Soleil Tan & Spa

I really like this place. They are fast, its fairly priced and they always squeeze me in for a pedicure. Everyones nice. If you want a schmoozy pedicure in a spa environment, you will be disappointed. If you want clean, reliable and relatively cheap, its a great spot!

I’ve never posted on Unilocal before but had a concerning experience today and felt that it was only fair to share. I had a manicure here today and the nail tech cut my skin twice– first with the nail file and then with the cuticle clippers. I didn’t mind, as I understand accidents happen. However, on the first cut, she immediately pulled out a tube of gel that she rubbed directly on the bleeding cut. She explained that this gel would make it stop bleeding. This clearly was not a single use tube. When she tried to then rub the tube on the second cut, I stopped her and asked her if she rubs it on other client’s cuts. When she responded yes, I declined having it, explaining that it didn’t seem ‘clean’ to rub the same tube on open wounds from multiple people. She countered that she only ‘drops’ the liquid on, but certainly for the first cut, the tip of the tube made contact with my blood. I’m a surgeon and in my mind its a major health hazard to be essentially rubbing tubes that could have with one person’s blood on the surface into another person’s open wound. They may just not have considered the risk of blood-​borne disease, but they should– its really worrisome if this is part of their common practice.

I hesitate to write this review, but I have to say the nail techs at this salon have a lot to be desired. I booked a gel manicure today for 7:30 through and app. I admit this is late, but I presume if you have the appointment times available you’re willing to work until that job is done. I asked for a French-​Style manicure and got the sloppy mess.
And this is the second time. I had given this place the benefit of the doubt after two other very unprofessional techs spoke in Spanish for the entirety of my service about how they would rather be doing something else. They didn’t think I could understand them.
Lesson learned. Don’t make my mistake. Stay away from this place.

nope, I am going back to Cambridge. Streaky finish, no spacers she jammed twisted paper in between my toes. The blower wasn’t present so out comes her envelop to fan my nails. She was nice, though. For the same price I could have gotten a better mani-​pedi in Cambridge. But it was the big weekend and I just wanted to get the service done. Oh well, should have consulted Unilocal,first

My appointment for a acrylic take off and gel manicure took two hours ! I will not be coming here again. At first the lady didn’t even know how to take my acrylic nails off and kept wrapping my nails with acetone for a hour! Somebody had to take over to take my Nails off. Then my gel manicure doesn’t even look the best. One of the worst nail experiences I had.

Worst, went with two others and they said they could do two and third 30 minutes later. I asked if it would better if we went to grab lunch. Even better they said. Come back in 30 minutes. 30 minutes later we came back and they couldn’t do any of us! Come back in an hour they said! Such terrible customer service. Went down the street to JP Nails and Spa. Much nicer!

I’m very disappointed with this company. I went to get my nails done once, and it was ok but not great. Than I called today because I work near there and needed a quick appointment. When I called to schedule an appointment the person on phone told me they were too busy to take an appointment request than and I had to wait to be called back until later and than hung up on me. I decided not to go there & I won’t again. Just seemed very rude.

They have a new waxer, a middle-​aged Latin lady. Do not, under any circumstances, allow her to give you a Brazilian. I’ve been getting waxed for 15 years, and this was the first time someone actually BROKE THE SKIN. She was very apologetic, and my eyebrows and legs were done OK, but she’ll never get near me again.

I just had an absolutely horrific experience with a Brazilian wax at this salon. I really never write reviews, but I tried to speak with a manager and I felt like he didn’t really listen to me or fully understand how serious the problems were that I was bringing up. Peoples’ health and safety are at risk here.
The waxing here is unsafe and unsanitary. Double dipped sticks are only the tip of the iceberg. The aesthetician used cold to room temperature wax, used the same strips over and over, waxed the same area over and over, tweezed with her fingers (she was wearing gloves, but still what the actual f***?), awkwardly rested her hands in places that she should never have touched, and kept saying «I don’t know why this isn’t working.» I finally begged her to stop when I looked down and noticed an inch long raised bruise with broken blood vessels that she did not tell me about as she continued to wax over the same spot! I was shaking when I left the room.
I’ve always been told that my hair is super easy to wax and I have been getting Brazilian waxes off and on for about 5 years. I have had good, great, not so great, and everything in between, and I do understand that you get what you pay for (I’ve had decent waxes for $ 30 but I never expected them to be as good as $ 75 waxes) but this experience made me rethink ever letting someone else perform this service on me again.
If the manager had taken my concerns seriously and acknowledge that this is not just a service complaint but that this is about health and safety, I would gladly have accepted his offer to have a different aesthetician fix my wax in a few weeks. And I would not have written this review. But I really don’t think that he realizes the extent of how bad this was. This is not the fault of the aesthetician, this is the fault of poor management and lack of understanding of the training staff need to perform this service.
JP ladies, do not believe the new fancy sign they have advertising Brazilian waxing. We still need to go to Newbury street for that stuff. Trust me, STAY FAR FAR AWAY.
*But definitely go to We Are Hair because they are all fantastic and I do not believe affiliated in any way with Soleil Cesspool & Spa*

Soleil is by far the best nail and hair spot in J.P. Bao does my manis and pedis and he is really wonderful. The tools the techs use are sterilized. You can see the sterilization machine in the back. They are all personable and take special care… scrub, lotions and a huge assortment of gel mani colors as well as special gloves if go there regularly. That’s the nail part. I love going there…

This location (which the gift certificate was issued by) would not accept my gift certificate. They said I would need to go to another location to redeem it. When I walked in I clearly stated that I have a gift certificate for a mani pedi. Only after my appointment did they say they couldn’t accept it. I asked why it was no longer accepted and they said change of owner and how could they know it wasn’t used. Because I still had it!
Very disappointing as the service was good, but such poor customer service, with a new customer is infuriating. Won’t go back.

Okay, so my first review was a little harsh. I needed a pedi and decided to stop by with my own pedi tools since I am so paranoid when it comes to nail salons. I waited a bit and saw a different technician. So glad I waited, she was great! I had the most basic pedi and was thrilled when I saw the technician remove the tools that she was going to use from a sealed, sanitary bag meaning that they were clean. So glad that I didn’t have to be annoying and whip out my own nail stuff. Not sure why the tech from my first visit didn’t do that?
The chairs were comfortable and my simple pedicure got me a scrub, a foot massage with lotion and a hot stone massage (and polish, of course). She was really nice, efficient, and meticulous. I would definitely go back to see her.

I’ve come to this place three times for a lower leg wax. The first time was last summer, and the aesthetician used a different type of wax for my skin and was generally more apt to adapt her work and really pay attention to what was effective. She was wonderful and I thought that such great work for $ 25 was too good to be true.
Months later, I realize I was right. The past two times I’ve gone, I had a different woman and she just could not care less about doing a good job. The wax is too cool and she uses the same strip multiple times, ripping at weird angles and only tearing the hair off at the surface so it grows back really quickly. She also won’t go back and tweeze the spots she’s missed — I asked her to once and she literally faked it.
It’s inexpensive, but you’ll have to go back so soon it’s worth it to just pay more somewhere else.
The gist: Customer service is great, the front desk guy is awesome, but their waxing is beyond subpar.

I get a mani/​pedi almost every week, usually over my lunch break or when I have some time to kill. It’s a good time filler because it generally only takes an hour. Not at this place.
I went to this salon for the first time today was there for two hours and fifteen minutes.
To be fair, the woman who did my nails was very nice and did a good job. But considering that I got a standard mani/​pedi (and declined the foot and hand massages, as per usual for me), the amount of time it took her is ridiculous. I could get the same quality of work in less than half the time it took today at one of the millions of salons on Newbury Street.
Unless you have an entire afternoon to kill, I recommend finding a more efficient manicurist.

Just moved to JP so I decided to check out this place to get a gel manicure and a pedicure. I have to say, that was the best nail experience I’ve ever had. My nail tech was SO committed to making my feet and nails look perfect and it really shows in the final look. The front desk lady was very nice as well, and they had some great color selections. I can’t wait to go back.

Great prices, friendly staff… For me those are two components a business needs to see me as a repeat client. I have gone in for a few different services and will continue trying them out. My basic pedicure was awesome, perhaps even my best (and the back massage chair was actually a pleasure and not a pain).

i am speaking for the spray tanning here.
i tried the mystic tan booth twice and let me tell you it’s a science. there’s the position you need to get right in order for the nozzles to cover your entire body evenly when you then turn around and let it spray the other side.
i am now able to get my hands to turn out even. do not wash your hands afterwards. it’s uncomfortable because of the barrier cream but it’ll be worth it to be streak free.
then i can never get my feet to turn out right, i’m usually blotchy around the ankles even tho i blot and try to spread the solution evenly afterwards.
so i had someone spray me and it’s so worth it. she took the time to make sure i was even and it’s instant bronzing whereas the mystic booth the color develops after a few hours. you shower 6 hrs later and the bronze washes away and you are left evenly tan. the feet and hands are

I haven’t been in for a while but walking by the other day I noticed they moved the front desk, thanks guys! The whole front of the salon now makes sense. I’m upping their stars to 5.
The last times I’ve been in the service has been excellent. Whoever’s hiring the front desk girls is clearing doing a better job. I do wish they offered free tanning to their front desk employees. One, it sells the service, two, if staff was using the equipment they would be more likely to mention malfunctioning bulbs to management.
I mean really, how much can it cost them to let the front desk girls tan for free? Plus they can really offer personal experience on the different bed/​standing options and the lotions. The front desk girls should be trained sales people, not just appointment takers with no idea about the products they’re selling.
Two suggestions, one, a better selection of goggles. Last time I got some they were really to small for a man’s face. It would be nice if they had more styles to choose from and larger ones that can fit all the way across to the corners of the eyes. I especially like the ones that are all tinted 360 and don’t have the opaque plastic with just the small eye opening in front.
Two, they need to step up their tanning lotion retail and make it a much larger feature of the salon, perhaps all the retail products need better placement. As a previous salon owner, properly retailed products can produce a major part of a salon’s income and clients see it as a service not an inconvenience.
Ok my two cents worth

This review is for tanning. I’ve been going to Soleil for about a month now using their level 1 beds. As a previous reviewer mentioned, they don’t change their bulbs as often as they likely should. There’s been one bulb out on the level 1 bed for the last 3 weeks and despite notifying the front desk several times, the bulb has not been changed.
The price can’t be beat for their three month level 1 package – $ 75 for three months of unlimited tanning. However, my first time at the salon was somewhat frustrating. Being fair-​skinned and new to tanning, I was looking for some guidance on a tanning lotion. The receptionist recommended I use one specific lotion «because most of the girls use that one… although it may just be because of the pink smiley face.» If I’m spending $ 40 on a lotion, it better do more than just smile at me when I look at the bottle.
Also, I was given no instructions on these beds despite mentioning I’ve never tanned here before. In the level 1 bed (not sure about the others), the «start» button is outside the bed on the wall – something that was different in a previous tanning salon I used. I foolishly pushed all the buttons inside the bed itself waiting for the bed to come on to no avail. Eventually, I realized the «start» button was outside the bed but at that point half of my time had gone by. I then had to re-​dress and ask the receptionist to restart my time. Although she agreed to do that without hesitation, she commented that «this happens all the time» with beginners at their salon… if it happens «all the time,» shouldn’t you take 10 seconds to show me where the start button is? I digress…

I came to Melinda with a photo of a 1940’s style half-​moon manicure, and despite never having done one, she swiftly knocked it out of the park! Melinda suggested gel nails, which I had never done before, because it would make the style last longer. I was surprised that the gel treatment was reasonably priced, and two weeks later they look great. Go see Melinda!
*tiny addendum– only downside of the salon was that they didn’t have a coffee maker, some have Keurigs now and I always greatly appreciate that. Salon was very nice though overall.