Viva Nails & Spa

Excellent pedicures.
Horrible manicures and gels. Once had gel manicure, it was peeling by day two.
Paid $ 80.00 for gels to be put on by James. What a complete waste of money. Within 1.5 weeks three of them popped off. Went back after first one popped off and spoke to James. He proceeded to ignore me and continue with his other client. (and I had tipped him well) After 20 minutes, owner fixed the nail.
Went back for pedicure on a Sunday morning about two weeks ago. Only 2 people working and asked me to come back. I went somewhere else.

I have always come here for pedicures and have loved the place. But I got a gel manicure last week and after 3 days it was chipping, a week later and the gel is peeling off and bubbling on half of my nails. Very disappointed. They are going to fix it but the point of getting a gel is so that you don’t have to go every week! My business will be going elsewhere!

This was once my go to pedicure place. For just two dollars extra (not including the huge tip they massage right out of you) you get much more than your typical pedi including a leg scrup and hot stone rub down. I brought my mother and two sisters multiple times and recomended it to everyone I knew. It was amazing. Was.
For some reason the quality of service and the experience of the employees has declinded. I have had the occasional fantastic pedi sandwhiched between so so experiences and the one painful experience from a man who works there. It was never bad enough to not go back. Until this week.
Called ahead, made a 1230 appointment. I showed up early and found what used to be a busling jampacked salon empty except for two other people. Picked my color and then my heart sank when I saw that another man would be doing my pedicure. I was biased for sure but I went with it.
It wasnt to bad. It didnt seem like he had much experience. He didnt seem confident. He was going through the motions. The scrub and massage was fine. Then the problems began. He gave me an actual pair of flip flops to wear bc I had worn sneakers. I was suprised bc I know they typically give disposable but I figured if they had them they would have used them. He struggled to paint my toes, correcting one toe after the other. (but yet its still all over my toes).
Finally im sitting at the dryer and instead of massaging my shoulders and back as usual, he simply pressed down firmly on my shoulders, pushing his thumb into the middle of my back. I winced. Remained quiet. Paid my bill and tipped generously (it was ten days before Christmas, afterall). Ten minutes later I stand to leave and the guy and the woman I believe is either the owner or manager scramble to stop me.
«you have to give the shoes back.» and suddenly the disposable shoes appear.
Huh?. I offer to pay for them and the guy says «no those are mine.»
HUH? I’m wearing a stranger’s flip flops?
I decide i need to leave pronto and attempt to put my socks and sneakers on. The guy keeps telling me no because my toes are not dry yet and motioning to put on the disposables which I tell him I cant drive in so im not going to wear. He again repeats well your toes arent dry. In a huff I agree to wait.
But now im upset bc I feel as though i have been ordered to say and also bc im obviously embarrassed about this shoe debacle. I want to leave. So I get up and grab a pair of the same flip flops from the bin that is for sale. Now the man and woman begin to fuss over me, surrounding me, trying to put the shoes on for me. I pass them the five dollars they take it away for change and I assure them I cant put the flip flops on myself, take my two dollars and leave, rushing to my car.
I know this sounds dramatic and believe me, I feel silly. But at the end of the day, what was suppose to be a relaxing hour, was uncomfortable and left me pretty upset and cost me $ 35.
I get it. The guy messed up. Instead of giving me the disposable sandal, he gave me his own? Im still kind of confused about that. All I know is at the end of the day this huge scene was caused over $ 3 sandals. Maybe it was my fault for not requesting Blanca (she’s the best) or maybe Im just making a mountain out of a mole hill.
Either way, I think im to mortified to return. I wont be recomending the salon any more. And obviously I didnt get the chance to purchase the gift cards for my mother and sisters.
They lost a customer. I lost my nail salon. What a sucky day.
Icing on the cake: It also happend to be my birthday.

Solid! Not crowded, Korean owned, and they knew how to fix my French manicure so it no longer chips (gel). It was clean they sanitize everything and the best parts are the heat packs they put on your neck. When you are dry they lotion and massage your forearm not just your hand. You also get a quick deep massage when you are drying. It was worth it I was so tense.

This place is amazing! Regular pedicure and manicures come with hot wax and massage. They take their time and you never feel rushed. Great quality materials, and if they make a mistake they take the time to fix it. There are a number of chairs so you never have to wait long. Very reasonably priced!

Wasn’t very impressed nor do I think it was worth the money. When I entered I was greeted, I told the lady what I wanted and then sat me down. One of the people who did feet (I’m assuming) brought out tools, yet wasn’t very friendly. The prices weren’t very clear and I had to ask a few times what the price was for a simple gel manicure. Only after they soaked my acrylic off did they tell me it would be ten dollars — definitely not worth ten dollars. Then my gel manicure was okay, and the massage was mediocre. They didn’t even change the plastic surrounding the towels between customers after putting it in a towel warmer (gross). The one thing I’m disappointed in the most is the quality of my gel manicure. Only after three days it’s already starting to chip. Was not worth $ 45 and probably won’t be coming back.

This place is awesome! Friendly staff and well worth the price pedis! Very clean, and if you are a regular, you can keep your own box, including nail files and pumice stone.

I walk in, as soon as they open and she rudely asks if I have an appt. I say no, then she says you have to wait, I say how long and she changes her mind and says to sit in the pedicure chair. I’ve been here for about 45 mins with my feet soaking in cold water (I asked them 3 times to make it warm, but I guess that’s not happening), while they work on other people who came in after me (without an appt). If I wasn’t desperate for a pedicure I would have left a long time ago! One woman is just walking around doing absolutely nothing. I’m totally not impressed and I haven’t even seen the finished pedicure. Definitely won’t be back

Against my better judgement, I came here for a uv gel full set of nails two days ago and they are already peeling off! Plus It took over two hours! Do not go here for anything but basic manis/​pedis, if at all.

My daughter made an appointment for us.. When we arrived they told us 30 minutes. We said we had an appointment. What happened next was unbelievable! The girl at the desk snapped «No you don’t» in a very rude tone. She began frantically turning pages of an apt. book then said rudely again I can’t help you. No apology. She shrugged when we told her we couldn’t wait and won’t be back.

Not the worst experience that I could have had, but do wish it was better.
I was helped right away (big plus) & wanted a regular manicure ($ 10=affordable) and the Kinda down hill from there.
I BARELY had the attention of the lady (Anne?) who was answering phones, writing down appts, ringing up costumers, and even went over to another customer and began doing her nails… all after she had sat me down and began working on my nails. It was a lot more back and forth than I would have liked.
Finally after leaving me alone for a couple minutes to issue a gift card, another worker who had just finished with a customer jumped in and gave me my second and top coat.
In reality I wouldn’t have minded any of this had my nails not ended up with bubbles and had i not been been able to see my nails under these two coats of polish. Not pleased with the end product nor the customer service.
Again not the worst! But there must be better.

Only got a pedicure last time I was here, but I came back and just got the most fabulous $ 10 manicure — the technician was gentle on my nails and did a good job with a difficult glittery nail polish. The manicure also included an amazing arm massage and a back massage at the end as my nails dried! You get better bang for your buck here than at any other salon I have been to in this area — will definitely be coming back.

A peaceful and enjoyable experience. Don’t go if you are in a rush. This place is relaxing, don’t bring your children, don’t come with you phone — talking on it disturbs the ambiance. This is a get away, accept it and enjoy. A thin slice of heaven in Dunellen (who would have ever thought?).
I can not speak to the the designer and up scale nail treatments and procedures. But for the years that I have been going, I’ve always been satisfied and refreshed.

I took a couple of my family members there a few weeks ago. The place looked clean and I’ve heard many good things about it. However when we sat down for the pedicure I noticed after another customer was finished with their pedicure the staff used the very same towel on the footrest! The only thing that was replaced was the paper towel over the towel, which still soaks through. And if they didn’t change the towel, then I felt like the chair probably wasn’t cleaned very well. I just didn’t feel comfortable after that. They do offer an aromatherapy heated neck wrap while you have your service done and while your nails dry, some of the staff will offer an upper back/​shoulder massage. All in all, it was ok, the work was decent but I just didn’t feel comfortable that it was clean.

The best pedicures in town. I’ve never had a bad experience at Viva. Amber, the owner, is always courteous and accommodating. I’m a former massage therapist and I’m picky about good foot massages, well folks this place does a great job. I treated myself to a spa pedicure once and omg it was incredible. Being a massage junkie, I even talked them into placing me in a massage chair while having the nail technician do my nails at her station and having another technician massage me while I was getting my nails done. Omg, that was a huge treat. Love them!

Clean and friendly. Decent basic manicure and nice job on the pedicures. My only complaint is customers freely talk on their cell phones. Once I did make a comment to the owner about a woman sitting next to me who babbled away on her cell through my entire mani and pedi. The owner explained that the lady was a «very good customer». Apparently my money isn’t green. If you want to relax in peace and quiet go somewhere else.

I wound up here on a recommendation while visiting the area. They did an
absolutely horrible job on my uv nail fill. Bubbles, thick, uneven, etc. Plus, it took over two hours! You may be ok with a pedicure or regular manicure, but go somewhere else for the uv services. Just trust me on this one.

When I walked in, my first impression was cute and clean. But when I told them I didn’t have an appointment, it was obvious that that’s what they prefer since they started tending to other customers instead of me (who ALL had appointments). (I was in that area for other business and just so happened to stop there for a mani/​pedi. Had I known they preferred appointments I would’ve went elsewhere.)
When they finally got to me, they asked me what I wanted, and I told them I wanted a simple manicure and pedicure with a design. They asked if I had pictures of the design I wanted, and I said yes, and showed them the picture on my phone, which I saved for the day I decided to get that design done. The first lady looked clueless, so she passed my phone to the owner, and the owner blurted «No! We don’t know how to do that.» I was thrown off, since I don’t get my nails professionally done often (I usually do them myself at home) and didn’t know what people in salons could or could not do. I always assumed nail technicians can do any design, as long as they had a picture or a reference. Besides, the design was saved from a do-​it-​yourself article, so it was meant to be simple and easy. Whatever.
I told them it was fine, and that I’d just get a simple polish. After they had me pick a color, which they kind of rushed me to do, they directed me to the pedicure chairs. They sat me near the front, next to other people, which annoyed me a bit since there were plenty of other chairs I could’ve sat in that were further away, but I complied with no complaints. The chair was a massage chair with a remote, and it felt great and comfortable. After a while a lady finally came over and began my pedicure. It was… ok, I guess. When she put the polish on, I immediately wished I had picked a brighter pop of color, but whatever. Said nothing.
When it was done, she helped me carry my things over to a manicure table. I sat down, and she began my manicure, which was nice. The polish looked better on my fingers than they did on my toes, but I still wished I picked a better color. After she finished, she directed me over to the nail dryers. As I sat there, she came over with a heated herbal bag and placed it on my neck and shoulders. It was pleasant. There was nothing to look at except my nails drying, since my back was to the television.
Once I thought my nails were dried, I left. In my opinion there’s nothing really special or unique about this place, especially since they don’t do designs.

*sigh* I waited almost a year to give them a review. I live in town and went to them exclusively for about six months. I am *very picky* about my nails — I used to own a shop «back in the day» and have had long, beautiful nails for 25 years. I liked the service mostly her e– you are greeted by a friendly staff, the place looks great. You get a hot neck wrap when you sit down and a shoulder and arm massage with every service. In the winter I was offered hot green tea when getting pedicures. Their pedicures are great, as reviewed by others. A good assortment of pedicure styles to meet your needs and desires. But the nails — well, they do the dip method of acrylic, with is the «lazy way» out. It fails to level correctly on its own and they don’t do much in shaping. Without fail for the six months I went there, I would come home to file and re-​glue the lifting edges. Their nail art was always so so. Super friendly, nice people, great shoulder and arm massages, cute little gift (pink rubber gloves) at Xmas! Pretty salon, great waxers. But the nails finally won out — I’d rather go someplace without the pretty extras and have my nails look and feel great every time.

This place is awesome. I have been coming here for years. You don’t need an appt, but I usually will make one for a mani/​pedi esp if coming Thurs-​Sat. Amazing pedicures by every staff member. Wilson or Stephen are my favorites, but I’ll gladly take anyone. The Spa pedicure is worth it to splurge every so often. My only hang up is that my nails don’t take well to the shellac, and they wind up chipping after a few days. I like the variety of regular polish, so I don’t think I’ll get that again. I don’t think it was their product or application, though. I’ll never go any place else.
Note: They only take cash tips!