Forest Spa

This is hands down the worst manicure salon I have ever been to in NYC, and I have been to ALOT. I went here since they are close to my office. The woman I had rushed through my manicure and did an extremely sloppy job. I went on Monday, and Thursday all the polish has chipped off. It did not even last three days, what a rip off. They utensils they use are not clean either from what I could tell. The place was also empty when I was in there, which I should have taken into consideration. Will never go back here again.

I don’t usually take the time to write to write a review, but given my negative experience at Forest Nail Salon, I think it is worth the time. I came in earlier today to get a manicure. I had my own nailpolish so we got started very quickly. I have nice long nails and I asked the lady to cut them a little to make them all even, but she ended up cutting the entire white part off and making them so short that it hurt when she was filing them. She also barely touched my cuticles, but when I asked her about how they clean their tools (because she just took the tools out one by one and they weren’t wet like usual) she pretty much barked back at me (possibly in a different language) and didn’t give me an answer. When she finished cleaning up my nails, she asked me to pay. I gave her a $ 20 bill and she brought $ 10 back. I took out three singles ($ 3) out of my purse and put them down on the table. Before actually giving me the $ 10 of change back, she asked me if she should split it for it. That got me wondering, were those $ 3 not enough for a tip? Is 30% for a bad job not enough? I said «no» and she continued with applying the clear base coat. I could tell she was upset because she just slammed it down the middle of the nails rather than spreading it evenly to cover the entire nail. Then she took my nailpolish and started applying the main coat. When she got to the 2^nd layer, I asked her nicely to also covers the corners/​edges and showed her what I meant. When she finished the 2^nd coat, I took the nailpolish and wanted to fix up the corners since she didn’t. She didn’t even bother to cover the parts that she smudged with her fingers. She put a clear top coat on and took me to the dryer. While sitting there, I noticed the sign on the wall that actually showed that the cost of the manicure is $ 9 and not $ 10. I am pretty sure that the tax in NYC is not more than 10% so she not only was she not happy with a 30% tip, but she shortchanged me on the price of the manicure.

Where do I even start? I’ve gotten my nails done every week and a half to two for over a decade and never experienced anything like this place. I’ll be fair and matter of fact.
–refill cost: $ 28 + $ 20 for gel and neither acrylic refill nor gel polish reached to cuticle line leaving me looking like I still needed a refill when I left
–nails were not reshaped and lengths are varying
–no brushes provided at sink to clean under nails or remove extra glue around nails
–one of my fingers is cut
–nail file and drill repeatedly burned my friend
–friend’s nails are uneven and completely warped
–previous gel color can still be seen on her nails
–pedicure bowl was not cleaned after my friend’s pedicure and when I asked if they would be cleaning it, she looked at me stunned and said to move to the next chair instead
–no massage or lotion were included in pedicure
–charged $ 10 extra to remove dead skin from feet
–water was room temperature on all three of our bowls and no jets or salts in bowl, also chair massager doesn’t work
–the disposable sandals were clearly reused because the bottoms were black and filthy
–all cuticle clippers were not properly santized
Lastly, all three of us were charged different prices for matching services. We’ve tried to understand the figures but quoted prices do not match any way we add them.
I’ve never filed a Unilocal review before but the sanitation alone needs to be addressed.

The last review was specific to the powder UV gel, but now I’m updating it to include manicures too.
The last two basic manicures (non-​gel) I got were terrible. She kept getting the nail polish on my skin and there was remnants of the polish once she was one. It was sloppy, there were bubbles, and it looked so bad I had to take it off.

I went here 10 months ago while I was in NYC (I’m bi coastal). It wasn’t my usual place, but I was in the area on business, saw it was open and it looked well-​organized and clean.
The service itself was fine, except the person doing my nails nipped the cuticle at the base of my big toe nail on my right foot. I thought it was nothing at the time. It bled a little, but then stopped. I looked after it and it seemed to heal fine. After the cut healed, first the base of my nail was a faint light blue, then a faint light green. Then it started going up the nail. Then my whole nail turned BLACK. Yes, black. It’s also very thick, about twice as thick as normal. It recently cracked and I panicked. Thankfully it’s growing out now, but thanks to this I can’t wear any light colors or do a french manicure. Never mind the stress this whole thing has put me through. I was scared my nail was going to fall off not to mention it’s simply embarrassing to have this gross looking nail when they take the polish off during my pedicure.
I don’t know how long that it’s going to take for the healthy new nail to grow out, but it’s only about one third grown at this point. I might have to contact the Health Department along with Caitlyn B because this is unacceptable and I don’t want it to happen to anyone else. It’s probably going to be a year long experience by the time my nail is normal and healthy again. No one should go through this.

Very comfortable and spacious environment and very friendly staff. I love the quality of their polish. It hasn’t chip even after 2 weeks! It’s my 4^th time going back now and will continue to go back! ~

I know it sounds dramatic, but I have to say it — this was the worst mani/​pedi I’ve ever gotten.
My manicure would look better if I did it myself. The pedicure wasn’t much better. I was tempted by the «sea salt exfoliating» and «hot stone massage» but collectively she spent 15 seconds doing it. Very little time spent on any part of the process. My feet are still rough, my cuticles are uneven, there’s dirt under my toes, and the nail polish job was done with very fast swipes.
I went in for the $ 25 mani-​pedi deal; maybe it would have been better if I had picked more expensive services, but there’s a certain level of quality that a customer has the right to expect.
Maybe I just had a bad nail technician, but wow. I’m going to take off my manicure with nail polish remover as soon as I get home.

I absolutely love this place. The main/​pedi special Mon-​Wed is unbeatable, especially in Midtown. Ask for Anna, she is fabulous!

Stumbled in here for a mani-​pedi. $ 25 special. Maria was fabulous. They use hot stones and exfoliating scrub for the pedicure. She took her time and did a lovely job. I added a 10min massage which was lovely also. The space is clean. The one thug I didn’t love was that no one helped me put my shoes on when I was ready to leave to help avoid nicking my nails. Overall good experience. I’d recommend this place.

I had read the reviews of this place before I went. Since there was such a mix I decided to try it out anyway. I went during the morning so there was only one other customer in there besides me. My nail tech, Laura, greeted me as soon as I entered. She was very polite and friendly. I got a shellac gel manicure and it turned out very nice. The shoulder massage was an added bonus! The only thing now is to see how long this manicure will last. I will definetely be going back.

I’m pretty disappointed by the others reviews because I’ve gone twice now and they have both have been wonderful experiences!
All the girls from my work come here to get their nails done.
I’ve had 2 shellac manicures which are gorgeous and last. The women are so sweet and give you a little shoulder massage with your manicure.
Spa pedicure was great too, they use those hot stones which are the BEST.
It took me a while to find a good shellac place in NYC and this is it, they do great work! It’s not the cheapest, but it’s worth it. They have a spa pedicure deal Mon — Wed for only $ 25

So just came out, where do I start –between the woman digging under the nail, filing the skin on the sides of the toes, not just right next to the toe, but any skin that the file touched with such pressure that I now have file burns on the toes. then she put the callus remover (which I have done in MANY places before) on and I was ok to that and while waiting for that to work, she started working on my hands and I clearly stated, just file the nail in a round shape, cut the cuticles and that was it, to her starting to cut my nails (which I don’t have much of since I keep them very short) and me having to say just file several more times as she kept the nail clipper in her hands and looked at me like I was the crazy one. I will say she did a good job on cleaning up the cuticles. When it came time to finish my feet (I will admit, they were in bad shape as I haven’t had a pedicure in over 3 wks and I walk barefoot alot) she scraped the hell out of my feet where I had to check a couple of time as I thought they started to bleed, then I noticed a yellow stain on my toe nails, (which wasn’t there when she removed the polish in the beginning.) They tried to tell me it was from the polish and I said it was from the callus remover, So she then procceded to scrub my toe nails with a file and soap and the stains finally came off, but now my toe nails where the stains were are THINNER than the rest as they have been FILED!!! As for the massage with hot stones, it is ONE stone and when she first put it to my skin I jumped and had to pull my leg away as it BURNED my skin!!!
SKIP THIS PLACE UNLESS YOU ARE INTO PAIN AND SORE TOES and BURN MARKS!!!

My friend and I had a very good experience at Forest. Granted, my aunt, who’s a regular, walked me over here, but I’m surprised at the negative reviews. I opted for the spa mani pedi, $ 55, which included a leg mask and callous removing treatment and a 10 minute foot massage and hand massage. My feet and legs are like butter. These ladies do have strong, knowledgable hands, and the massage was excellent, timed with a timer for ten minutes. Plus they were open late — til 8PM on a Saturday.

The paint job was done very nice
However the ‘spa pedicure‘ was anything but. Exfoliated for 5 – 10 seconds, massage was so short that if she would’ve even asked I wouldn’t have enjoyed it enough to add a $ 10 extra massage, the stones were put on my legs for 1 rub. Extremely disappointed by the deceiving outdoor ad when I was looking for a relaxing spa pedicure.
Was good for the $.

Rude employees, lack of colors, questionable cleanliness! Go elsewhere!

TERRIBLE! TERRIBLE! TERRIBLE!
If you want awful service, disgusting manicures, and «massages» that feel like you’ve been jumped in an alley, this is your place.
Was in midtown and walked in for a manicure before meeting a friend. I wanted the OPI «shellack» gel manicure. Three women met me at the door and said «yes, yes, very good, we have good things to make you pretty». Then the argued amongst themselves as to who would work on me. No one seemed to want too. Finally «Emily» took me to a chair while the other women lounged around snacking loudly on chips.
«Emily» promised me this manicure would «las 3 week, I promi»
She didn’t file or trim my nails. When I asked if she could, she asked why I would want that. I said I wanted my nails to be even and I wanted them rounded. «Why you wan that? You think that good?» Yes, I did and I asked her again to file my nails, which she did reluctantly.
Then she showed me the OPI gel colors. I was taking a few minutes to decide because they had a very low selection of colors. She hurried me and said she could combine the «dulce de leche» and «strawberry magarita» to make a color I would love «like my other clients do».
«Emily» slapped on the base coat and the dulce de leche and then stuck my hands into two different heating/​drying machines. One kept shutting off frequently. When it was time for the strawberry coat, «Emily» didn’t realize the first coat wasn’t dry and got upset that I hadn’t stuck my hands deep enough in the machine. She had to start from scratch on that hand. I tried to tell her the machine kept turning off and showed my dry hand from the other machine to compare, but she refused to believe me and told me I had ruined it.
After she redid the hand and put the final coat on, she ran around to my back for a massage. She never asked if I wanted one or how hard/​soft a massage I wanted. Her hands felt like claws as she dug over my back. I told her she was too hard. She replied «you back too tens, that why it too hard». I then told her to stop, but she decided to ball up her fists and beat my back and shoulders instead. I tried telling her nicely to stop because it was hurting me, but she either didn’t or wouldn’t understand me. Finally I had to yell «OUCH!» to get her to stop. When she sat back down she blamed me for making the massage hurt because «everyone els like my massage»
When I inspected the final product there were visible bumps, streaks of the two colors not combining, and bubbles in my manicure. I pointed this out and she said it was because of the thinness of my nails.
I just wanted to leave. It was a shoddy job and terrible customer service. The total was $ 38 so I just rounded it up to $ 40. «Emily» loudly sighed and said «only two dollar? Everyone give me five dollar» I pointed out all the streaks and lumps and bumps and bubbles and told her she hurt my shoulder. She replied «but everone give me five dollar».
By that night at 9pm, the OPI gel manicure that was supposed to last three weeks, was peeling off.
I went back the next day to get my money back. «Emily» was there as was her boss «Lucy». They argued back and forth in their language and then «Lucy» took me to a chair. She said she couldn’t refund my money but «I fix you real good». She blamed the shoddy work on «Emily» using an old buffer. Then she blamed my nails for being too thin for manicures. Then she blamed me for not taking care of the nails. Then she cut my ring finger and tried to hide it from me. I asked «Am I bleeing?» «Lucy» was rushing to put Stiptec, blood coagulant on my finger before I realized she had cut it and I was bleeding. She hemmed and hawed and finally showed me the stuff she put on the cut and said I moved so it was my fault I got cut.
At the end when I asked for their names, «Lucy» had to think before telling me. And when I asked for her co-​worker, she took several seconds before saying «you can call her Emily»
Whatever their real names, these people are awful!
STAY AWAY