Sophisticated Facial & Nail Spa

The girl I was working with was great! She did an awesome job and was very personable. I enjoyed chatting with her and my other 2 friends also had a good experience. My nails looked great, the service was good and the pricing was right for Hawaii (probably on the cheaper side-​extra bonus). I think I found my new nail place!

Currently here getting my biweekly pedicure with Han. She takes care of me and my ingrown toe nails. Not only is she amazing at what she does she makes me feel like a valued customer. Going here as often as I do I got to know several employees and the owner. The owner is so nice. Always smiling and welcoming. She ask every time if I want something to drink. The salon is clean and elegant. I love coming here it’s like a mini vacation.

First time I ever visited, and it won’t be my last. Great customer service, and I loved both my pedicure and Mani

I go there to see Yen she’s amazing, but today I went in and this older women said yen wasn’t there and decided to do my eyebrows and she did a horrible job. She didn’t ask me how I wanted my eye brows done, and she rushed it. There crooked and uneven. Horrible service, and she made me tip her 50% when she didn’t deserve a tip at all.

Great service, had hands and feet massaged in my mani & pedi booking. Added extra features of hand painted flower designS and rhinestones. Rose was great with my legs and feet massages. Felt like sleeping if I didn’t have my seat massaging my back.
First time was in 2013 with a friend. This time I went myself. Next year when hubby and I back to vacation for 5 weeks, plan to do mani & pedi at least twice before I leave!
Compared to having it done on Sweden, this is cheaper and worth it!

I rarely post on Unilocal.But unless the business deserves it, I will take my time to do it. Yen is very patient and knowledgeable with so many years of experience. My friends were satisfied with her work. Come and check it out for yourself! You won’t regret it!!!

This is a great place to go for a Brazilian wax. Yen is very gentle and makes you feel very comfortable during your experience. Highly recommended.

I purchased a groupon: one Brazilian for $ 40, which is a good deal. And the reviews on Unilocal were good so i decided to try it out.
It’s my first time here and it was a little difficult to find. Just a heads up, this place is located on the side of the building right across bank of Hawaii in Ala Moana. Street parking would be a better bet.
Yen (the owner) does all the Brazilian waxes and is very professional. Ive just met her and she was able to make me feel comfortable in such an uncomfortable situation. She’s very sweet and caring. You can tell she really cares about her customers.
I previously had a bikini wax so certain areas had shorter hairs than the other. After waxing the bigger areas, she was nice enough to pull out tweasers and get rid of as much of the stray hairs possible. (Yeah I know, very unattractive to hear).
During the session, she would talk story with me to try and keep my mind off the pain. Surprisingly, when she ripped the wax strip, it would only hurt for literally a SECOND; then the pain was gone.
My experience here was pleasant and I left feeling refreshed, clean, and satisfied. Weird right? Pleasant getting your v waxed.
Anyways, 5 stars for Yen. Thank you for having me today. Will be back again.

One of my favorite nail salons on island. Being from NY there’s so many nails salons everyone will do anything just to make money even if it isn’t healthy for your nails. Yin salon owner really cares about all her customers and treats them like family. She suggest what’s best for u and doesn’t overcharge. I go Monthly for Brazilian wax and she makes me feel very comfortable. She uses multiple type of wax for different areas. It’s more painless than other places I’ve been and much faster. She explains a lot on how to maintain after and keep the skin smooth. I notice she gets a lot of spots other places have missed when waxing. I really love the owner like another mother because she is so kind to everyone. The place is very clean and relaxing also. Overall highly recommend.

I’m not a foo foo girl, so my agenda doesn’t usually include mani pedis. However, my friend wanted to go. We were driving on Kapiolani and spotted this place across the street from Ala Moana in the Pacific Guardian Tower.
How’d it go?
GREAT! We both enjoyed our experience. The massage chairs are high end, functional, and effective. The service was efficient and thorough. The interior is welcoming and clean with wood floors and color on the walls for pop! We came at 7. They close at 7:30 but they actually kept us to 8:20! They did not rush us out and we felt like we were being fully taken care of. Their prices are fair and comparable to other establishments. We will definitely be back for routine pedis!

Come here if you don’t mind having the same clippers and feet scrapers used on your feet as the person in front of you had. No cleaning, rinsing, or anything remotely sanitary in between customers. Just switching from one customer’s feet to the next!
You also sit so long with your feet in the water, waiting, that the water begins feeling like the Arctic ocean.
Lady placed some smooth stones on my feet that felt like they were from the pits of hell. I may have lost some skin on the bottoms. She also didn’t even clip or file my nails. They’re long and in much need of some trimming.

I am not sure why I have not already given Yen and her ladies at Sophisticated nail salon a review since I’ve been going there for three years but better late than never!
For the last three years I have gone to see Yen for all things beauty related ie. waxing, mani /​pedi, facial, and good conversation. Yen and team are always professional, attentive, and on their A game! The salon is always clean and refreshing. I travel a lot for work so being able to come in after 6 and 7 days a week is important to me. I know there are a ton of options on island but I can guarantee I will never go anywhere else. Thank you Yen!

I was impressed with Sophisticated Nails 4 or so years ago when I first went there, but it’s kind of off my beaten path so I hadn’t returned until last week. I have however, recommended them to others. It was easy to get a last minute appointment 4 years ago, and again it was also easy this time, only 2 days in advance and even though I was scheduling for 2 people.
Maile K & I went in at 11 am on a Saturday morning. Actually, we were both early so we got to start ahead of time. She went for the deluxe pedicure, and I had a mani/​pedi combo. I was surprised that we were the only clients on a weekend. Maybe they do their big business at other times. The shop is clean, very peaceful and nicely decorated. It’s the first time I’ve been in a nail salon in a while that hasn’t had a tv, and it noticed that it really makes for a more peaceful ambiance.
The massage chairs are a little big for our «petite» statures, so they gave us pillows to put behind our backs. The pillow kind of dampened the benefits of the massage effect, but I tried to make the most of it anyway. First things first – the massage chair remotes are easy to use and they responded as expected. I hate when I get in a pedi massage chair and I can’t figure out how to make it work, or it’s broken! One of the reasons that I liked my pedi years ago at Sophisticated was the hot stone massage offered with it. Oh my, that is so soothing & that’s in addition to a regular massage and a hot towel treatment on my legs & feet. Oh, did I mention they offered us coffee or tea? While we lounged in our chairs, they brought the nail polish color choices to us on a sample ring of all kinds of colors painted on fingernail shapes. It was a nice change from having to peruse racks and racks of polish bottles like at other places. Once my pedi was finished, I moved on for my mani. It was very thorough and also included a nice hand & forearm massage. imo, the $ 36 price for a combo mani/​pedi is competitive.
The shop has an annual «club» membership which offers discounts for services such as the deluxe pedi, gel nails, etc. and it offers a good discount if those are services you would regularly use. They also offer discounts on some services Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday (see the Unilocal offer).
A couple of downsides: there are no restrooms located in the shop and it’s pretty complicated to get to the building’s facilities. The woman helping me was nice enough to personally take me there – I never would have found it on my own. There’s a parking garage in the building, but I think they discourage you from parking there. There is ample parking in the neighborhood if you’re willing to walk a little – it’s across the street from Ala Moana Shopping Center and on the next block from Walmart – but the street parking is pretty crowded, given the location.
To complete my ratings of any mani/​pedi, I think it’s important to note how the results have held up. The first day, I was a little disappointed as I noticed that one or 2 of my nails were unevenly covered with polish or topcoat (my big toe was really uneven and they missed about ¹⁄₃ of the nail with the top coat). Also, one of my fingernails developed a weird wrinkling effect on the tip, making it looked like gathered fabric or something. Anyway, with the nail color being quite light, I decided I could live with it. It’s been 1 ½ weeks since my mani, and usually I’d have to take off my polish after a week due to the many chips in the polish. I think they used some kind of thicker, gel type top coat on my nails this time, and while there are some small chips, I still got a compliment on how nice my nails look over a week after they were done. I am not very easy on my nails, so I am quite impressed with how long the manicure has lasted. My toes still look great, too.

2 stars because its OK for a pedi. For a full gel-​set with fake tips, save your money and go to Hollywood Nails a few blocks down. The gel is uneven on my nail bed, and gel polish is streaky. Also my thumb nail is filed crooked. I didn’t notice until I left and was under better lighting. Should’ve known better than to stray away from my usual spot. Also, the manicurist asked me if I wanted a manicure to clean my cuticles, and from my experience, this service is usually automatically included with a full set! Basically I paid $ 60 for a full set and NO DESIGN, plain color, and no manicure. I can pay $ 50 at Hollywood and have fireworks popping off my nails if I wanted to! The ladies are nice, but the prices aren’t. And just like another Unilocaler said, ASK FOR PRICE OF EVERYTHING they offer because it varies and some items might not be included without additional costs.
P. s. I forgot to mention that 2 of my nails, the gel didn’t even reach the nail bed and looks horrible because of the polish over that gap.

I was referred here by a friend over a year ago for Brazilian waxes and haven’t gone anywhere else since. Yen, the owner, is extremely sweet and professional. She is the only one that does brazilian waxing here, and is really thorough and makes sure to remove every hair. This is my favorite place for waxing because every time I know that I will be pleased with the results, but also because it only takes ten to fifteen minutes. She does not need to re-​wax over the same area multiple times like other spas too, which results in a much less painful experience. Yen is also very knowledgable about the different types of waxes and the different areas they should be used in order to not have any long term nerve damage down there. I wouldn’t go anywhere else for a Brazilian and will continue to support this wonderful business and it’s owner.

AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS! I had been going here for a while (for mani, pedi, eyebrow wax) and was a frequent and good customer. A few months ago I went in for an eyebrow wax. THE WOMAN REMOVED HALF MY EYEBROW COMPLETELY. I am talking, from the middle of my brow/​arch to the corner of my eye was completely bald. Sure, they were apologetic, but this was beauty school 101 errors (PS are these girls even certified?) I went to Sephora in tears and got a really good eyebrow pencil. Of course the perfectly made up sales team was horrified.
Fast forward to yesterday. This place is very convenient to my daughter’s ballet class, and what better way to wait for her than while getting a pedicure. So I go again. Mistake #1. I figure, hey they can’t screw up a pedi, can they? Oh yes, they can. I get there around 445 and its busy so they put my feet in the tub while finishing other clients. No problem. A couple girls walk in 15 minutes after me, around 5 PM. So they are soaking too, and I assume since I was next in line, I would be up next. My feet had been soaking 15 minutes and were getting uncomfortable pruney. I take them out of the water, so now my feet and pruney and freezing. AND THE «TECHNICIANS» START WORKING ON THE OTHER GIRLS! Finally around 510, I leave (why, why did I wait so long?) The bottoms of my feet were nearly raw and the owner gave some LAME EXCUSE for their oversight/​negligence/​horrible customer service. I left and will NEVER return again! What a disgusting place and horrible experience. Save yourself the waste of time and money.

The owner Yen is so nice, so patient and so very talented! I purchased and redeemed a groupon for one full set gel French manicure today, and I could not be any happier!
I ended up leaving with a matching pedicure and membership card. Since I plan on making this my default mani pedi place, I purchased their $ 30 one year membership where my friends and I can now get discounted services and free removal of gel polish. Removing gel can sometimes cost $ 5-​$ 10 in other salons, so this alone makes it a deal!
More than once Yen asked if I liked what she was doing with my nails and made me feel very comfortable where if there was something I preferred different, it wouldn’t be a problem to change. I’ve been to many nail salons before and the polite Japanese girl I am, was hesitant to tell my technician I didn’t Iike what she was doing. Not an issue here at all. One big plus for me was the hot stone massage. Omg. Heaven. :)
Yen gave me a glittery gold gradient mani with a matching pedi of all white nails and one glittery gold on each foot, bedazzled with a bunch of cute shells and stones. I tried to post a few pics, but not sure if it came out…
Call the salon and ask for yen!

Sophisticated Nails is my weekend sanctuary where I escape from the busy week.
Yen, Nhung, and Ruby take such good care of me. Yen and Ruby’s little «hotdog», Bacon, always add excitement and fun to the experience.
Yen has been giving me gel manicures for about 6 months. The quality of the gels is superior. Each month I have a new design. The design with bling is my Favorite part.
Hint: Be sure to ask price before the service or extras to avoid any surprises.
I LOVE my nails and enjoy the special treat each month. Plus, my nails are so strong so I finally have length. I receive compliments almost daily. :0)
The pedicures are The Best in town… they use hot rocks and give an amazing massage. For a little extra, there is the deluxe that includes a special mask for your legs. My toes leave perfectly polished and refreshed every
Hint: Sundays are my favorite day as there is parking right in front of the store on Kapiolani Blvd. Weekdays, I tend to park at Ala Moana but this usually costs extra as I stroll through Nordies. ;0)
Hint: Ask about the membership for discounts. There is a small annual fee.
Make an appointment to ensure availability.
I am looking forward to my next service!

As the song goes, «good times, bad times, you know I’ve had my share…» That, in a nutshell, describes my experience as a customer here for the past two years. I’ve had fantastic service and service that is best forgotten. I’ve seen nail techs come and go. The reason I’m still a fan of Sophisticated Facial & Nail Spa is the owner, Yen.
Yen is not perfect. But she tries. She really cares about her customers. She wants to do a good job and make her clients happy. When somebody makes a mistake, she genuinely works to make it all good again.
One thing I like about Yen’s salon is her annual membership for nail clients. Pay a $ 35 annual membership fee and get discounted rates on a range of services, including gel manicures and deluxe pedicures. As the name states, the salon does nails and facials. They also do waxing. For members especially, the prices are very competitive.
The salon itself is nice – not super luxe but a big step up from many other nail «salons» I’ve seen in the area. It’s clean, and they sterilize their tools. The location is good, directly across the street from Ala Moana Center on the mauka/‘ewa corner of Kapiolani and Keeaumoku (catercorner from Nordstrom). They validate parking in the building, but my experience is that you still end up paying a few dollars out of pocket. They’re close to Walmart and Ala Moana, so you may want to park there if you’re already planning some shopping beforehand, or if you’re going on a Sunday, you can usually score free street parking.
Like many other salons, there aren’t too many employees here who speak good English. Yen speaks English fluently, although my undiscerning ear still has trouble with the accent! Still, everyone here makes an effort to be pleasant and professional, and for that I appreciate them. Definitely recommend Sophisticated Facial & Nail if you’re booking with Yen.
Unilocal 365 Challenge #237/​365

Bought a groupon here and it was the best $ 24 investment! Nail technician, Kelly, was super friendly and talkative. She was also extremely meticulous about my gel manicure. I asked for a faded glitter french manicure and it came out PERFECT! Best $ 24 I’ve ever spent. I can’t wait to come back here again in the future.
There’s also a little chihuahua in the salon. His name is Bacon and he loves to come sniff your feet in order to get some luvin’. What a cutie! I’m such a dog lover…