on every corner, and you could walk in and get a great mani pedi for $ 25. That’s US currency, equivalent to £3.29 these days.
After living in London for a year I was just beginning to think that these nail salons were just a figment of my imagination. But then I heard about California Nail Bar from a friend and decided to give it a try.
Pros: good selection of OPI colours, always appointments available, reasonably priced by London standards (£32 for mani pedi), and the manicures usually last pretty well.
Cons: Only two slightly awkward pedicure chairs (you’ll see what I mean when you lean back), the rest are done in basins placed on the floor.
So while it’s not quite the California nail bars I remember, it’s the best I’ve found so far.