Helen’s Nails

I really wanted to like this place; it’s close to my house and well, it’s close to my house
Pros: the shop doesn’t smell and it’s fairly easy to get appointments without much of a wait
Cons: the manicure and pedicure I got was below average Within hours of getting a manicure, my nails were already chipping (and it’s not like I was doing intense manual labor). I was quoted 35 $ for mani/​pedi but then they tacked on $ 5 for having to take off my existing nail polish. C’mon. Who does this? A few swipes with a cotton ball and it was gone.
Needless to say, I will not be returning.

I made a first time appointment this past weekend to get a fill and eye brow waxing. The waxing was the best part. Then came the nails. I had a trainee working on me who constantly had to ask for help. Then here it is, a couple days later and they’ve all started lifting, cracking and broken. I will never have my nails done here again. Even when I went in to check out their «Menu» a woman told me she loved it so much she drove up from the South Bay to get her nails done. I can only imagine the quality this lady was used to, to say these people were exceptional. I’m going back to my regular place. Too bad, Helen’s was quite convenient in location.

I like this salon very much. The ladies work very hard and provide a lovely service. I’ve greatful that there is someone that is will to bend over and clean peoples dirty feet all day long with a smile. I wouldn’t do that for any amount of money. Great service and great price.

My neck is killing me today from the neck massage. I should have spoken up and said stop. The girl was beating me with one hand while looking at her cell phone with the other. The fact that she was on her cell phone made me tense up even more. She also really hurt me when she was cutting my cuticles on my toes. I thought they were going to bleed. My polish does look good though.
I will never go back to this salon; I’ve had too many inconsistent experiences.

Went there for the first time today with my 5 yr old (for her first mani… a special treat). I assume the woman who helped us was Helen. She proceeded to roughly tell my daughter to «hurry up — choose a color». Then whisked through her mani in 5 minutes (which was fine… she even added little flowers on her thumbs). Then she sharply told her to «sit still… be a good girl» while she attended to me for my pedicure. I put my feet in the BOILING HOT water, then asked for it to be cooled down, much to Helen’s annoyance. The rest of the pedi was average except when it came to the pumice-​type scrubbing. She scrubbed the bottom off my feet, which I’d expect, then proceeded to rub the pumice stone over my ankle, the top of my foot, and up my leg before I said «Ouch! That hurts!» I’ve been home a few hours now and my ankle and top of my foot are still raw, red and throbbing. What on earth?!? In all of my years of pedicures, I’ve never had someone use a pumice stone beyond the rough bottoms of my feet.
The location is great for me, and I’d love to go back and try one of the other manicurists, but I wanted to warn those who planned to check out Helen’s Nails for the first time.

I’ve been coming here for about 3 years. Originally because it’s conveniently located but I also love the price and the nice shoulder massage with every mani and/​or pedi!
In my opinion, Kim is the best at the massages (she is petite so you wouldn’t think her massages would be so incredible) and Sunny is the best at doing the manicures. She knows English pretty well so she listens to your preferences and adds her expert advice.
However, if you can’t get them, any of the others are great too.

Prices are very good and you get a shoulder massage with your pedicure! You can’t beat that! The actual pedicure is just OK, not fantastic but not terrible. I will return because it is close and convenient.

Enjoyed my mani pedi!

nice ppl, will def go back.

Do not go here! I was looking forward to trying a new nails salon and I was very disappointed. We made an appointment and when we got there they acted like we were aliens and couldn’t understand us. Pedicure water was freezing! They rushed thru our manicures is 10 mintues! Nail clippings all over the floors! Not a great selection of polish, kim was very rude to my sister and they filed both our toes extremely slanted! Place was dirty, very dirty! They need to clean up or health inspectors will come! Nasty! They give massages? Umm no, they were slapping our backs then wipped us down with dirty boiling hot towels! Not worth your time! Better places in san carlos!

I had been looking for a new nail salon since my former place was just too far away (25 miles). Since I had been going to Helen’s Nails for waxing by Kim and was very happy with her service, I decided several months ago to have her do my nails. I have to say, my search is over! Kim does a fantastic job on my gel nails! I was continuing with my usual clear/​white french, but recently we’ve tried something a little different. I wanted to try the new shellac nail coatings, but did not want to subject myself to having it soaked off every several weeks for a fill. (I «soaked» once and it dried-​up my cuticles.) For the past several months, Kim lays down a base of gel, shapes it nicely, and then puts several coats of shellac over it. I have been getting my nails done regularly for the past 8 years, but these are the best, most natural looking, beautiful nails I have ever had. They are thin, durable, NEVER LIFT and just look great! The removal process is the usual motorized and hand file, which I don’t mind. I almost forgot to mention… at the end of your nail service, Kim gives a wonderful arm, shoulder and neck massage that is soooo relaxing! Extra points for the warm, moist towel she uses when she is done to wipe away any excess lotion so you don’t leave with your hair/​shirt stuck to your neck.
Kim is a bit shy, but very sweet, professional, and is ALWAYS on time… no waiting! I am also able to get an appointment within a few days. The salon is clean, quiet, tastefully decorated, and is located in a very nice neighborhood in Emerald Hills. If you’re looking for great looking nails, and great service with a smile, go see Kim… you won’t be disappointed!

Helen and the rest of the ladies at this salon are very very nice, but aside from that I had a totally lame experience here. I hate to rag on them but my sense of obligation to be honest with my Unilocal comrades compels me.
The first thing that went wrong: I plunged my feet into a bucket of cold water! I asked the girl taking care of me to add some warm to it, and her response was «yeah ok, I will in a minute». 15 minutes later and half way through my pedicure she flipped on some heat lamp that turned the water from down right cold to a slightly less offensive luke warm. I also noticed all the girls reusing their nail files from customers earlier in the day on new customers… gross.
Next thing that went wrong: I sat down for my manicure and plunged my hands into a bowl a bowl of cold water too! Totally unpleasant on a rainy winter day when I thought a mani/​pedi would be a treat. The manicure itself was really quite bad. My nails were filed into all different shapes (even after I asked for them to be fixed), my cuticles were scraggly, and I ended up with polish everywhere! I literally went home and had to fix it myself! I also got an intensely painful and bizarre neck massage that involved my manicurist grappling at my neck for 5 minutes while she chatted with her coworkers. I came away with red marks and scratches from her nails!!!
And finally, the last thing that went wrong: I was double charged! When I called them a couple days later to ask for a refund, they said they had noticed they double charged me but didn’t have my number (which they did– I had given it to them when I made my appointment). They also insisted I come in to be refunded in cash rather than simply overturning one of the charges. Why? Couldn’t tell you. In the end it took two trips back to this place and a long discussion about why I wouldn’t accept a gift certificate instead of a refund to get my money back. To her credit, Helen was very sweet throughout the whole process, but man, what a HASSLE.
Maybe there are better manicurists here than the one I got, but I’m not risking that mess again to find out.

A friend has been suggesting this salon for the last three months. This past Sunday I went in for the works: waxing and nails. Kim was amazing. She’s professional and provides her sole attention towards you the client. At no time did she leave to answer any calls or take on other clients. She provided me with an incredibly relaxing massage during my pedicure and made sure I was comfortable with the temperature of the water and wax. The salon creates a personal box of tools for each individual client in order to keep up with sanitary standards as well. It was an overall great experience.

This is a great nail salon — always clean, accommodating, the women are very good and personable, I love the massages (when they have time), and my nails always last a reasonable amount of time. I had one bad pedicure/​manicure but the girl who did it isn’t there any longer I don’t think. Very nice experience.

This nail salon is still by far the BEST and my favorite all time. I just recently got a Brazilian wax when there on Sun for my fill. Kim was amazing. She was so professional and had a technique that did not cause me to tear up. That’s never happened for me before!

Helen’s been doing mine, my best friend and all her family member’s nails for at least 5 years. We can make appointments ahead no problem or call last minute and she always has something available. Both locations are great and the newest in RWC is stunning. Helen and her sister are extremely talented and do exceptional work. It is not overpriced at all. I just adore them!

Love, love, love this place! Great prices and great service. My daughter fell asleep during her massage. My new favorite nail salon…

I am a new customer & I had an appointment this past Saturday morning with Helen’s Nails. I was impressed with the service! It is very modern with reasonable prices. Loved the place. The girls are great! I had the BEST massage there while I was having my nails done. I am definitely coming back and this will be my regular new place from now on. I highly recommend it!