ExcelCuts & Nailcare

Do not go here for gel manicure! Someone send the health department!
I went after finding them on Unilocal because they were the only salon not booked for the night. I can’t remember if it was Sara or Sandy, but it was definitely one of them.
First– she did not soak my nails in foils with cotton balls like is standard gel removal. If you soak it in foils for 5 – 10 minutes, it scrapes off easily with a manual nail tool. Instead she poured acetone into an old plastic cool whip container (really?! you can’t afford a tub from the beauty supply store for a dollar?) and told me to soak my fingers in it. I asked if it is safe and if she was going to use foils but she said it was fine.
Then she used an electric buffer to buff most of the gel off along with some of my nails too. She was extremely rough with everything she did even when I asked her to be gentler and not to buff off too much of my nails. Then I asked for her to cut my nails shorter, and she was extremely rough with the clippers and file as well also making me hold my hands in ways no nail tech has ever required. She didn’t even file my nails straight. Then she took off a ton of cuticle, in my opinion too much. I felt like a cat traumatized by it’s owner cutting their claws too short.
To top it off, she used her nasty jagged nail which should’ve had a band-​aid and finger cot over it to wipe off the gel that she got in my cuticles. The color and overall result looks okay but she exposed me to so much acetone and their shop is definitely NOT up to the cleanliness standards I look for. Their gel polish drying lights do not even have timers on them.
I guess that’s what you get for a $ 20 gel mani. Thanks for fitting me in, but I am NEVER going back here not recommending it to anyone I know.

I’m a happy, long-​time customer of Sara. She really makes the effort to give you a great haircut.

I have been a loyal customer for two years. Occasionally I go somewhere else with my mom for nails and it just reinforces that this is the best. No extra frills or unnecessary service. Great price for a good pedicure and nails. They are honest hardworking sisters! I have acrylic nails and they don’t lift or break for three weeks!!!

It’s a good place to get mani-​pedi and hair cut!!! You get good service and Sandy is really good at her job.
It’s a not very expensive place with same quality of services.

I took my two daughters and granddaughter here for 2 full sets and just polish. They did an excellent job on all 3 girls! They stayed well past closing time in order to finish and were very polite. The price was great and we will be back!

This was the rating that I meant to give. Never Unilocaled before this so I was unfamiliar with how to do it !

The sisters are nice and do a great job. I’m now a repeat customer.
I love the selection of nail polish and they keep the spa for pedicures covered wen not in use.
The prices are great and for the price of a normal pedicure in most places are $ 20 as their price is $ 15.
It’s always clean and even on hot days their place is cool.
Hope they can get frequent buyer cards here. It would help their business.

Cute place. Sara & Sandy (sisters) were running a two-​women-​show when we walked in on a Tuesday afternoon. It wasn’t too busy, but customers kept flowing in one by one. Still, they were happy to take us as walk-​ins. We did end up spending about an hour there though, waiting for them to finish with people who actually had appointments, but that was fine — I thoroughly enjoyed the massage chairs while I waited. It’s not a fancy place, but at $ 15 for nice pedicure, I’m sold.

I really like this place. I’m going there today for a quick haircut, but I’ve been here maybe 4x already.
The ladies are nice and they get the job done! I’m not very picky and I actually don’t believe in paying $ 40 for a male haircut and spending an hour because the stylist has to «perfect» it. But it’s cheaper, quicker and nicer here; with tip I usually pay $ 10 – 15.
It’s close to my place too, so I usually walk there.
UPDATE:
I just don’t like how the lady told me to come at 10am but I waited for 55 min
I called in early today to set up an appointment at 10am (when they open). They lady confirmed, but when I got here, the other lady who was going to cut my hair wasn’t even there yet. Now it’s been 45MINUTES. If I would’ve known, I would’ve gotten my haircut elsewhere!!! Ughh im LATE for my event now… I was about to leave but she assured me the lady was «on her way»… We’ll see. I may get my haircut somewhere from now on, even though I liked this place a lot.

There are only two sisters working here – one cuts hair and the other does nails.
I’ve only come here for the nails because they had a great deal – 20 dollars for gel manicure which is really good!
the manicurist is amazing… she does a great job and my nails always on fleek.
the only reason im not giving a full 5 stars is that there is sometimes a long wait as there is only one person doing nails but she is WORTH THE WAIT!

Worst experience ever! I KEPT WAITING FOR ONE HOUR EVEN AFTER AN APPOINTMENT AND LEFT WITH HALF DONE NAILS!!! NOT GOING BACK!!!
Took an appointment, showed up on time. The lady started with my pedicure, in the middle of the pedicure, a haircut customer shows up. She left me and went to do his haircut. And then came one more and then the next. She kept doing the haircuts one after another. Not cool! Not a good way to run business!

Do not go there! I had terrible experiences. Both Sandy & Sara are not well skiied & rude. Their price is cheap. But as another persons wrote as you pay what you gets.
I just can not believe they are still in the business.
Place is not clean! Too bad.
I can not gve them any satrs at all.

First time here, and i will definitely be back. I have never been treated so nicely at a nail salon before. Here are reasons i think this is the best place in san jose.
1. Super cheap:$ 15 for a pedicure. $ 20 for a mani/​pedi!
2. The women are so nice. They greeted everyone that came in warmly. My massage chair wasnt working, so they happily fixed it quickly. They even noticed i was using my ipad, so they gave me their wifi code!!!
3. They didnt try to up sale me like most salons do.
4. They have an awesome collection of OPI and Essie polishes.
I will definitely be back. Thank you for taking such great care of me!

2 stars because of the price. It’s super cheap!!! But I guess you get what you pay for…
Came in for a hair wash and curl and a manicure.
Hair wash was ok, but I could’ve done w much better job at home. The blow drying was weird too. She used a flat brush while she was blow drying my hair which made it super frizzy and tangled. The curling was the worst. I wanted big, loose curls, instead I got super tight Goldilocks curls and she hairsprayed the shit out of it! I could barely even run my fingers through my hair to make the curls looser!
The manicure was bad too. I had just taken off my acrylics and I wanted a manicure to make my nails smoother and whatnot but it was mediocre. My nails still felt bumpy and gross just with nail polish on top. And the polish didn’t even last a week! (I messed them up and had to come back the next day to re-​polish but still didn’t last a week)
Everything came out to be $ 30. I gave them $ 40 because I work in the service industry as well and couldn’t leave without tipping, but I’ll just keep going to Simple Hair in Milpitas (read my review for them, they’re great!) and Color Nails in East San Jose even though they’re a little out of my way.
Ladies are nice though. Just need to work in technique!

No, no, no, no, no…
What are you people even thinking? This place is a nightmare. I lagged in writing this review but I came here a few weeks ago before I had a dinner date. I wanted to get a blow-​out. For those of you (including the «hairstylists» at this salon), who do not know what a blow-​out is, it is a very simple process whereby the person takes a round brush and uses a blow dryer to blow-​dry the hair straight. For your convenience, I even took the liberty of finding a video tutorial on YouTube:
I recommend starting the video at about 1:50 so you can witness the technique in action!
Anyways, I came in at 3 PM and asked if someone can take me at 4:30 for a blow-​out because I had just come from the gym and wanted to go home and shower first and then come back. I live nearby so I only came here out of convenience and judging by the great reviews, I thought I might as well give it a shot. I also told her that my hair is curly but after years of straightening and blow-​drying, it actually blow dries very very easily (I just have not mastered the brush technique on my own, especially the back hard to reach hair). One of the women told me «yes, no problem, come back at 4:30.» And so I went home, showered, washed my hair, and arrived back at the salon at 4:15. I expected a 15 minute wait time, maybe 20 at the longest. I ended up waiting 45 minutes before she finally took me. I explained to her that I am in a rush and that I just want my hair blow-​dried straight.
She started blow-​drying my hair with her FINGERS and then used a FLAT BRUSH. Anyone that has ever gotten a blow-​out knows that you need to use a ROUND BRUSH to get the hair straight. About 5 minutes into it, she asks me if she can take a different client and finish my hair after him. I was not only taken aback, but actually offended because I am a paying customer, I made an appointment, I told you I’m in a rush, and I waited patiently so no, you cannot take another person before me so I wait another 45 minutes at minimum. She proceeds to dry my hair with a flat brush and it’s just getting frizzier and frizzier. I ask her to use a round brush and she tells me (and I quote) that she «doesn’t know what I’m asking her to do.» You are a hair-​stylist. This is your line of work. How do you not know how to blow-​dry hair? And when I came in earlier that day to confirm whether or not you know how to blow-​dry hair, you said that yes, you do. Don’t lie about it! After unsuccessfully blow-​drying my hair to look like I got electrocuted, she could tell that I was getting annoyed and told me that her sister would take me after she finished up a pedicure. I again explained that I am in a rush because I have dinner plans. I was not expecting to spend 2 hours there when my hair takes 30 – 40 min to blow-​dry by a professional.
At the end of it all, she told me she does not know what I want her to do and that she cannot and will not finish my hair. She let me walk out of the salon with my hair looking like I stuck my finger in a socket and got electrocuted!!! After wasting 2 hours here, I ended up going home, washing my hair, and just wearing it curly because at that point I had no time to fix what she had done.
Though I did not waste a penny on this «professional» hair service, that is two hours that I cannot get back unfortunately.

It was my first time here and I was a lil skeptical on getting my haircut here. I saw the reviews and gave it a shot. Anyway i only want my long hair trimmed. When I heard her customers saying she did a great job on their hair, it gave me more confidence while i was waiting. Sara and Sandy are sisters and they truly care for their customers and in what they do. They are warm and welcoming and will give their time with very affordable yet quality work they do. I had my hair trimmed and colored by sara and she spent so much time with my hair about (3hrs) and charged me only $ 55 for haircut and color. And sandy did my eyebrows and upper lip waxing for $ 10. Very good customer service and what i love most is that they are very caring people. Im not sure how they really make money here because their prices are low buy the kind of work they do beats the expensive salons around santana row. Give them a shot and its worth it. Thanks Sara and Sandy.

You can’t beat the price! I got a brand new set of acrylic nails for 15 bucks and a pedi for 15 bucks. Wow! They have a ton of OPI nails polish, it was hard to chose what color. The ladies were very nice. They didn’t speak in another language in front me. Its always makes me feel like they are talking about me when they do. My acrylic nails are a bit large and the manicurist left glue all over my hands. But, hey I can wash it off. Next time I go in, I will have them file them down more. I’m giving this place 4 stars because it took 3 hours to get a full set and a pedi. I will def be back. :)

Sara and Sandy are awesome, super friendly and do excellent work! I’ve gotten a hair cut, mani, pedi, and waxing done here, all were fabulous. They even let customers bring their doggies in, which is the best!
There is often a wait but once it’s your turn, it’s worth it!

Very nice and friendly staff ! I like Sara and Sandy ! They are super nice and do great job. The price is so affordable also ! Highly recommend !

Nice people, but under-​staffed. I feel bad for them. There were only 2 of them and they were kinda busy. We had to wait a bit, but I think both of us got very good hair cuts. I wish they had a better selection of hair care products to buy. The last time I came here, I got a manicure too and it was the best I’ve ever had.