Essence Spa and Nails

I usually have a great experience here– however the last 3 times, have been totally less than desirable. Today finished it– my fingers look like a kid did them, and even though it is gel, the design has already managed to come off. I now have to go have them redone. This will be my last trip here.

This place should be out of business. The customer service is very awful and the people are very mean. The manager is unprofessional and unhelpful. The lady working on my nails got mad when I said I don’t like the way she is doing my nails. She through the file at me and said show me how to do it. They charged me full price when I didn’t get the full manicure. They even started saying there’s something wrong with my nails. VERY disrespectful, VERY dirty, and TERRIBLE costumer service. There’s one more thing, I was disgusted because the worker SNEEZED on me! I’m never coming back.

I will never come here again. Got the delux pedicure and was barely in the chair for 30 min. I found the guy who did my pedicure to be very rude, didn’t ask if I liked the water temp or the pressure of the massage. I also didn’t like when he led me to the drying station he took my flip flops so I had to walk barefoot across the salon which is dirty because people walk there with shoes on. It was hands down the worst pedicure experience I’ve ever had.

Terrible for the price! They advertise kid’s spa out front but were rude to my 4 year old daughter because she had difficulty holding still. Don’t advertise you do kids pedicures if you don’t have the patience to do it. The lady I had doing my pedicure was not very friendly either. Then when I asked her to fix the nail polish that was smeared all over my 4 year olds nails she got irritated. Then they rushed me out of the chair so they could use it before my toes were even done drying which resulted in a smeared nail. To top it off, the tech who worked on my nails coughed all over me the entire time. If your sick, maybe you should stay home or not work directly with clients. I only tipped them $ 1 because of the poor service and the front desk clerk proceeded to yell out to the whole room which was full that I only tipped $ 1, so I was forced to explain the rude service to the entire room. The chairs were also dirty and didn’t appear well maintained. $ 49 for one adult and one 5 minute child pedicure. Are you kidding me?! I was very disappointed overall and don’t recommend it.

Run don’t walk from this place!!! It is dirty, unprofessional, and a total rip off. It is the first time I have ever had a 20 minute pedicure, from start to finish. When I asked her if she was at least going to work on my feet, she said no. It doesn’t come with the $ 20.00 basic pedicure! I have also since read several reviews about people getting a fungus, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I don’t. I will never go back and I wouldn’t recommended it to anyone, ever!

I have been to numerous salons around the city for many different reasons, but never EVER for a pedicure.
Feet. GROSS.
Someone touching my feet… do you wanna get kicked???
However, my girls were going for a pedicure and convinced me to join them in their delight. So I did.
We walked in on a weekday afternoon and this place was packed!
30 minute wait for the 3 of us, so we sat on the nice comfy couch and waited. My nerves were slowly increasing ad I remembered that I have not recently shaved my legs as I have worn pants for the past few months. Awesome.
I didn’t count, but there was close to 15 staff, all working on someone in some salon way. In one corner there were multiple chairs for kids. Nice and decorated with butterflies and such. K got called first and her eyes rolled back when the hot water jetted around her feet. $ 20 for a kid pedicure and finger nail polish. She was in heaven.
Off we go to the adult side to get this started. The hot water was nice, my hairy legs, well, we’re hairy. Thank God I was sitting in the corner.
Ying was my lady and I quickly apologized for not shaving and told her this was my first time. She laughed and said it was no big deal.
She did her pedicure thing. I did my best not to jump out of my seat or kick her in the face.
She finished and I survived.
$ 74 for the 3 of us. That included french something or other for my lovely lady and flowers on my toes.
I had a great time.
I will be back.
I will soon love pedicures I’m sure!
I can imagine weekends are crazy around here. However they are fully staffed and seem to move people quickly while still taking good care of them.

I’ve gone to this location so many times, I cannot believe I have neglected to get a review. This is my regular nail salon. Typically, when I go to get my nails done, I go here. They are good with gel manicures, pedicures, artificial nails, nail art, and solar nails. Once in a while, I will get a chip in one of my nails within the first week, I will go back and they fix it for free.
On Saturday after 12pm, this place can become a madhouse, for walk-​ins during those times, expect serious delays.

Really nice salon and great service. Even though there was a lot of people, there was a lot of people working too so I didn’t have to wait at all. They had plenty of gel colors to choose from. I got the deluxe pedicure and I thought everything was very nice plus they were friendly.

When I first started going to Essence last year, I was very impressed with their speed, professionalism, and all around pleasantness of the salon. I never had a favorite tech (because they were all so good) so I always did walk-​in appointments and recently I have become rather disenchanted with the salon. My last experience here was the worst and my last. It started when the first four polish selections I made were «out,» normally this wouldn’t bother me but my tech seemed to be getting frustrated with ME about it. After the color situation was sorted out, the manicure proceeded as usual. However, my tech seemed awfully distracted by his cell phone and at one point stopped completely to answer text messages (in my opinion if it is that important someone will call)-rude! When the polish was done drying, I discovered there was clear gel polish all over my fingers which is awful to get off. The manicure comes with a quick massage at the end which typically only lasts a few minutes but is very pleasant– this guy got some lotion, put it on my hands, and that was it! He did not even rub it in. The final straw was when I checked out and was going to add a tip to the receipt and all he said was «No, cash!»… Really? I gave him cash and left.
I was so frustrated with this experience because I know that this salon is capable of better service than this, but the last few months it just seems that things have gone downhill. This wasn’t my first subpar experience but it was definitely the worst!
Essence has a great location and its fast, so if you’re feeling lucky I would give it a try; personally, I don’t want the luck of the draw to determine the quality of manicure I get.

Thought I would try this place rather than my usual place due to the great reviews. Went in on my lunch break for a gel manicure and was seated promptly although the place was pretty busy. The lady that did my nails was very chatty (mainly with the girl next to her), VERY slow and tried to up-​sale me 4 separate times. She even brought the wrong color I picked out and tried to convince me that it was the one I picked! You would think with that much attention that my nails should look perfect, but they were not. She neglected to polish the very tips of my nails but left nail polish all around my cuticles. The worst gel manicure I have ever had. I will stick with Creation Nails; right next door, very fast and a MUCH better manicure.

This is a nice salon and they do get you in very quickly even with a full waiting area. I received a gel manicure and a pedi. They did a great job and were friendly however my gel manicure started chipping within the week. It was also more expensive compared to other places. They definitely try to sell you additional services. I went with my son for a pre wedding get together with the bride and other bridesmaids. He was sitting quietly with my phone and before I knew it they had him in the kids chair giving him a pedicure without asking me first, and kids pedis are the same price as an adult even without the polish! I walked away paying close to $ 100!

The service is friendly, and there are a lot of stations with quite a few women working away. Place is clean and has an upscale feel.
Reason for fewer stars is that the cost for extras is higher than what I’ve experienced elsewhere (deluxe pedi with design turned out to be over $ 60 with 20% tip). And because there is a children’s area, which is great for parents stopping in with kids, but for someone looking to relax, listening to kids and the video systems attached to the kid chairs is a negative.

Don’t be put off if you see a lot of cars in their tiny parking lot – these people are fast and efficient! They have ~10 pedicure stations, plus a number of manicure stations. When I came in, all of the chairs were full, but the people working here were so fast that they fit me in without any difficulty. The chairs were comfortable and have massage function, and the people working there were very easy-​going, even when a couple of people brought their toddlers in they were working around the kids happily.
Yes, they will ask you if you want additional services, but I think everyone does that – they’ll tell you how much an additional service is, and they don’t get bent out of shape if you say no.

Horrible experience. Had pedicure and didn’t do anything to help my dry and cracking feet. Also they left nail polish on my toe and after asking someone to do something about it, it was STILL there.

Maybe my experience was a fluke, but I won’t be returning anytime. My pedicure took forever, the lady who did it changed my polish choice without asking me, and she tried to sell me everything from gel to design to waxing. My pedicure chipped less than a week later. But the real issue is that she burned me when she waxed my eyebrows. The shape was nice, but I had two angry red marks under my brows followed by two scabs. It took two weeks for my brows to heal. Terrible! Go elsewhere! It is expensive and it hurt!

This is by far my favorite nail salon in Albuquerque. I have been here more times then I can count and everytime they are quick and do a great job, both for pedicures and manicures. It’s also the only place I go to get my eyebrows waxed because they take their time and make sure it’s done right. My only caution is watch the up-​sale. They are really good at convincing you to do french tip, then gel, then a flower, and by the end your nails look great but it’s more than you may have anticipated spending!

The service here is wonderful. The owners, Tammy and Tony, are strict about cleanliness and the quality of the work. They have all the newest equipment. Regular customers have a box of tools that only they use. I’ve been to a lot of nail salons and this is THE BEST.