Tina’s Nail Design

My sisters raved about this place and I’ve been to quite a few nail salons to know this place really pamper your feet. I suggest making appointment otherwise you will defenitely have to wait. When they do get started on you. they take extra time and care in doing your feet… so make sure you don’t have any plans and if you do. add an extra hour to your time. I don’t know about mani I exclusively come here for the pedi because of the quality and time they take to making sure your feet are pretty hot and sexy when your done. Price is reasonable too… thank you tina and paula!

A review on a nail place from a boy? Sho nuff. Cuz Unilocal is cool like that.
Wifey and I came in for mani/pedi’s a couple weeks ago. They were running a little behind and we waited about 10 minutes past the appointment time for them to be ready.
Once we started, the girls taking care of us were super friendly. We talked about traveling and Unilocal and all kinds of stuff. They were excited to find out they were online and I even wrote down the URL for them.
The quality of the work was ok. I was very happy, they took care of my ragged cuticles and cut them nice and short. My nails looked great when they were done. They also took almost 2 hours on each of us, which is the longest nail service I’ve ever had. I love that they were willing to dote so much attention on us. I’m just glad we weren’t in a hurry.
Wifey was a little less pleased. They used the cheater-​tape to do her french tips so it wasn’t as even as she would have liked. Also, her toe-​nail polish started chipping off during the first couple days, which has never happened to her before. By the end of the week they looked all messed up.
The prices were ok, not super cheap like the places on Grand Ave. in Oakland, nor super expensive like every other place.
The polish room on the left side smelled really strongly of nail-​salon chemicals. They could definitely use better ventilation. The room with the spa chairs was a little better.
I’d go back again, wifey said she’d rather try somewhere else before coming back.

Unfortunately, I’ve had totally better. The lady who did my nails supposedly had been doing this for 20 + years, however, she messed up on my thumb, and had to rip it off what were already sore, and brittle nails. She also had a lot of bubbles in the gel she applied. She also was talking a lot of smack in her native language. I understand a lot even though, I’m not a fluent speaker. (My early years of Vietnamese neighbors, a «step-​dad» and care-​givers has it’s advantages).
Any how, the lady barely spoke to me, and when she did she was telling me that I was wrong about the whole pink & white issue. I explained to her that I don’t know the specifics on everything. I just know that the people I’m use to do it a certain way, and then all is well. She did, however, did a good job on shaping. But she pressed my tips onto my own nails too tightly that you can see the abnormal line in my finger bed.
They were also very slow. We got there at 11:30 am and weren’t out of there until 1:30 almost 2pm. A little two long for simple mani/pedi’s and even for a gel set. I’m use to 1 hour and done.
The place is clean though, and sanitary… at least it looked like it.
Next time, nail session in south bay please. Prices are cheaper.

Beautiful nails. Great service. The service was a bit slow, but I think they made sure everything was perfect.
I am use to the San Jose prices, but great price for the El Cerrito area.
They accept walk ins, but make sure you make an appointment. It gets very busy at the shop.

although they take walkins, i highly suggest making an appointment… they’re pretty good with walk-​ins but there are only usually two ladies, and they have to call the other store for more folks to come, so the wait may be longer…
the last time i went to get a manicure, she cut pretty deep into my cuticles and it hurt like a !@#$%^&*(… but hey, everyone makes mistakes, and it’s not like the other salons where i’ve gone to where they clip you cuz they’re not paying attention, talking to someone else.
to end on a brighter note… my pedi’s always come out really great and they last FOREVER… and the acrylics/​gel look really natural, which i like… but i’m sure if you like it thick, they can do that too!

My nails look fantastic! The lladies there did an outstanding job.
My only minor complaint is that it took a little longer than I expected… good thing I didn’t schedule any meetings today :)

Tina and her crew of Vietnamese ladies are so friendly, and so adorable!
They all do really great French tips for $ 15, even though I’m a pretty difficult customer, as I usually have really short nails but still desire a thin strip of white. They also do a nice job with pedicures, so no more sand paper feet!
They use good quality products, unlike many nail salons that are this cheap. You also get a frequent visitor card – after ten visits, you get $ 10 off your next, which is enough to get yourself a free manicure.
Also available: Brazilian waxing. Eeeeghh!