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Why ours is different

Our salons run on the Eastern European manicure (sometimes called the Russian manicure online). It's not the same as what most American salons do, and the differences are what account for the prices and the longer wear time.

Manicure

Almost every average salon begins by soaking your hand in warm water. The point is to soften the cuticle so it can be trimmed with metal nippers. The problem is that water swells the nail plate underneath the polish, too. When polish is applied on a puffed-up nail and that nail later returns to its natural size, the polish lifts at the edges. This is why most gel manicures begin chipping in the second week.

Our work is done on a dry hand, with an electric file rather than nippers. The file removes only the dead tissue around and on top of the nail, leaving the cuticle barrier itself intact. Skin around the nail stays healthy instead of getting torn over time. Polish sits closer to the cuticle line, which means the manicure still looks finished as your nails grow out. A gel manicure done this way holds for about three weeks.

The shape of each nail is built individually. Index fingers, middle fingers, ring fingers and thumbs all sit on different-sized nail beds and curve differently from each other. Most salons use the same file motion on all ten, which gives every hand the same generic almond or square. We look at each nail and shape it to its own proportions.

Hard gel, and why we don't use acrylic

Pedicure

For added strength or length, we work in hard gel. We have never used acrylic

We don't soak feet, and we don't use a basin.
Foot tubs are required by California law to be disinfected for ten minutes between clients. Most salons rinse them and move on. The water can carry bacteria and fungus from the previous client, and any small cut on your leg from shaving is enough for that to turn into a real problem. Working without water removes the risk

Wet skin also disguises where calluses actually are. Working dry, with an electric file and oils, we can see exactly what needs smoothing. Cuticle work follows the same approach as the hand: dry, electric file, no clipping of healthy skin

The strong chemical smell most people associate with nail salons is acrylic. It's a two-part system, a liquid monomer mixed with a powder polymer, and the smell is vapor evaporating into the room as the mixture sets. The fumes have been linked to skin allergies, breathing issues, and damage to the nail plate underneath. Some salons use a cheaper version called MMA, which has been restricted in many countries for being even harsher on the nail.
Hard gel cures under a lamp rather than evaporating into the air, so there is no smell during the service. It bonds with some flexibility instead of going completely rigid, which means it moves slightly with your natural nail and doesn't shock-crack the way acrylic does when you knock your hand. It also comes off cleanly when you want to switch back.

If you want length, there are two routes. Gel-X uses pre-shaped tips fitted to each nail and set under a lamp. Hard gel extensions are sculpted by hand on a form for a more custom shape.

Naked Nails Therapy

Hygiene

This is the one service on our menu we developed ourselves. It isn't offered anywhere else

Every metal tool that touches you has been sterilized in a hospital-grade autoclave and comes out of a sealed pouch we open at your table. Files and buffers are single-use. The training, materials and standards are the same in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Newport Beach

Drafted short descriptions for everything meaningful on the menu. Kept to 2-3 sentences. Skipped the purely mechanical add-ons that don't need copy (gel removal, stickers, hydrating eye patches, etc.) — those just need a price line

It's a five-step treatment for clients who want a stretch off gel without the bare-nail look. A professional repair product is applied to the nail plate, where it soaks into the layers and bonds the small internal cracks gel wear leaves behind over time. Hands rest in a hydrating mask while it works. The service finishes with Manucurist polish (vegan, breathable, free of the solvents in most regular polishes) in a clear shine or a soft tint, and a hand SPF mist

A Japanese manicure does some of the same things but requires you to grow out the nail before going back to gel. With Naked Nails Therapy, you can return to gel any time