Downtown Nails

It’s not pricey at all but there’s only two people that work there. The last time I went I wanted a new set and they were complaining about taking the nails off! They didn’t soak them off either, they hacked at them with cuticle cutters and I ended up bleeding.

THE WORST NAIL SALON I HAVE EVER BEEN TO.
1.) Unsanitary (the man who did my nails smoked a cigarette in my face outside of the salon, came right in and didn’t wash his hands. The tools they used on my nails were dirty from the person before).
2.) They are RUDE and unprofessional (they over booked, there is only two workers and at one point there was four of us in there all claiming we had appointments)
3.) They do a TERRIBLE job (I had to ask the man three times to re shape my nails because he was filing them crooked, I had to ask him to clean under my nails, and had to ask him to clean the paint off of my skin when he was done)
4.) They are over priced for their services. If this was a nice salon, with friendly workers, and good services I would have been delighted to pay their prices. Unfortunately they do not know what the hell they are doing.
NEVER AGAIN
TERRIBLE, DIRTY, RUDE!!!

I was traveling thru the area on vacation and broke a nail. I was on a week long trip thru Pennsylvania and wanted to look nice, and put together. I stopped into the shop and was taken right into a seat, friendly lady fixed me all up. $ 8 for a new nail & cut down. The lady who helped me was so nice and her service was fast. She even matched my nail colors really well. I was in and out in no time. Great shop, great service. If I’m ever in the area again that would be my nail salon for sure.

The guy who does acrylics has rushed with me which I hate and totally messed up my polish. They weren’t terrible but I would not recommend going here if you are picky about your nails like I am.

Nails ended up bulky and broke within 2 days. Not too sure about how clean everything is either… would never get a pedicure here

This is my favorite salon in State College. I’ve been to other subpar places (cough cough Looks Hair Design –their other services are great though-​) and Downtown Nails is excellent and cheap. I think it’s the best salon in State College. The nail lady is AMAZING. I can bring her any picture I like and she will recreate the exact same design on my nails. She is super skilled, and so is her husband (? not sure if they are married). I don’t understand the negative reviews. I don’t understand people complaining about them being «rude.» They don’t talk much, but they’ve always been nice and friendly to me, and then again, we go there to get nails done, not to make new best friends. Keep on being great guys! –3
Everyone always raves about my nails and it’s always my pleasured to tell them where I get them done! :) :D

I really love DTN and have been going there for a couple years now. When I moved to State College, I went to a couple places before finding Downtown Nails. When I first went, I found out I had been asking for gel tips at the other place I went to and instead they were giving me acrylic tips and charging me for gel! I didn’t know the difference at the time. Instead of giving me the more expensive gel, she pointed out that the nails I currently had were acrylic and explained the difference. She also explained that some places do that and usually can get away with it! Now I add a gel coat on top of acrylic nails to seal the design and coat and they always last me a long time. I have received the same friendliness & kindness every visit since!
I always get sparkles and designs when I get my nails done & Christine is phenomenal! She is very skilled & always does a great job. The best part? It’s reasonably priced. The fun part is, when you get a cool design, you get a picture of your nails on the wall! i’m proud to say I have a lot of pictures up there!
Downtown nails is small but cozy. it’s definitely not a big, corporate-​type nail salon. I’d say DTN is mostly for tips and manicures. There is a small pedicure area but it’s not the typical massage chairs. They specialize in acrylic nails! They have good hours and are open late (8pm?) Walk-​ins are welcome, but I would recommend making a reservation, because they fill up pretty quickly. :)

Idk why there are bad reviews. I’m from New Jersey where manicures are only $ 10 and a mani pedi is only $ 25 so this is the cheapest place in state college that I have found… Even though they did move their mani price up from $ 12 to $ 15 recently. They always do a very good job and quick. They’re the nicest people. Everywhere else in state college is like $ 19-​$ 22 for a regular manicure which is insane and they take way too long at other places. Also everywhere charges extra for a full pedicure and this place does not

If your looking for top of the line mani/​pedi don’t come here. They don’t spend much time on your nails as far as cuticles, filing and ect. There is no massage involved. Customer service doesn’t exist. The place looks like a wreck and disorganized. If you just need something quick and don’t care then come here. Personally, if I’m paying for a mani/​pedi I would hope they’d do a good job with it all or I might as well save the money and do it myself.

This place is just fine for mani in a pinch. It is not sparkling clean but they seem to autoclave their tools and use paper towels instead of towels. I made an appointment and glad I did because I saw 2 out if 5 walkins get turned away (we were there at 6pm). The mani looks better and took less time that if I did it myself. The man and woman who work there are not overly cheery but not mean either. I had the male and I thought it was awesome that he raised his head for a moment to catch something on an hgtv show! Hgtv is my favorite channel!

It’s a hit or miss kinda place. But recently after giving them several chances, I unfortunately have nothing good to say. It’s dingy and dirty, the staff is so rude it’s like their being paid to make you feel uncomfortable. If you have to get your nails done here, absolutely ask for the woman.
I tried to be pleasant and make conversation, but got not so much as even eye contact in return. Last time I went there I got gel nails, and they were not good at all. I left with polish all over my cuticles… and never cleaned it off! My nails looked like my cat painted them with her toes. I didn’t say anything because I had no more patience and was moving anyway.
I Went to another salon in FL to have my (overpriced) gel nails removed 2 days later, and I sat there in pain for 1 hour as the poor manicurist had to pick and stab at my nails to try and take off the gel polish that downtown nails had put on– it was that THICK! Needless to say, my natural nails were shattered after all was said and done. Never going there again. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. They def need better customer service.

Customer service is pretty much nonexistent. They did fantastic job on my gel nail manicure but don’t expect them to make small talk or pleasantries with you. Maybe it’s a language barrier, maybe they’re just rude– either way they do good nails for cheap. I would go there to get my nails done by myself, but I wouldn’t go there for special occasion or on a girls date.

Idk why there are super negative reviews. I’m new to state college & desperately needed an acrylic nail removal from a bad nail job I got back home & new nails for state patty’s! When I got there it wasn’t busy at all & I was greeted right away. I made an appointment & got in 5 minutes early. The guy I had was very nice & talked to me & the nail tech next to me was talking to her customer a lot too. I didn’t feel ‘neglected’ at all.
I had gotten acrylic gels done 3 weeks prior back home & they did a BAD job! Uneven, thick, just bad! I had been dreading getting my nails done because of all the bad reviews I heard about salons in state college but I went & found this place online & said screw it! Worth a try. I normally get my nails soaked for removal but my nail tech went right into clipping them off. BUT he did it fast, efficiently, & could see when it was hurting & was more gentle. Overall. It barely hurt at ALL & I usually have very sensitive nails! He also helped me pick out a great color & was very helpful telling me how to take care of my nails & keep them healthy.
Prices were great too. I will definitely be going back!

This is the cheapest place in State College, but I don’t know if it’ s the best.
You should get an appointment as they are sort of busy and only have 2 people working. At least they were busy on Friday afternoon.
They have a pretty good selection of nail polish: OPI, Essie, China Glaze, CND Weekly polish, Gel. They also do nail art. You can buy nail polish there if you like, they sell it for $ 7 – 8 depending on the brand.
The Pedicure station is not so great: no chairs, just a small cushioned bench.
Everybody speaks of how the man, who does the nails and is probably also the owner, is impolite. He kind of is, though maybe just bossy. The girl is nice, she speaks good English, she is not talkative but friendly and definitely knows her job.
I can’t say she did an amazing job on my feet but I guess, coming from Europe, I always expect more than what they actually do here in the US. The nail work was fine.
Both mani and pedi took exactly an hour + 4 minutes dry and cost $ 38. You can pay extra $ 2 for CND weekly polish.
Generally I would recommend the girl, she seems to do a much better job.
There is a nail place on Beaver right nearby, but it’s $ 50 for the combo.

This is by far the most amazing nail salon I have ever been to in my entire life. You are making a large mistake if you are in State College and you’re going anywhere but here.

I don’t expect my nail tech to be jumping for joy at having to chisel away at someone’s toe and finger nails, but many the indifference in this place was almost painful. I wouldn’t mind that if it wasn’t for the shoddy job that resulted.
My friend and I booked appointments as a part of our return to State College for a football weekend. Before getting blitzed with the rest of the kids, we thought we’d treat ourselves to a little pre-​pampering.
We were getting basic manicures and pedicures and, unfortunately, we weren’t able to get them together so we had to text one another or shout if we wanted to talk.
I got my manicure first, and I painstaking tried to make the least amount of small talk I could with the man working on my nails but he did not give two craps about what I had to say. Awful. Not to mention, the towels and equipment they used looked dirty and old. I’m not super anal about that type of stuff, but it’s kind of a turn off when it’s so visible.
The pedicure went better, as the woman getting knee deep in my toe nails was more friendly. I was into her.
My nails looked decent for a day but immediately began chipping the next day. I don’t expect this polish to suddenly be bionic and last forever and ever but more than 12 hours would be great. Even my toes turned into a botched mess after a day, and usually it takes a thousand years for toe nail polish to get messed up. It must be something in the top coat they use or whatever.
For the price, though, I guess I shouldn’t complain.

Great place to get a gel manicure! The prices are good for a gel polish– I don’t think that I’ve found a place that does it cheaper! And of all the places that I’ve gotten gel polish from, this one lasts the longest!
The best part is that they use LED lighting instead of UV which is great because it takes less time and you’re not subjecting your fingers to UV light every time you get a mani.

Have NO idea why Unilocal says it’s closed. It definitely is NOT closed. This is one of the best nail salons in town. Christine is always on the pulse with the current nail trends like gel color and shatter/​crackle.
Her prices for gel color are the cheapest in town. It doesn’t include a typical hand massage like B&B but I can live without it, especially since it’s $ 20. The gel color lasts almost 3 weeks. You can typically see the nail growth but it definitely doesn’t chip and is a better deal than a regular manicure. They have a huge selection of colors and brands. They have ESSIE which is one of my favorite nail brands, of course OPI and China Glaze.
You have to make an appointment otherwise you’ll be waiting or turned away. They open late until 8p most nights so it works perfectly for someone with an irregular work schedule like myself.
There’s parking the PUGH garage or meters near Panera. Have already recommended this place to my friends even to those who don’t live nearby.