Fresh Spa

I came here because i saw it on Unilocal.They have a special mon thru thurs 10 – 1 $ 38 for gel mani and 10 min massage. The massage was too rough for me lol. I felt like the lady had a bad day and she was punching me so hard. I honestly did not enjoy my massage. However, the manicure was amazing. She shaped my nails so nice and the color came out beautiful. I got it pink for valentines day and the service was good. Sabrina the owner was so nice to everyone. I recommend but don’t get the massage.

After Unilocaling places for a gel mani & pedi I decided to try Fresh Spa. The pedicure was normal but I did like how they used plastic liners for each person.
I was thinking about getting a design for my gel mani and showed a picture to one of the technicians. She said Sabrina would be able to do whatever I wanted. It turned out great! I really appreciated Sabrina’s attention to detail and how much she cared about making my nails look fantastic! I will definitely go back to see Sabrina for more designs.

Love this place and go here for all my gel manicure, regular manicure/​pedicure needs. Sabrina is so helpful. The technician Lilly is the sweetest and thorough. Love this place.

Sabrina is AMAZING!!! She is beyond talented. Her nail designs are all done by hand. She takes meticulous care with every stroke. I’d never done gel manicures before. Now I’m addicted to Sabrina and her nail art. Lasts for so many weeks I can’t keep track. Always an amazing experience. One of the highlights of my life!

Just got a quick manicure on my lunch break. I was in and out in thirty minutes, the service was friendly, and it was cheap for Manhattan — $ 12. I’d definitely go back for a gel manicure as it seems to be what they are pushing and other ladies’ looked great. Big selection of polish and no frills.

Decided to go here after seeing the good Unilocal reviews. Was not disappointed!
People working there were VERY nice and attentive to the customers, I did a gel manicure and it was really perfect, and it cost $ 30 before tax, which is a great price in my opinion. Plus they have a TON of colors to choose from.
Only thing keeping me from giving it 5 stars is the place itself isn’t luxurious, its typical nail salon grunge style.
Been looking for such a nail salon in this area for a while, first place I went to was nice but the lady was rude, second place lady was nice but my nails sucked and it was too expensive, so I guess third times the charm! Will definitely be going back to this place.

Giving five stars for my experience in the salon but I may edit depending on how they wear over the next two weeks.
I stopped in for a shellac mani after an early work meeting. I arrived a few minutes after they opened so I was the only one there. Everyone was very nice and most of them were busy cleaning and organizing the displays and polish which I love (I’m a neat freak, what can I say). One woman (I believe she was the owner) over heard me say I was going on vacation and recommended a different brand of polish then the one I chose because of how it wears with salt water, which I thought was very nice. She even helped me pick out a new color and added an accent nail mixing some glitter together.
The woman doing my nails took her time and it has to be the fist time I didn’t feel rushed at a salon in NYC. She put on three coats (plus the glitter the other woman added) and the color came out rich with no streaks (I HATE streaks when getting shellac).
For a shellac mani the price was really good too, I’m glad I had cash on me though because I sometimes add tip to my card but they discourage that there. I will definitely be back!

So today, I went in around 10:30am and it was still pretty quiet. While doing the filing after soaking during my pedicure, Sabrina suggested a gray/​silver combination.
Little did I know, (see the «Winter Wonderland» picture), that she would go on to create art on my nails! Each nail has its own design and the color matches everything.
In addition, along with the Spa pedicure, it was not expensive at all!

I usually have my gel mani done in Brooklyn, but wanted to try something new. Since I was working around union square at the time I decided to go on Unilocal to find a salon and came across fresh spa. It was crunch time and my college graduation was in 2 days. It was peak hours when I arrived, but within 5 minutes Sabrina took me. I was very pleased with my gel mani, my nails lasted a bit over 2 weeks. I went to my second Monday 11/​16, Sabrina didn’t do my nails, but the nail tech (I wish I knew her name) who did my nails was awesome she absolutely took her time, did not rush at all. I went off peak hours and I was the only client there so it was super relaxing. When I was almost finished people started to come in, so I was out in a nic of time. They have a huge gel collection, from gelish, opi, Essie etc.
Love this place will be going back for my 3^rd visit.

Just left this place. It was alright. I’ve definitely had better experiences, but I’ve also had worse.
I came in at about 12:30 to an empty salon. The manager/​owner (maybe? I’m not sure) was very cognizant/​accomodating of the fact that I was in a time crunch and asked if I would be okay with two women working on my hands and feet at once. I can definitely appreciate this and opted for it. Pedicure was fine, nothing to write home about. I feel like she skipped a few steps that I’m used to elsewhere, but I also do pay a little more at those places. On the other hand, I didn’t realize scrubbing your feet well was optional, so idk.
There aren’t any deals for mani/​pedis by the way which is what I initially came in looking for. I changed my mind half way through and decided on a gel mani… which was probably a bad idea, now that I think of it. A different woman (named Lily) cut, shaped, and filed my nails. I really liked her, I thought she was meticulous and quick. When i opted for a gel mani, asking if I had enough time for one, she said yes without hesitation. I’ve had gel manis be fairly quick and I’ve also had them take forever, so I wanted to be sure since this was my first time here.
A different woman ended up doing my gel mani though, the actual application of it. I didn’t catch her name, but she was meticulous and thorough as well. Given how much time she put into actually painting my nails, I expected it to honestly look flawless. Post drying its uneven, bubbly, and so thick I’m kind of frightened about what the soaking off process might entail. I will give her points for being accomodating. I thought i wanted a silver flecked ring finger as part of my design and once she’d already done it and it had already begun drying, I decided it looked tacky and asked to have it removed. She didn’t charge me for the soak off (though from what I understand from these other Unilocal reviews they don’t charge you for the soak off and I didn’t see a price anywhere in the store listed). She did however, act like she was doing me a favor by only charging me for the one painted design I’d asked for instead of charging me for both the design and the different colored ring finger nail. The soak off itself was another issue/​concern for me, I’m pretty sure she scraped off a top layer of my nail on one side a little… which is why I’m now concerned about how thick this gel mani came out.
I guess I will see how long this lasts, though truthfully, I imagine I’ll remove this well before the usual two week mark out of genuine concern for the health of my nails. I don’t think I’ll return here. I may return to get a regular mani/​pedi since they don’t seem to charge for soaking off a gel mani, but we’ll see. Overall, not worth the $ 62.50 before tip and tax for a gel mani and more basic than usual pedicure.

Nice, cute little salon near union square. Always good service there with nice people and rarely ever a wait. Prices consistent with the rest of NYC salons. I stopped going here for a while because I moved to acrylic nails and they do not do those here– but have recently rediscovered this place and get my pedicures done here now.
If you do gel then this is your place! They have so many colors to chose from and seem to specialize in gel. Not my thing but most people who come in seemed to go for that.

Not a fan.
1) YOU WILL BE PRESSURED TO TIP 20%! When my friend went to leave a $ 5 tip for her mani-​pedi, she was confronted by a very abrasive woman who demanded that my friend pay the full 20% tip (aka $ 2 more). Very unprofessional and terrible customer service.
2) DON’T BOTHER MAKING AN APPOINTMENT! Despite having called several days earlier to book our appointments, they had no seats available for my manicure. We could’ve easily come at another time had the salon told us they were busy or had other appointments booked– but the salon was clearly more interested in generating revenue than satisfying its customers.
2) HORRIBLE PEDICURES! For our pedicures, the water was cold and the machines were never turned on (so no bubbles or anything like that. which I thought was standard for pedicures). Also, they were very rough on my toes and cut me/​made me bleed.
3) AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF, HORRIBLE MANICURES! The manicures themselves were terrible– my friend’s nails need another coat of polish (the polish was totally transparent), and they left an abnormal amount of space between the polish and my cuticle (picture attached).
It blows my mind that this place has 4 stars when NOBODY in the salon seemed to be happy with the service they were receiving. In fact, we were all bonding over how none of us ever planned on returning.
We will not be back.

I LOVE this place. I went back for my second gel manicure appointment today and have nothing but positive things to say. My last gel manicure lasted two weeks, and would have lasted even longer had I not come in today to get a new color. That’s saying a lot for me considering I am always doing things with my hands, so usually the gel is already in peeling mode after 5 days. Not so with Fresh Spa manicures!
Angela worked on my manicure today and shaped/​filed my nails perfectly.
I will certainly be a return customer for many visits to come :-)

They have a million gel colors and glitters. The owner was so sweet and mixed a specialty color for me on my wedding. She was super meticulous and it wasn’t rushed at all! Wish I lived closer!

Very disappointed in my gel manicure! I came here to get my nails done for a wedding this evening. I chose a beautiful pearl pink semi-​sparkly gel color, and was a bit shocked to see the brownish-​gold color that I ended up with. I’m not an expert on nails, but I’m fairly certain that my manicurist gave me the wrong color, and I didn’t have time to speak up and sit through another manicure as I had to get home and get dressed for this wedding. Additionally, there are streaks and air bubbles on all of my nails. They appear uneven, streaky, and even bumpy, which is horrid for gel!
This isn’t a cheap gel manicure (32 bucks with tax), so I expected good quality. Additionally, this place had awesome reviews, so I felt like I was safe in coming here, but I could honestly get a better job at the 10 dollar place on Macdougal.
I am especially disappointed because I was watching the other girls get their maincures, and all of their nails were coming out perfectly. It seemed to be just my nail artist that was producing low quality work. Ugh– just my luck. My manicurist was also fairly unfriendly and maintained a sour look and standoffish demeanor throughout the whole process. I don’t remember her name otherwise I would warn everybody against using her!

Definitely the place to go if you want a gel shellac manicure, but NOT the place of you’re looking for a regular mani/​pedi – they don’t have any deals on that, and I was a little thrown off by my $ 40 charge when I came in on a Monday early afternoon!
I did get a wonderful calf and foot massage with my regular pedicure. My nail tech was very gentle and careful with me, which I always appreciate. The massage chairs work wonderfully as well. The place has free wifi and plenty of magazines within reach of the pedicure chairs.
I take a star away because my manicure has already bubbled. The nail tech did a very neat job and filed my nails perfectly – but the top coat bubbled. A side effect of not doing a gel manicure perhaps, but a little unsightly nonetheless. I wouldn’t go out of my way to come here again, but I wouldn’t be mad if I did.

Sabrina is very amazing; I admire her leadership and the salon workers’ teamwork skills to satisfy every customer. I came here for a $ 42 + tip pink ombré (glittered) shellac manicure and that is exactly what I received (plus hand massage), with amazing results.
I admire how they mixed different powders together to create the ombré/​faded effect. They then used a brush to carefully create the ombré effect above a base polish. The employees are very friendly and on-​point with their service. No wonder it is such a popular nail salon :-)

Got me in and out with no problems! Technicians paid close attention to detail and were very friendly. Completely satisfied with the service I was given.

I’ve waited months to write this review because I wanted to make sure that when I did I had done the leg work to say that this place is AMAZING — and it is! They are fast and efficient without compromising quality. Plus you’ll be hard pressed to find lower prices in Manhattan for the same quality!
I usually get a gel manicure and regular spa pedicure — which costs about $ 55 – 65 depending on if you get any add-​ons (the gel manicure by itself is $ 30! hard to beat!)
What I love about this place:
— HUGE selection of gel colors — including OPI, Essie, Gelish and CND. I’ve been to other nail salons and the color selection elsewhere fails miserably in comparison
— They know what they’re doing — the ladies here know exactly what colors work and are pro’s at nail art. The owner, Sabrina, is amazing and can recommend colors at a drop of a hat. She even makes her own glitter/​sparkle polish to meet the needs of her customers!
— Clean — the place itself isn’t full of frills (so if you’re looking for a luxury spa that will serve you tea while you get your pedi, this isn’t the place) BUT what I think is more important is that it’s clean and up to code! The spa pedicure tubs are covered with disposable plastic covers for each customer. And recently they’ve even upped their game and provided occupational safety precautions for the manicurists (e.g. masks).
Pujah is my girl — just look for a friendly smile and cute nose ring! She’s does flawless work! I even had a recent toenail injury that left my big toe looking a little Quasimodo and she managed to make it look normal!
Bottom line: Skip the frills of a upscale luxury nail salon and try this place — you’ll love your nails and be happy you didn’t have to break the bank to get them done!
Tips:
— This place is relatively small and can get pretty busy during peak hours (when people are getting off works, weekends, etc.) so it can be a good idea to call ahead and get a wait time estimate/​book an appointment if you’re planning to come around then. I usually go during ‘off’ hours so I always walk in without an appointment no problem.
— They accept card but prefer cash tips!
— If you are looking to get extensive nail design done, don’t hesitate to bring in a pictures — the ladies will be happy to give you exactly what you want and usually only charge $ 5 more for it!

I work around the corner from Fresh Spa so I’ve been coming here for about three years. There is a wait time and being that I’m impatient I sometimes will leave and try somewhere else — every single time that I leave and go somewhere else I regret it. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
The customer service here is unbeatable. Sabrina and her entire team remembers your face and always knows what you want. I didn’t come in for about 5 months and when I came back they all asked me how my wedding went and my new job — it’s like coming home.
Also, their work is super neat. They do such a clean job! I never have to ask them to redo something and if my impatient self messes something up because I didn’t let them dry properly they’re always happy to fix it.
They do waxing as well. My eyebrows always come out great.
Last but not least, the massages! Every single person in there does a great job with the massages. I never care to request a specific person. If you’re shy or want a little more quiet they never have a problem taking the massage chair into the smaller room.
I’ve gone in plenty of times and asked just for a soak off and they’ve happily removed my nails free of charge. They also don’t charge for quick dry (most of them use the quick dry without you asking)
I really love it here. Best nail spot in the city.