Messed up and had to take the polish off 3 tmes and made me late... never again hahaha

I went to get a pedicure last night and have been there several times in the past and have (except for one incident) always had a great experience. Last night Nikki (not sure on spelling) did my pedicure and she did an AMAZING job! She was a complete perfectionist and kept going back over my feet trimming and shaping the nails and touching up the polish. I always get shellac pedicures because the polish lasts so much longer. I felt like a new person leaving there. All of my pedicures there have been good and it's definitely worth paying a little more for, you get what you pay for! Not to mention they last like an hour. The last time I was there I got talked into doing a manicure by one of the guys there and he literally destroyed my nails. I have naturally really long nails and he asked if I wanted them trimmed and I said "a little bit" he cut them almost all the way off. I very nicely pointed at my other hand before he butchered that one and said "no, like these" so he grabbed that hand and the first one very roughly and cut them ALL THE WAY OFF ON BOTH HANDS. I was honestly almost in tears because I was headed to a conference the next day and had just told him no. He didn't understand what I was saying and didn't care either. He argued with me about getting shellac and almost wouldn't take no for an answer. The french manicure was horrible and jagged. If my other experiences hadn't been so great, I would never go back, but I realize it was him, not an indication of their work in general. This was not the tattooed guy there, just to be clear. He did my friends pedicure and did a great job. ALL of my other experiences have been great though and I would definitely recommend the salon! The best pedicures I've ever had have all been at 101 :) read more

First off...let me start by saying this is only the second negative review I have ever written. I am very disappointed in 101 Nail Lounge. I went with my daughter to get our nails done and they did an awful job. First I needed my old gel nails removed, and instead of soaking them off, they filed them down and ruined my nail bed. Then they talked me into getting dipped nails which I've never had before. They didn't even last a day. When I called them on the phone to complain, they were insinuating it was something I did wrong. They offered to re-do them or reimburse only half my money back. I finally made it back to the lounge a week later (I live an hour away) to show them how bad they were. They still would only offer me half my money back ($23). I took the money and ran. I didn't want to take a chance of them messing up again. Now I'm out $22 plus $5 tip and my nails still look like crap! My daughter received a pedicure from a boy that look to be high school age. Needless to say her pedi didn't last, and she had to re-paint them a couple days later. From what I've heard, the quality of service you get really depends on the person you get so...buyer beware is all I have to say! read more

This was the worst nail salon I have ever been to. There was only one lady that knew what was going on, and the woman who was doing my nails was an older lady, just off the boat. She kept asking the other woman what to do. Terrible job and the other person getting her nails done with me did not fare any better.... I do not recommend this salon.... read more

Awesome location right on the 101 in Encinitas - and definitely one of the more upscale nail salons in town. Clean, modern, new spa chairs, etc. It was crowded for a Thursday afternoon - but I took that as a good sign. Kind of a snotty group of women getting mani/pedis - but maybe that was just the obnoxious, gum-chomping, cellphone yacking, boobs hanging out of her sundress b&$@h sitting next to me who kept telling her manicurist to fix this and fix that - then stormed out unhappy. My pedicurist was very nice - but shaped my toe nails at kind of a weird angle - and kept telling me to move my legs this way and that way - almost like I was annoying her. I usually just zone out with a magazine at these places - but felt like I needed to be intricately involved in the process...which was kind of strange to me. A little pricey ($41 for gel pedicure vs $35 at most others). Lastly - the friggin massage chair was so strong that my 6 yr old daughter was cracking up because it looked like my body was going into convulsions. In sum...kinda prefer the little hole in the wall that's basic, clean, friendly, mellow and not such a scene. read more

First time impression is everything! I made an spot for a certain time. They made me wait 1 hour past my time. They Tell my mother in law they can do a full set when she was only going for a manicure. She agrees then 45 min they tell her "Oh sorry we don't have anyone to do your nails". She says ok I'll just do the manicure. The lady starts doing her nails and tell us to "Just relax"! Excuse me? So I ask my lady for a certain design. I am told "Yes I can what you want". Then when it's time she tells me "No I don't know how to do that". Then go to lay and they charge MORE for just the manicure with gel. My acrylic fill with design and gel was less expensive!UMB NO THANK YOU! This is another reason I go all the way to LA. Better service and better nails! read more

I gave the nail salon 4 stars because they are a good nail salon. But, the person who deserves 5 stars is Kim and she is no longer there! Bring her back please! My whole family and Encinitas friends use her and we are all very disappointed :( I love her attention to detail, cleanliness, and the health of your nails. I scheduled my bridesmaids to go there before my wedding (10 ppl) but I will be on the search for Kim :) p.s. the front desk girl (young girl) needs to be a little bit nicer when people call. She was very rude to my mother :( read more

Not the best, not the worst place I've ever been. What's great is the cleanliness and ease of getting in for an appointment. Price is pretty comparable to most nail salons. I've been here a number of times and unfortunately I've not had much luck with my shellac manicure lasting a full two weeks. And unfortunately recently didn't have much luck with my pedicure which usually holds up well. The search for my ideal nail salon continues. read more

they said we could come in at a certain time and when we came they said they couldn't take us in after a long drive here and we called 3 times and everytime they said yes to the appointment. i'm very disappointed read more

This is an excellent salon. It is very clean with good energy, and quality services. The staff is always friendly and professional. I had gels by Lily and they are always perfect and last for weeks. The pedicure selection is extensive and the foot massages are so relaxing. This nail salon is five-star. read more

I have been coming here for the past 4 months now and am happy that I found Lynn here! She was referred to me by several people. It's nice to be treated so well and have nails that are beautiful for weeks at a time. read more

I absolutely love this place!! There is a great vibe and environment. Everyone who works there is so nice and really doing their best to give the best quality experience! Dee is amazing, she gives the greatest massage during a pedicure and my gel nails that she did were done so well! She is very precise and the outcome is always 100%!! Coming back every time I get my nails done! read more

I have had 2 five star experiences at 101 really awesome. This time I am sad to say that the girls were so nice but one of them lacked the skill or desire to do a good job on my french gel nails. I don't quite understand how she could think I would really think that what she did would be ok with me!! I'm an artist for gosh sakes the white tips were all uneven thin on one side thick on the other. The gel part was a real disaster! The gels started peeling up from the sides of all my nails, THE NEXT DAY! I just ripped them off they looked soooo bad. I am still feeling disappointed for spending money on something so inferior. I want to mention my pedi-french toe nails, the girl who did them really knew what she was doing and I am still admiring my toes :) However considering the nail part I don't think I will be going back. In case you are wondering why I didn't speak up at the time, I did not want this young woman to get in trouble. I was fearful that if I mentioned it all her peers would see, and her boss might too. It just didn't feel right at the time. read more

I have been going to this salon for over a year; I absolutely love this place. I was trying to look at pictures of nails to find different Halloween nails for my daughter and I stumbled across a review by Kristen v. I believe everyone has a right to their own opinion but reviewer, Kristen was just plain nasty. I was there when she was upset, but I didn't see anything wrong with Michelle's behavior. She's quiet and professional I always try to see Michelle especially when I have my daughter because she gives my daughter a chair and puts a color changing light in the water for her. Michelle is quiet, sweet and respectful. She makes my toes look awesome and always does a great job even on my 6 year olds feet!! My daughter asks specifically to see Michelle and gives her a big hug. Love her to pieces. read more

Kevin and Lindsey are awesome! Actually everyone is highly trained and professional. Love the energy!

I'm here in Carlsbad visiting for vacation and so I thought it would be fun to see some old friends so me and my girlfriends made a manicure appointment for 1:30 we arrived ten minutes late and the man at the front desk was very understanding and we got seated right away. One my friends wanted a French and me and one other friend wanted to get gels. We picked out our colors and our techs came over and started the usual manicure routine. I told my tech exactly what I wanted and she seemed to understand. (I was getting pink and a sparkly color as an accent nail on my ring finger) she got up to get the colors (they were swatched out on nail wheels) and it took her a solid 15 minutes to actually find the right colors before returning back to the station. she started by putting the pink on my nails and left my index finger and pointer finger blank. I told her I only wanted my ring finger sparkly silver. She nodded in agreement and continued to paint my thumb. She painted my ring finger the sparkly color I wanted and was about to paint that same color on my index finger. At that point I was pretty mad. After a few try's of explaining she finally got it right. The second thing I noticed was that on the sample for the sparkly silver it was very opaque and on my nail it was very sheer and there were only a few sparkles here and there. I probably would not come back unless I was in good need of a regular mani. The only thing this place really has going for it is its location. read more

This place used to be my favorite but it has gotten sloppy over time. We made an appt for 6pm and they were aware that they closed in an hour but they said we could go in still. We got there right on time and waited 30 minutes..... then I asked for a full set... and they denied it saying that I would have to wait an extra 15 minutes. When my sister got asked what she wanted, they suggested she got a full set to make her nails long??? When I just asked to have a full set and go denied. She only waited about 5 minutes and she was on her way to a full set. While I got my nails, they finished around 7:10, and my sister was done by 7:30. The guy was completely rushing with my sister, did not listen to what my sister wanted and made them too long, would not cut them shorter for her, and even cut her and made her bleed with a cuticle cutter! And as she was continuously bleeding, he STILL continued to rush and finish her!!! So unprofessional. We are very disappointed. They didn't even offer to give us a discount for cutting my sister. She literally has dried blood under her nail polish. Really loved this place but that is so not okay :( I felt bad that we stayed past there closing hour but they should've been staffed for our appt. read more