Hollywood Nails & Skin Salon

This is my favorite nail salon in Boston. I’m a nail connoisseur and have tried every nail place in Newbury St. and this is my favorite by FAR. I come every week snd they are dog friendly too, which is awesome for me and my cockapoo! Friendly staff, very clean (steralize all tools) and really take their time.

I’ve been coming to this Salon since October 2011 and I always had a great experience. Christina is super friendly and tries to make you feel as comfortable as possible. I generally do waxing and mani/​pedi and the job is always extremely well done and lasts for a long time. I recommend this salon if you live in Boston.

I love the location, the prices are fair, I got in right away, and everyone was super friendly. Unfortunately all that is fluff, and the gel manicure experience I got was bad bad bad.
1. Cuticle trimming put a GASH in my finger that bled profusely. The tech used a styptic, but it hurt really bad and took a while to deal with.
2. The tech painted over dried blood… with gel polish. It was a pretty translucent shade, so you could see dried blood under the polish. There was no way to remove it without a complete redo. It looked GROSS.
3. There’s polish all over my cuticles, with means that it gets lifted very easily. I got my GEL MANICURE on Friday and had chips in my nails the following Monday.
So I was injured, my manicure looked like crap, and it didnt even last but 3 days.

I started going to Hollywood Nails over a year ago. It not only had a great location on Newbury street but had great prices (unlike most things on Newbury street!) Basic manicures are $ 12 and basic pedis are $ 25. The first few times I came here, I was blown away! Super clean, friendly employees, and the foot/​hand rubs that accompanied the mani/​pedis??? Let’s just say I had to stiffle a few satisfied moans. I would almost wish my polish to chip just so that I could go back again!
However, last fall/​winter I didn’t go much, and the few times I have been back this spring have been more disappointing. My manis still stay in good shape for nearly two weeks, and the prices are the same… but the level of customer attention has come down. And the once amazing massages are now just them running their hands over once or twice to apply the lotion.
The first time that I left feeling disappointed, there had been a large party in, so I thought they were abnormally rushed. But alas, I’ve been back two other times when it has been slow, and still not as good as it used to be. I am disappointed, but will probably still go back now and again to see if things have returned to the old (higher) standards.
Still, if you are in the area and want a standard mani/​pedi, I’d recommend it. They have a good color selection and the location is great. It just isn’t the same ‘special’ experience it used to be.

I don’t think I’ll be coming back here again. I went to the first place I found with a friend, since I thought all the nail salons on Newbury St would be the same. Anyways, we walk in and I explain very clearly twice to the lady what we want since they weren’t the same. She even repeated it back to me. But later when I said «Hey what about my pedicure» she gave me a lot of attitude saying that I never told her that and that I wanted an eyebrow wax. What? She kept saying I needed an eyebrow wax, it was pretty insulting, but I never said I wanted one.
In any case during the manicure she kept going up to check her ipad on an ebay sale she was part of. And the manicure wasn’t very good-​I didn’t even get a hand lotion massage like I’ve come to expect. I will say, however, that the gel polish selection was very good. And my nails have lasted for much longer than ever, about a month now actually. However, the service was rushed and rude.
A different woman did my pedicure. The nail polish took forever to dry, so she put my feet in plastic bags, put my socks over them, and then my boots??? I’ve never done that before but I thought maybe it was something new that would work. Nope, smudged later.
The basement furnishings aren’t very nice, so you won’t get that spa feeling. And while the gel polish was good, I think I’ll just find the same brand elsewhere.

I’ve been to pretty much every single nail salon on Newbury Street for gel manicures/​polish over the course of the last few months and have finally decided this is my holy grail.
I love the gel polish selection and the overall look of the salon (not cramped and bland looking like so many other salons on Newbury street) … the fact that everyone is super nice definitely is a plus. I also especially appreciate when they remove the gel polish they place and polish remover in a dish within a dish of warm water so your fingers aren’t cold while the gel is soaking off. It definitely beats the stupid foil wrapped with cotton method used at every other nail salon on Newbury Street.
The eyebrow waxing here is also pretty good so I recommend it too.
I’m a fan :)

My sister and I walked into the store on Saturday around 1pm when there was only 1 customer in the store. We asked them if they have spot for us and they told us yes and asked us to pick a color. While my sister and I was still choosing the colors for our nails, a lady came by and asked us to hurry up and choose the colors since they had a reservation for 5 people at 2pm. What I didn’t know was that they also had another appointment for 3 people at 1:30pm and they continued to take in more walk in customer when they knew they only have 5 people working there.
The lady who did my sister’s toe nails rushed through every steps while mine worked on a regular speed. (I guess the lady who served my sister knew she had an appointment coming up.) Then as more customer came in, the lady who did my sister’s nail rushed through the job with a even faster pace. When she was done, the red nail polish was not only unevenly placed on her nails but also on her skins. And since they were buys, they didn’t bother to remove the nail polish that was on her skin.
After I got my toe nails done, the lady started to rush through my manicure session. Though she took the step to remove my existing nail polish, she did such a crappy job that many of the nails still had the old nail polish. Then, without a word the lady stood up and left to give another customer a pedicure. I was left there wondering what’s going on. After about 5 minutes, another lady who seems to be the owner notice that I was unhappy and told me that she would be with me shortly. Then she stopped her work with the customer she had on hand and came to my table and use about 1 – 2 minutes to put on 2 layers of red nail polish for me and told me it was done. The red polish was not only on the nail but on the skin and she didn’t bother to clean it up. She also didn’t even bother to put on a top coating for me.
I was so unhappy and left without the nail polish completely dried up since I had to remove them anyway. I would never visit this shop again!

Possibly the worst manicure ever. Pedicure definitely one of the worst.

Got an eyebrow wax, gel manicure, and pedicure here. I needed some pampering after a long time with no polish anywhere! I was walking down Newbury and decided to go to the first place I found.
To start off, the eyebrow wax was amazing I will definitely return for that. All the other services were just fine, but I feel like none of the women working were working with a single client, they kept rotating… not only with me but with all the other women in the salon! Someone would start off a pedicure or manicure and then leave to go do something else for another customer and someone else would come over and take off wherever that person left off. There was no continuity with it at all. Also, the woman applied top coat to my toed right before I left even though I insisted I didn’t want it to be wet since I had shoes to put on. Obviously, my toes got smudged by the time I got home. That was really annoying too.
Overall, the nail service was okay and the eyebrows were fantastic! Remember cash for your tip!

This review is solely for the waxing:
I get my eyebrows done here, and love it! They are attentive and thorough, and it’s cheap!

I originally walked in to get a mani/​pedi. The person who, I believe, was the owner convinced me to try out the gel manicure so I did. Eventually, I also got talked into doing an eyebrow waxing too.
When evaluating all the things I had done, the only thing I am happy about in the end are my eyebrows.
I guess it didn’t occur to them that I could have been part Vietnamese since the woman who did my pedicure had no problem with living up to the stereotype of Vietnamese nail salon workers.
I liked the idea of the gel nail polish since it would last longer than the traditional nail polish but the work was sloppy on my nails. I chose the color red for Valentine’s day which I know is one of the hardest colors to paint on but I had hoped a more experienced person could have painted my nails for that particular reason. I have dust particles trapped in the paint and uneven tones on all the nails. On top of that, the paint doesn’t line up nicely with my cuticles — it’s more of a jagged edge.
I liked the way my toes originally came out but it wasn’t even fully dried when they sent me on my way. They used a weird technique after they set me under the UV light where they wrapped my toes in a ziploc bag and stuffed my feet into my flats. I’m pretty sure they thought it would protect the polish but sure enough when I took the bags off, my toes were smudged.
Two stars only because I really do love my eyebrows but so much for having cute nails for Valentine’s day.

Was staying the area at the Lenox with my girlfriend and we both went in — I had a manicure and she got a french manicure. It’s been about three weeks since and they both still look great. Very impressed with what seemed sort of like a hole in the wall — read some great reviews online and decided to give it a try. I told them about how thkis was my first trip to Boston, a nd planned to come back, and t hey invited us back with open arms, and asked us to make sure we came back. It was a really great time, they wer extremely friendly, and even though they were busy they did a great job with the customer service. They could be a bit pushy with other services being offered, but one firm no and they dropped the fact that theought i needed my eyebrows cleaned up. overall, a great experience. :)

I popped in for a manicure as I was staying around the corner at the Eliot. The woman who did my manicure was good. She insisted my nails were dry even though I wasn’t so sure — and when I left, sure enough, they smudged. I came back and another woman who seemed to run the place took over and re-​did the two smudged nails, then decided to clean up some other nails I hadn’t even noticed. This time I stayed under the dryers for ages and TEN DAYS LATER — no gels! — I got my first chip. Great job.

This place is a big disappointment… the lady was a harsh with the cuticle trimmer, she cut me with it twice during the same visit… need some staff training time… doing a bad job is acceptable but not spreading infection!

I give 3 stars because I like the women who work here. They were friendly and seemed to want to please.
I got a gel manicure ($ 28) & spa pedicure ($ 25).
In general: the gel manicure folks need to step it up with the color options.
I like that one person did my toes while another started on my hands. I don’t like spending all day in a salon. I was out of this salon in an hour and everything was totally dry.
I am used to being disappointed when it comes to pedicures. I feel that places spend too much time lotioning and massaging when I come in for contouring and exfoliation. Honestly, I expected to be disappointed with this pedicure also but there were 2 things that I liked and that separated this place from the other places that disappoint:
1) Even though they didn’t use the pumice as long as I would have hoped, my feet were smooth and renewed in the heel zone and ball zone after the pedicure. Maybe my friends and I got carried away in our conversation and these folks scrubbed me down like I needed and I missed it. Maybe they are that gentle yet that thorough. Ha.
2) My toe nails look like little pieces of candy. :) I love when the polish job is careful that your toes shine afterwards like skittles at the end of your toes.
The gel manicure was cool. It’s pretty easy to make my nails look good since I let them grow out and file them square regularly. I do much of the upkeep myself. The gel polish job was average but not amazing. A couple of dust particles settled in the polish and were pasted in after the uv light drying system. Kind of annoying but I would still come to this place again. I feel like they’d be more dedicated to being super careful and pleasing a customer who showed some loyalty.
The woman who did my manicure seemed to enjoy me and told me to return. I liked that. She seemed genuine in a way that most Asian owned salon folks don’t.
I’m big on the customer service/​people relationship aspect of places. Because of this, I will give this place a second go and update folks on
the quality of the nails.
FYI: You cannot tip using your credit/​debit card so make sure you bring cash money!

It’s OK. But I don’t think I will be going there again.
I was going with a friend to go get the OPI Axxium Gel manicure… I usually go to another place on Newbury, which does them fantastically, but my friend swore by Hollywood, so I decided I would try.
It’s a TINY TINY salon, and I think there were about 4 people working. We had to wait a little, which was fine, and then we were told to chose our color and then head to tables (on the opposite sides of the salon… so much for girl time).
An older guy put my hands in a cup of lukewarm water… and then just stared at them. weird. But the manicure its self was nothing to write home about, other than he used the wrong tool to clean under my nails (umm, the cuticule clipper is to CUT my cuticules… not to grab dirt from under my fingers and THEN cut). Also, my nail shape is not even at all.
The gel looks ok, the color isn’t fully even, which is ok since its a darker color, but I think they may need more practice on this new service — one of my nails has a deep scratch down the center, which has never happened before. I was going to do an eyebrow waxing, but after they finished my fingers, I called and made an appointment where I normally go.
If you are in a rush, go there — they usually only take like 20 min to do a manicure. If you want your nails to look GOOD… i would recommend one of the other salons on Newbury

Nasty.
At first glance, this place seemed to be like any other quick mani-​pedi joint. My pedicure was fine — nothing special — although the powder pink walls were beginning to nauseate me. My mom’s, however, was NOT. They didn’t even buff at her late-​summer calluses with any file/​scraper/​etc! Its like they entirely forgot. She sat down about 10 minutes after I did and was done 10 mins before me. Also, I“m not sure if its the polish thinner they use, but my nail color was a much lighter red than how the bottle looked AND neither of our toes dried in a period of about 30 minutes, so I messed up my pedi when putting my shoes on to leave. I’d say the most disgusting part of the entire experience — a DEFINITE deal breaker… here it comes… there were someone else’s cuticles on the cuticle trimmer she began to use on me!!! I don’t know why I didn’t just up and leave at this point, but I just watched carefully so she wouldn’t trim skin and infect me with SARS or MRSA or some other cuticle-​to-​cuticle communicable disease.
Only redeeming quality: Played nonstop Keeping up with the Kardashians on all TVs.

Yuck. This place is dirty. I walked in looked around feeling quite skeptical of the whole establishment and wanted to bolt but it was late and i NEEDED a pedicure
I was told to pick a color and have a seat. The wait time was 5 minutes. The nail tech finished up the woman she was working on, took payment and waved her goodbye.
Now, Ive been watching this scenario for a few minutes. (oh did i mention 5 minutes turned into 20?). I watched as the nail tech drained the water basin. I watched as she painted the other womans toes and helped her into her flip flops (i guess she didnt have time to let them dry). But the MOST important thing that I watched was how she didnt sanitize/​wipe/​hell even rinse the water basin before she started to run water for my pedi…
So, i keep watching… then she beckons me over to the dirty water. I ask her if she can clean it. She says its very clean, very clean. I walk out.
Im skeeved by dirtiness… yuck

I’ve been to Hollywood a few times — mainly because it’s a convenient walk from the train and a good quick place to stop on a Saturday when I’ve been in the area doing some shopping anyway. For the most part, I have gotten some decent mani/​pedis from this place (but honestly I have yet to be thoroughly impressed by any nail salons in the Boston area, as it’s very rare that my manicures last more than two days).
HOWEVER, after a recent trip to Hollywood, I will NOT be returning. First off, during the pedicure, when the lady was scrubbing my feet, she dropped the pumice stone on the floor not once — but twice — and instead of getting a new one, continued to use it on my feet. The first time I thought I must have just mistaken what happened. After the second time she did it, though, I was in such shock that I just sat there and dealt with it. The sad part is this isn’t the worst thing about my visit.
Maybe they aren’t allowed to take sick days here, but the woman who was working on me was clearly dealing with a hideous cold. Her eyes were watering and she was constantly sniffling and stopping to blow her nose. (She didn’t wash her hands after each of those times, either.) Needless to say, three days after my mani/​pedi, I too got a horrible cold that lasted for almost a week, which — sadly — was 6 days longer than my manicure lasted.
So yeah, don’t go here. Try one of the other 232 562 places on Newbury instead.

I hopped into Hollywood nails to see how much a manicure was. Initially a woman told me 12, but when I turned around to leave to tell my Aunt who was waiting outside, she chased after me to tell me it would only cost $ 10. I decided to go, considering it was so cheap.
Well, there is a reason it is cheap. You are not getting any frills with this place. Granted, the nail technicians do a good job and include a hand massage and cuticle trim. However, the salon itself smelled a bit sour and was not a friendly or inviting environment.