Oriental Nails 2

I am so sad this place changed hands, I went to get my nails done, acrylics taken off and a regular manicure afterwards, and they had someone who had no idea what they were doing take off my acrylics… She actually tore my pinky finger nail in half, up the middle. SO DISAPPOINTING. On top of that, they still made me pay full price for the removal and the manicure… They couldn’t paint my pinky nail and told me to wear a bandaid on it for a week or so… I haven’t returned since.

I’ve always had a great experience here. The pedis are beautiful and the ppl are SO nice and attentive.

The interior is dated (think: 90’s) and completely unremarkable.
The pedicure is satisfactory. Mine lasted about 3 weeks before I decided it needed to be changed.
The foot massage is heavenly.
All in all, a solid 3-​star place. I’d come back for the massage.

Helena gave me an amazing foot massage and pedicure. Her hands are golden – while she is strong it never feels painful because she knows how to do a great foot massage! She is also great at painting nails, even cleaning up any bit of polish that was out of line at the end. 5 stars to Helena. 4 stars to Oriental Nails because the inside could use a lift.

Great pedicure and spa chairs (that actually work)! The extra 15 min foot massage well worth it!

My daughters and I love to come to Oriental Nails 2! We are always pleased with the outcome and have been attending here for several years. The pedicure, often accompanied by a massage, looks professional and lasts. My daughters do the mani and gel nails– and are always happy! The store itself is not particularly fancy, but the technicians are warm and considerate. The price is competitive. I give them a very strong recommendation!

This is the second time I’ve been to this place. I have had 2 different manicurist. They’ve both been equally bad. My nails are uneven, the paint is uneven and this time they even left my old nail polish in the corners. When he was painting a piece of dried, crusty polish stuck to my nail and he continued on to the next one. I stopped him and told him about it. He just picked it off and kept going, leaving a blemish in the polish.
I’ve given them 2 tries. I’m done. Go somewhere else. There are better places with $ 10 manicures.

I randomly went here the other day. I was in desperate need of an eyebrow waxing. I waiting for almost half an hour to get one. I went in with one face and I left as two face. it has been three weeks and I still can’t get them fixed. she gave me two different eye brows! so humiliating. The right side has a high arch and the left side is thin and long! I will never ever ever go back here. awful!

Unimpressed to say the least…
I found this place almost by accident (side street) while looking for a salon in the Rockridge area (had some errands to run & didn’t want to make an extra trip for my pedi.) Fortunately there was no wait but felt I was rushed from the time I stepped in the door. I was told to choose a color, told her (didn’t get anybody’s name) I already knew which one I wanted so she Patted the spa chair as if to summon an animal to sit. Pedicure was probably the quickest one I’ve ever had; There was 1 client already getting a pedicure when I got there, the same client was just finishing when my toes were done drying!
The spa chair massager didn’t work properly, which was frustrating because my back was hurting and I was actually looking forward to the massage. I explained to her that it wasn’t working. I wanted it to focus on my lower back and asked her how to use it. She pressed a button & told me it was «auto.» The chair went up and down my back slowly a few times but never actually functioned correctly.
The tech cut my toe nails but did very little filing or shaping. She did virtually no sloughing on the bottoms of my feet. She did spend a bit of time removing skin/​cuticles which actually left me with this skin on the tips of some of my toes that looks a bit like healing blisters… basically, they just look ‘crusty.’ My feet looked better BEFORE the pedicure.
She asked which color I wanted & went to the shelf to get it. She looked at a few bottles and grabbed one Similar to the one I asked for w/​o mentioning it nor asking if it was ok to substitute. I let it go bcs I was just too tired and already realized how poor the pedicure was so figured I’d need to go get another one soon anyway. She moved me to a folding chair w/​a small fan on the floor to dry & immediately beckoned the next client. As I sat I became more and more annoyed at the muzak that was piped in. I left the instant the paint was dry enough to slip my sandals back on, paid my $ 22 (even though I certainly didn’t want to) and decided to review in hopes to save someone else from their subpar work & service.

Its not fancy but the price is right for a basic mani and pedi. I’ve never had an issue with their services. They are a good value and conveniently located.

I almost didn’t go to this salon b/​c of the low overall rating but I am so glad that I took the time to read the individual reviews and completely agree with positive reviews, this nail salon is a GREAT find in the neighborhood. The staff is awesome (very sweet and welcoming) ! I got a mani/​pedi and they did a great job on both. I felt very relaxed and the extensive magazine selection is an added plus. I recently moved here from NY, and have tried «high end» salons in the area and I think that the staff here did a better job and the price list is very reasonable.
The only thing holding me back from give 5 stars is the limited nail polish selection, other than that, Oriental 2 is definitely worth checking out.

I love this salon. The only reason I’m giving it 4 stars instead of 5 is that it’s in a loud location (intersection next to freeway by BART).
The techs there work their butts off to give their clients great service. They put muscle into it when they scrub your feet and use intense pressure throughout their massages which are generously long or can be lengthened for a tiny fee. ($ 8 for 15 minutes extra on a pedi where they already go about 10). They are always very sanitary and always friendly and polite.
They give one hour clothed massages in the open mezzanine (so, no weird «Is this a happy ending place?» vibe) that are amazing and only cost $ 35.

OUCH.
My manicurist filed/​punctured/​clipped my cuticles FIVE TIMES, causing me to Unilocal out in pain. My cuticles now feel vulnerable and raw.
Ow.

Simply put, Oriental Nails does not know how to do nails. I asked for a simple whisper-​light pink mani and the end result was horrific: bubbles, misshapen cuticles, jagged edges and numerous «bald» spots on each nail. I think one of the main causes was the fact that the nail polish itself was really old — there was a pretty substantial amount of crust forming on the rim of the bottle, and whenever one of the flakes fell onto my nail the manicurist just polished over it instead of taking it off. On top of that, there were newly formed hangnails sticking out on each finger. My pedicure resulted in nail polish on my skin, and the lady tried to remove a small mole I have on my big toe. ???
(Please see my three photos from Chris S.)

Got rejected at Tootsie’s… wasn’t on the guestlist for the day. Came here despite the low ratings because it was close to my next stop– Trader Joe’s! I was skeptical but I didn’t need anything particularly special, just a basic pedicure. The staff was very nice. My lady was friendly and I did not sense any phoniness in her demeanor. I have to admit, I did not go so that my feet could look nice. From the normal viewpoint, they looked out. The bottoms were a different story… all blistered up and callused from running. They actually resembled a cadaver’s feet. I didn’t mention this to the lady but she must have seen the tragedy and gotten the hint. Boy did she work that pumice stone! Put the gloves on and everything!
She cut my nails and rounded up the ½ lb. of cuticles and now my feet still look like cadaver feet but at least they’re pretty and presentable in my peep-​toe espadrilles. $ 22 for a pedicure.

Worst nail salon I have been to.
We walked in without an appointment and asked if they could take us. They said yes, but didn’t say how long. They had a good selection of magazines, so we didn’t mind sitting around for 10 – 15 minutes.
Once the mani/​pedi begins, both my friend and I shout in pain/​surprise several times during the process, as they clip into the wrong parts of my toe and finger nails. Not cool.
The price is a little higher than we usually pay, as well. I usually pay $ 25 for both, and think it was more like $ 30?
To top it all off, my manicure lasted about 2 – 3 days when I can usually go without a polish change for almost a week.

I’ve came to this salon 3 times in total. The 1^st two times, the service was not great, but I decided to go again because it was convienient for a quick manicure during my break from work. This last time, I’ve finally given up on them. The staff is friendly enough, but the inability to even perform a standard manicure is not excusable, no matter how friendly you are.
The lady I had did not understand my requests, filed each nail at an angle, and then looked at me in surprise when i objected. As for the actual painting of the nails, in general you’d assume they’d want to paint nails carefully, as to limit polish on the skin. However not this lady, she was definitely counting on the post polish remover brush to clean her haphazard polish job. Which it did not.
At the end of this experience, my nails looked like a 2^nd grader had painted them. In addition, the lack of care or attention to my nails resulted in bubbles and clear lines of where she just polished the middle and moved on.
Sadly, I feel disturbed enough about my experience to post this. Stay away!

I heard back from the State Board of Barbers and Cosmetology (the agency that licenses nail salons, barbers, hair salons and the like) regarding the complaint I filed back in May.
They inspected the salon and found several violations. The owner was cited and fined. Case closed.
I hope this makes Oriental Nails 2 clean up their act. I’m still never going back.

This place needs to be reported to the state board of health. Worst manicure of my life. She made THREE of my fingers bleed people, three! And after all of that I still have cuticles and hangnails that won’t quit (it’s been over a week and they’re still painful!)
However, I’m a horrible person. Because that lady packed up her tools and walked right over to use them on someone’s feet without even pretending to wash them. And I didn’t say anything, maybe out of shock. I know this was wrong, because I’d want you to say something to me. I can’t make it up to you, unknown lady, but I can do a service to the Unilocal community by telling you all to never set foot in this place. Lest that foot leave with someone else’s fungus.

I’ll never go back here. The prices were standard for the area, but the service was cheap. The women barely recognized my presence when i entered. The woman who gave me a pedicure was abrupt. When she wanted me to do move my feet, she abruptly tapped my feet. There are much more pleasant ways to communicate. The pedicure itself wasn’t very good, and the calf massage was lame.
Don’t ever get your eyebrows done here. My eyebrows are uneven — in an area that my bangs don’t cover.
I haven’t had a massage here, but I’ve seen where they are performed. The area doesn’t seem very relaxing, and the massages themselves don’t look very good.