Color Nails & Spa

This place sucks — it’s dirty, they never have enough staff for the amount of customers they try to take in, and they do a crappy job. I went for a pedicure yesterday and had to request that she file down the toenails and remove the dead/​peeling skin… like basic pedicure 101 stuff.
Also unlike their competitors — they don’t offer wine/​beverages.

This place is awesome! I went with two friends and we got two mani-​pedis and a manicure. The place was clean and cheap but best of all our nails look excellent! Super nice people and after my friend messed up her toenail they fixed it without extra charge! Highly recommend. Skip the fancier places and go here.

Worst manicure I have ever received in my life. Looking for cheap acrylic fill to hold me off a couple weeks until I can go back to normal place in California, not looking for anything special or fancy, but my nail did not even get filed after applying acrylic to it. Would not recommend and will appreciate my normal place so much more and be willing to spend a bit more money next time. I’m not one to write reviews at all but I felt sharing my terrible experience might save someone in the future.

I’ve been going here for years and the quality has seriously decreased in the last 8 months or so. I’m very disappointed, as it’s location is down the street from where I live and the price is right. However, gone are the days where they sterilized utensils in between all clients (some do it still, but many do not. just watch when you are there next). They are sloppy with their filing, cuticle cutting and even painting.
Today’s experience was just disappointing. The woman I went to has been there for a long time, but she was talking to her colleagues the entire time and they must have been telling a really funny story (or making fun or customers, who knows…) because her hand wasn’t even steady due to her laughter. She did not clean the equipment after me (just put it back in her desk).
I will be going to a different place from now on. Chi, if you are reading this, you need to tighten up the ship here before you lose all of your customers. The people you have hired do not have the same standard of service as you do.

They are very kind and will take walk-​ins even when they’re close to closing. It is a small place, but they have good prices and do a good job.

I can’t express enough how incredibly rude the staff is here. I was unable to finish a thought because the staff members cut me off. Whenever I spoke, there was loud exchanges in another language and to finish it off, they would not let me speak to a manager. I will NOT be returning to this place ever again. The workmanship doesn’t even make the trip worth it. I truly hope the manager or owner sees this post and makes the necessary adjustments. If I could give zero stars, I would.

BRIDAL PARTIES BEWARE: If I could give a negative star review, I would. I never review anything but my experience here was so upsetting that I couldn’t refrain. 5 of my bridesmaids and I made an appointment and came here to get mani/​pedis done the day before my wedding and the owner and her staff were so rude and multitasking us (passing us off to each other while taking care of other clients and coming back to us whenever they felt like it or had the time.) By the time that all was said and done, I had 3 different women work on my nails (gel manicure): One woman left me to go wax another client, another woman left me to go start some other woman’s pedicure and the last woman left me to go talk on the phone. The owner asked several times who was the bride (me) and then passed over me and worked on other people. Why bother asking then?
My bridesmaids all had similar experiences. One bridesmaid had to wait for 2 hours before they even got started on her nails because the «technician was on her way» (the technician was always there — just working on someone else’s nails).
To recap, what made this experience so terrible was: 1.) We made an appointment for 5 to get our nails done at the same time, which the owner said was no problem. We arrive and there are not only not enough technicians but they are multitasking and passing us off to each other 2.) The owner blatantly lied to us about the technician being on her way (she was always there). 3.) They all wanted to be tipped generously. In total, for the 6 of us we paid upwards of $ 500 (with tip) for a slipshod, awful experience. If you’re looking for a pampering or relaxing experience, this is NOT the place for you. Awful awful awful.

A friend said that she gets the best eyebrow waxes here, so I went with her a few months back. I think the owner of the place did both our waxes, and she was fantastic! Super pleasant and perfect shape. I went back on Thursday night, and got the WORST eyebrow wax I’ve ever had in my life. The tech was rude and kept badgering me to get a manicure after. My eyebrows are completely mismatched– she didn’t follow my natural brow shape AT ALL. One is half as thin as the other now. The wax was too hot, which I told her, and now I have a burn mark directly above my eyebrow. Seriously, avoid this place like the plague, unless you specifically request the owner.

Thuy was very friendly, patient and kind despite my particularness. She was very detailed and made sure i was happy. She did a fantastic job on my gel manipedi. Great to find a place even while visiting from out of state. Will definitely come back. Thanks Thuy!

Place is pretty standard from a looks/​cleanliness perspective, but they’re FANTASTIC when it comes to gel nails. Only $ 25 if done M-​F and I’m now on week 3 and they look just as good as the day I got them done. Giving 4 stars though because they tried to charge me $ 5 extra for any callous removing/​smoothing and it lasted only 2 minutes. Makes them appear cheap and not in a good way.

This place was great! Very affordable, nice and quick service, and for what I paid, I’m SO happy.
I highly recommend this place for anyone looking for a quick mani.

I spent $ 25 on a pedicure and then tipped $ 5. The last thing that happened right before I left the salon was that the woman who did my toes checked my nails to make sure they were dried. I’d dried them maybe 7−10min in the machine. She touched the top of my nails, deemed they looked great and were good to go. I thanked her, walked out (in flip-​flops) look down 15 min later and see this. I’m not impressed.

Nice and clean place. I went around lunch so it was a little busy but they were still able to accommodate me. Got a mani & pedi for $ 35 (not bad at all for this area). No extras added. I wasnt offered any wine but did see the ladies before me with their glasses. No biggie but it would be nice if they offered it to everyone. Nails turned out GREAT! Squared with slightly rounded corners, just the way i like them. Smooth polish. Big selection of colors. Tech was personable. I’ll definitely be going back.

Unsanitary practices, dishonest pricing, and a ‘meh’ pedicure. I won’t be back.
The first strike was the ick factor: the nail tech finished using the cheese grater and threw it back In the supply cart. Used flip flops and toe spacers got tossed back in the basket. Blech.
But the pricing practices are what really got me steamed. The base price for a pedicure is $ 25. The tech asked if I wanted callous removal and stated – after I said yes – that it was an extra $ 5. Fine, good. Then she asked if I wanted the foot and leg massage. No mention of an upcharge. Nothing, nada. When I went to pay, they charged $ 45. Apparently that little foot rub was an extra $ 15. And with that baloney, they ensured that I would never return.
For almost $ 50, I would expect MUCH better service and results than what I got from this dingy hole in the wall.

I went there to get a gel manicure and regular pedicure.
The only thing that was decent was the nail paint and my upper lip waxing.
In my picture you can see the skin coming off the top of my finger nails. I’ve never had so much skin coming off and it wasn’t like that before the manicure. So I’m super disappointed because it’s now pointless having got a manicure if my finger skin is worse.
The massage was about 15 seconds on each limb, with one arm being forgotten .
My heels are still rough with dead skin because the lady scrubbed my heels for only about 10 seconds each as well– and I had to request some more scrubbing so add another 5 seconds.
Nail paint was nice and filing wasn’t too bad hence the stars.

I’ve been looking for a nail salon since moving to DC and man, I just can’t believe the prices coming from OC! Sigh. Ok I promise I will stop comparing soon.
I was a little dubious of this place given the assortment of reviews but I really needed my toes done! I made an appt for 5:15pm on a Monday which actually wasn’t necessary because it was completely empty when I walked in.
So disclaimer that I speak Vietnamese and am used to hole in the wall nail places (I.e getting my nails done for $ 2 in Lima or Saigon). My experience may have been different given that I had really low expectations.
I was offered something to drink (water, soda, champagne or wine) and given magazines. Tuyen worked on my toes and offered me the $ 5 callous removal up sell which I normally decline– but again, my toes were in need of help.
Overall the experience was typical of what I would get in LA/​OC. It was about 45 mins total time including soaking, salt scrub, callous softener and remove and then toes. They had about 9 massaging chairs and as I was getting finished, 4 other walk-​one were being tended to.
For the price $ 25 for pedicure plus $ 5 callous removal, location and convenience– I would definitely come back!

Oh how things have changed at Color Nails. Gone are the friendly techs who offer water and wine/​champagne, gone are nice hand massages that accompany a manicure, and gone is a decent manicure.
My final visit to Color Nails was today. I decided to come today as opposed to tomorrow because of the $ 25 gel special, mon-​thurs. I was greeted rudely but then helped to pick out a color. No one offered me a drink but they did offer drinks to the ladies after me.
The manicure was simple and fast. She did mess up and accidently rub off half my polish on her shirt when she leaned over (but fixed it with saying anything). Upon leaving, I noticed the color was not painted to the edge of my nail or near the cuticle (a huge pet peeve). And on one nail the line near the cuticle is misshapen. Sadly, I picked a dark color so it is very noticeable.
There was no hand massage or arm massage. There was, however, a bit of lotion and a way too hot towel at the end.
I was such a fan of this place, it is sad that this is no longer my go to nail spot.

I live in Crystal city & I’ve been looking for a regular nail tech! I was up here for waxing and figured I should try a new nail salon while I was nearby. Unilocal showed me this one so I called ahead asked if they can take a fill in acrylic on my real nails with gel polish & a pedicure. Sam said he would take me right now.
So I hustled over there from DuPont metro station. Really quick walk! I always have the hardest time picking a color! He was patient even made a suggestion. I appreciated his attention to detail! He was even able to give me the coffin nail shape I wanted to try!
I left for my wax appointment and told him I’ll be back in an hour for my pedicure. Pedicure was perfect as well. I’ll be back to see Sam again!

Color nails is a dupont hidden gem. I’ve been to a couple of the ladies here and they always do a great job. It’s definitely a no-​frills place but it’s relatively cheap, the massage chairs work well, and they have a great selection of colors. I got a mani-​pedi plus the cheese-​grater on your heels for summer thing for $ 42. My nails feel great and I am no longer embarrassed to wear sandals.

Paid $ 25 for manicure and gel polish. Manicure as you could imagine wasn’t anything extraordinary. But the polish was great and stayed on 3 weeks. Nail tech was friendly. Small salon and nothing fancy.