MiniLuxe Brookline

I have been to other Miniluxe locations and loved them! But this location was pretty terrible. I got a gel removal and gel manicure. The technician seemed like she was in SUCH a rush! The appointment was for an hour (15 minute gel removal, 45 minute gel manicure), but it only took 40 minutes because she rushed through everything. She chipped off the gel polish way before it was ready. And then when it came to the gel manicure, it did not meet the same standards as all of the other gel manicures I’ve received at other Miniluxes. She did everything as quickly as possible. She wasn’t friendly at all — didn’t even speak to me. Also, they still have the old gel driers that take 2 minutes for each step! So even though the equipment was slower, somehow she completed the manicure in less time. Definitely not going back to this location! Newbury street, chestnut hill, or prudential center are all way better!

Eyebrow waxing — 5 stars with Diaa. She’s the best when it comes to alignment of the brows. She will listen to what you want your brows to look like, and actually make it happen. I’m so sad that I’m leaving Boston because I don’t think I’ll find a brow specialist like her.
This salon also offers other services like mani and pedi. I usually do the pedi and have only done mani once. Their technicians are good and very detail oriented. They are not rough at all!
I highly recommend that you make an appointment though, it’s really hard to get walk in services here.

I really love other Miniluxes, but this is an example of how differently each location is run.
I’ve been here twice now, and will not be going back. The first time was subpar, nothing special and for the amount paid I would have expected a pleasurable, relaxing experience. The second time I caught some city traffic on the way over and was 5 minutes late. I fully acknowledged that it was my fault, but was told (in quite a dismissive tone) that they didn’t have time for my manicure anymore. I politely offered to skip certain things (lotion, cuticle treatment) as I really wanted polish on my nails, but after checking with the tech I was told it was not possible. I’ve never visited a business that seemed so disinterested in making money.
Bottom line — don’t waste your time or $, visit another location for a much better experience.

I get all my waxing done by Añu. Highly recommend her! She takes her time and is very meticulous with her work which is always appreciated. She threads my eye brows and with out fail each and every time I get a compliment on where I went because they came out so well. Let’s be honest waxing is never a walk in the park, but when your in good hands and are treated well it makes the experience that much easier. Thanks Añu YOU rock!

As a usual big proponent of Miniluxe (I regularly visit the Lynnfield location) I am very disappointed in my experience here. My gel mani looks great but I am currently waiting to have my pedi fixed. I was sitting at their (terrible, cold air and low) dryer for almost 30 minutes. They were out of the drying drops so when I asked how much longer it would be to dry they suggested I wrap my feet (I told them I could stay if that was best). They told me that they wrap your feet in plastic wrap before putting socks on and that prevents any smudging. I agree and put that on and then my boots and walk one door over to try on a dress. Upon removing my boots I see ALL of the nails are ruined and plastic is embedded in my toes. I call and they say they have an appointment at 7:30, almost 2 hours later! Though frustrated I agree. At 7:40 I was still waiting. No compensation was offered and when I gave the girl my punch card (because I forgot it when I was here 2 hrs ago) she looked at me suspiciously and said ‘I didn’t punch it before?’ — oh yes I’m totally stealing punches on my card and even if I WERE ‘stealing’ punches, I’m pretty sure I would deserve one just for the annoyance of the experience. While in the end I walked out of here with a great gel mani and (second time) pedi I don’t know if I would return.

I have been to many other MiniLuxe locations (4) and have LOVED them. This was horrible. They don’t have the same products in this place as the others, it is dirtier and older looking, the staff is less friendly and they don’t offer you water/​tea like they do in every location. I called because I was in the area and told them I had the 10 day non-​gel polish DazzleDry on and I needed a manicure with it. When I got there– there was no DazzleDry. This is the first MiniLuxe out of four I have been to without it… why did the receptionist not tell me on the phone and save me the trip?
After I found out they did not have Dazzle Dry, I asked to be switched to a gel mani. They were not accommodating and told me my technician didn’t know how to do gel. What!!!
I got a regular manicure and when I went to pay I asked to put the tip on my card (this is done at every other location) and the receptionist told me that they only accept checks and cash… so I wrote the tip on a check.
No frills here. They don’t offer you water/​tea, they don’t take your jacket and quite honestly– the staff didn’t even seem to want to be there.
I will never go back to this location. Would have been better off at a local place.

Just got a walk-​in pedicure from phan. I usually hate pedicures, and rarely get them, but she was fast, really good and it was painless. I thought it was so well done that now I want a manicure. My nails suck big time but I have a feeling she’ll make them look great… good luck with that!

I have just moved here from San Francisco and after reading the Unilocal reviews I figured this was a decent place to get my nails done.
The first time I came the lady was super rude, she snapped at me for accidentally touching my nails. I complained to the management who seemed to brush it off and not take any notice of my complaint.
The second time I came my cuticles were not properly removed and so the gel started peeling off the next day.
All in all this has been a disappointment, given the amount of money you pay I definitely didn’t receive the service I deserved.
I would never come back!

I’m not a cheapskate, but if I’m going to pay $ 94 for a pedicure and a gel mani, I expect to have a great experience, and a great mani/​pedi. What I LOVED about this place was that it was clean, visually appealing and had no nasty nail salon odor, but it was actually the worst gel manicure I’ve ever had… less that one week later several nails had chipped (I can usually eek out 3 weeks on my gel mani). I had a nail that was cracked that I pointed out, which she wasn’t going to do anything about until I said it needs glue/​silk wrap, and then she put something on it… it still broke through the gel less than a week later. Next time, I’ll go back to my regular place… and have an extra $ 30 bones in my pocket.

First time getting my eyebrows done and Ani was amazing. She did it perfectly, just the way I yearn to have them. Clean, organized and friendly place.

I love that this place is clean and I can book online. I had a mani & pedi and both my techs were nice and professional, as was the front desk staff. I wouldn’t say that either the best I’ve had but they were sufficient and my mani lasted a full week which is something I look for. The massage on both my hands and feet seemed a bit quick though.

I thought this place was awesome because it looks really fancy, I’ve been wanting to go for a while but was always postponing thinking about the price. Today I decided to go because my toe nails were really horrible… This is the most expensive nail salon I’ve ever been!!! 59 for mani-​pedi and it was nothing special! No massages, no hot stones, nothing! And my mani is crappy! Why is this place featuring in Improper Bostonian? I mean, really… Go someplace else, please.

had mani and pedi… pedi was so-so…cuticles were left not smooth at all… but bits of skin around the nail were like the ones in the review photos. Within 12 hours, polish on my hand nails were already peeling. Brought my daughter to have a little toes polished and they wanted to charge over $ 20…crazy…I would not go running back anytime soon. Overpriced

Walked almost a mike to go here based off a suggestion of a local only to be told I should have made an appointment
Kind of rude

I wanted to like this place. After the New York Times expose, I was excited about finding a place that had high ethical standards. Unfortunately, the quality of their customer service is terrible — which completely defeats the purpose of a relaxing day at the nail salon.
They offer packages of three services at a discounted rate — like three mani-​pedis for $ 165. Don’t get those packages. You’ll buy the set and the next time you go into the store, they will claim that you never bought the package. I have spent over an hour talking to various Miniluxe agents about the stupid package — one phone call basically involved them interrogating me about each one of my visits to the salon and exactly what services I received.
I’m looking for a place that treats their workers AND their customers well. This place isn’t it.

My friend and I were looking for a place where we could get our nails done for what we thought was a fair price (especially in light of the recent NY Times article regarding poor workings conditions in budget nail salons) and were drawn to Miniluxe as we did research indicating the technicians there are treated very well and get to keep all their tips.
This Miniluxe is a bit hard to find from the street (it’s around the corner from the Massage Envy, and if you blindly stumble into the Massage Envy like we did, the employees there will happily take you next door). The salon is very stylish and impeccably clean. Phan did my pedicure and I was very happy – she managed to get my horrible calluses to a manageable level and my foot massage was very relaxing! Although some other reviews mentioned a lack of massage chairs, I liked the couch-​style seating – I could kind of sprawl out! My friend was also very pleased with her gel manicure. The one thing I would criticize is that 2 out of the 4 dryers were broken, which meant that I basically had to wait in line to dry my nails!
The pedicure was comparatively expensive – $ 40 – but I feel that you get what you pay for, and nails are a rare treat for me so I don’t mind splurging a little more. They also offer waxing services, with a «brow bar» for eyebrows that I am definitely planning to try. Overall, Miniluxe is a stylish treat for your nails!

I’ve been meaning to review this place for awhile. Yes, its clean and pretty inside. Does that justify the cost, the wait and the rudeness of the employees? I think not. After being basically laughed out of the salon when I tried to get a mani/​pedi without an appointment, I called and made one for a Thursday at 2pm (I was on vacation that week). The mani/​pedi was OK but my nail tech neglected to give me the shape I wanted and the polish started to chip a few days after it was done.
I was, needless to say, very unhappy with my first experience but willing to give it another try because of their commitment to cleanliness. So, I called and made another appointment — this time for two weeks out — the first appointment I could get on a weekend or after work. One hour before my appointment I received a call saying they could no longer take me. When I asked if I could come at a different time later in the day I was told a flat out no, I’d have to reschedule for ANOTHER two weeks out. No apologies, no nothing. Just rude women who didn’t care that they were now asking me to basically spend 4 weeks with unpolished digits. I don’t care how clean the place is; its too expensive to lack basic customer service skills.

I came in here randomly when I was in the area. I usually pay $ 13 for a mani, so expected something very nice for $ 19, but it was just a regular old mani… nothing «luxe» about it except the price. The staff was friendly. The paint job was fine overall. However, I picked one of their own branded nail polishes and ended up with some bubbles in my mani that formed as the nails dried.
I would skip it. Not worth paying more just to sit in a slightly nicer space.

If I could I would give –10 rank to this place! I have never had the manicure like this in my life! I even asked the lady «My» was her name, to change one or two of them and she got so mad that she removed all the nail polishes from my hand and started nagging and acting so weird for doing her job! It was my first time here just because the place looked nice but i just waisted my time and money.

The sheer fact that you can book online ahead of time, for an exact time with the exact services you want, and even select your preferred technician, is enough to make me a fan. But then you add in the fact that MiniLuxe is sparkling clean, with friendly staff (where else do you have the receptionist calling to suggest an available time you might have overlooked?), who you can actually clearly communicate well with (no offence to the non-​native English speakers, but I’ve had a lot lost in translation in the past which is not ideal) means I can see myself returning.
I had previously been a fan of NailBar but didn’t have the time to get all the way over there from Coolidge, so I decided to check out the much closer MiniLuxe. I had the salon almost to myself because I came straight from work on a weekday, and it was a pretty relaxing experience. I was greeted with a glass of water, and the receptionist was kind enough to walk me through how things work at MiniLuxe (here’s the polish wall, etc), and they had some great colors to choose from. Annie did my mani and she was sweet and gentle, and H Phan did my pedi and was thorough and attentive; I’d recommend them both, especially since they seemed just fine with me preferring to drift off into space rather than carry on small talk.
Now, MiniLuxe wasn’t perfect; it is indeed more expensive than most places, yet the result is pretty standard/​comparable (with no massage chairs!), so I leave it up to you to decide whether the extra cost is worth it. To begin with, my nails had average staying power: my mani lasted like 3 – 4 days before some small chips started happening (5 – 6 days until noticeably big chips), and my pedi is still going strong a week later. Also, the actual finished polish job was pretty standard; both nail sets look pretty solid in general and I have little to complain about, but definitely not absolute perfection in case that’s what you’re expecting at these prices (like, if you scrutinize up close, the polish doesn’t line up perfectly with the nail bed, etc… not something I really care about, but if you do, just be aware).
So, I’m a happy client, and would recommend. NailBar’s prices are now comparable to MiniLuxe’s, and both have what I’m looking for in terms of cleanliness/​sterilization/​polish color/​execution, but the online booking system really tips the scales in MiniLuxe’s favor… it’s amazing how that one little thing can make all the difference…