Capitol Nails

I normally get my nails done by my family but they now live too far so I go to other nail salons with high expectations. I’ve been to several nail salons since I moved to Portland but none have really reached my expectations as far as quality, service, and gentleness went. The salon before this made my acrylics super thick and gloppy so I waited an extra long time to get a fill… I thought I was going to have to take the acrylics off and get a new set. Amy, from Capitol Nails, was very nice to me. I explained my situation to her and instead of charging me to take my current set off, she suggested working with what I had on and she would file it down so the acrylics would look more natural. She was very gentle and did not hurt me once. We conversed the whole time and I was naturally very comfortable with her. She is a very sweet person and I will definitely be coming back to her!
The whole staff is family only. They’re all brothers, sisters, or in laws. Loved the atmosphere.
As far as color selection went, they had a decent amount of different colors and brands. What caught my attention was how they color coordinated the polish bottles (I can be OCD like that.)
To end this review, I highly recommend anyone to try this salon! I don’t doubt everybody who works here are talented enough to do whatever you want. I, however, will be returning to Amy. Love her work!

I’ll start by saying that I never get my nails done. I have been to a few places, and have always walked away thinking «I could have done that or better by myself.» That being said, I was feeling pretty lazy with some chipped nails, and decided to give it a try. I hadn’t called ahead so I expected to wait a bit, but was helped right away. I flashed a picture of acrylic claw nails that I wanted and my very friendly, detail-​oriented nail tech gave me exactly what I wanted. I enjoyed the family setting and the beautiful nails. I said I never get my nails done, but I’ll definitely be back when I’m feeling lazy again!

Had a great experience here. The family that runs this place are very nice people. Very friendly and professional environment. The mother did my nails and did a great job. I would recommend this place!

$ 14 basic manicure that was done in ~15 minutes? Perfect! My nails were expertly shaped (often other places make them wonky — not so here), cleaned and painted in what felt like no time. Sometimes you want a long, relaxing manicure, but sometimes you just want an efficient but professional job, and that’s exactly what I got at Capitol Nails. My technician was very nice and I will certainly be back! Great selection of polish colors and they appear to have a bunch of options for shellac :)

The people who work here are awesome! I got my nails painted right before leaving Seattle for my birthday trip to Oregon. The girl who did my nails in Seattle globbed on the paint on my accent nails and didn’t let it dry before baking the shellac on over the top. Needless to say, they never dried and smeared off within hours. I was pretty frustrated :(I looked up the nearest nail joint to where we were staying overnight and it happened to be capital nails.
I went in today right after 10 am and showed the gentleman there what was happening. I picked Seahawks blue as my new accent color and he removed the gross, smeary old paint on fixed me right up. Then he told me to have a good rest of my trip. He wouldn’t let me pay for the two nails he fixed! He told me not to worry and have a great day. I know it was just two nails, but that was so kind of him and it really made my day. When I’m back in the area, this will be the only place I go!

Love this place! Just moved to the neighborhood and am so happy I found this gem. They fit me in for a mani/​pedi/​wax last minute which was a lifesaver since I was leaving for a wedding the next morning. The team did a GREAT job and the prices are fair. This will definitely be my regular spot!

This Salon is the best in Portland. I go to Amy every three weeks and I’ve been going there for four years now and I’ve never been disappointed. She does anything and everything I’ve ever asked and even more. She exceeds my expectations every time and is one of the kindest most funny people I’ve ever met. I always recommend Capital Nails.

I have been coming here for over four years and have never had a bad experience. I feel like family now. They always fit me in without an appointment and take care of me. The pricing is reasonable and the nail work is really great. I get all my acrylics and pedicures done here. Even though I now live 40 mins away I will still drive to have them do my nails because I refuse to let anyone else do them. Come here and let them take care of you!

A friendly place to go whether you need a quick touch-​up or want to try something new! Amy is very creative with nail stencils. I love the color changing mood polish too — it comes in acrylic (gel) which is even better! I’m a caterer so I often don’t bother with a mani, since I’ll just ruin it when I work, but I got one with acrylic polish and was amazed at how well it held up for weeks (and several big catering gigs) afterward!
I also LOVE Amy’s twin girls (Jennifer and Jessica– whoot whooot!) and their older sister Agnes who work there with their mom and aunties. Yep, it’s a family affair!

This is my favorite nail shop. They always do a great job and fit me in when I pop by. they have a great selection of shellac color and are always getting new ones. I’ll be sad when I move from the area and have to go somewhere else!

I work right by Capitol Nails but, for some reason, always go somewhere else to get my manicure and/​or pedicure. Well, no more! This place is better than all the others that I’ve tried in Garden Home, Hillsdale and close-​in Tigard. The environment is friendly. They have a great selection of polishes both regular and gel. They give great massages. I love my nails! They shaped them really well and the polish looks great. Truly the best manicure I’ve ever gotten.
I called for a same-​day appointment, too, and got one at a convenient time. They take walk-​ins, too.

I’ve been going to this place for a couple years and I’ve always had good experiences. I always get shellac on my natural nails so I can’t speak of their fake nails manis but I’ve always been super happy with the manis I get. They always give a really good hand massage for each mani too. Capitol Nails always give really good foot and calf massage when they do pedis. They have a really big selection of different gel colors! I usually change my color every time I go in.
They don’t normally use the metal scrubber during pedicures but you can ask them to use it for no extra charge. I read another review saying that Capitol Nails don’t have paraffin wax or hot stones but they have both. They also have a good selection of normal nail colors.
All in all I like going there and have and would suggest the place to a friend.

I was not impressed with this place at all. I usually don’t write negative reviews because I know everyone has an off day here and there, but I absolutely felt the need to write this one. Especially because the reason I chose this place, aside from being so close to home, was because all of the reviews I read gave it incredible ratings… I have no idea how! I have been to a few nail salons around the Portland area and this one is by far the worst. Maybe the fact that shortly after I sat down in the chair for my pedicure and a cockroach ran across the tub, put a bad taste in my mouth. (Yuck!) I know I should have gotten up and walked out right then and honestly, I’m not sure why I didn’t. Not to mention the pedicure itself felt very rushed even though my boyfriend and I were the only ones in the salon. They didn’t even have the hot wax for your feet (my favorite part of getting pedicures). They spent all of maybe 10 seconds (and that estimate is being very generous), using the pumice stone… missing all of the areas on my feet that really needed it. The massage chairs were dingey and worn looking and most of the buttons on the controllers were completely unreadable. The staff was not welcoming either… it seemed as though no one wanted to be there and that we were inconveniencing them by being there. Oh! And I can’t forget to mention how every other salon I have gone to costs the same amount ($ 25/​pedicure) only those places I leave feeling pampered and my feet looking and feeling amazing! The only reason I gave it one star, aside from the fact that you can’t give a «zero star» review, was because the woman I had, did give a fairly decent foot massage. Overall, I was really disappointed in the entire experience. Especially because I finally talked my boyfriend into getting a pedicure with me… totally talking up the whole experience. Needless to say, he was not impressed with his first time. Crossing my fingers I can talk him into giving it another chance… only next time, I think I’ll stick with a salon I have been to and had better experiences with.

Ive been twice and the shop is always busy. The first time, the gal went above and beyond and did an amazing job, the second time, it was someone else and she did so-​so. I need a repair done and Im planning on going back there to have it done. I am interested to see how it goes.

This place is GREAT! My best friend and I had a bad experience and were looking for a new place. We both had pedicures and it was heaven. Great foot and leg massages. I had Agnus and Teresa had Kim. I would recommend either of them!

I reached a goal today, so I decided to treat myself to a manicure. The shop was pretty quiet when I got there around 4, so I got right in without having an appointment.
It’s a family run shop, and I worked with one of the daughters of the owner. She did a great job — I got a shellac French manicure and it looks great.
I’ll go back there when I need a pedicure.
It’s nice to have a good place nearby for nails. I recommend this shop.

Horrible, just effing horrible!
So I’m in need of a mani for real nails and I call Capitol Nails for an appointment, to my surprise I can get one same day, I’m totally stoked! I come in with my own nail file because it is meant for real nails and not acrylic, plus they re use nail files. I ask the lady to do a square round and how much to take off the top, she starts hacking away at my beautiful nails that I worked so hard for
(I’m a recently recovering nail biter, I know it’s despicable but I stopped, come on!) then the owner could see my horrified face as she turned this dream into a nightmare and is turning my long adult nails into freakishly childish ones, so he switched manicurist ASAP. The next lady stepped up to the plate of a seemingly difficult task of filing a real set of nails when you work in a nail salon. She started to do an oval shape that completely distorted the shape of my nail. Now I know where this train is going, I’ve let people do this to me before and I’m not going to let it happen anymore no sir e I’m jumping the hell off; so I take my nail file and I flee that demonic place. I find some safety and breathe. I try to save my nails from mortification and barely succeed. Bottom line: Don’t go here you can do a better job!

I have been to 5 nail places in the year I have been in Portland and this is my favorite, So much that I almost don’t want to review it so I can keep it all to myself. The important things I look for in a nail place were all here, friendly staff who aren’t just pretending very hard to like you, these people are genuine and work hard. They give great foot massages and leg massages, exfoliating scrub, hot towels for your legs, cute nail colors, tons of massage chairs, moderate pricing. I will keep going back. They were very great when my boyfriend wanted his nails trimmed and a foot massage and made him feel very comfortable. I got a mani and pedi and he got a pedi and we were very satisfied!

Second time in this place. I have to say, I really like it. The ladies are really polite and they are very good. Detailed oriented, they will retouch polish after applying with a acetone-​immersed brush. Not all salons do this. The massage is also very good and they did a fantastic job dealing with my calluses. I think I’ve found my new nail salon!
PS: I’ve only gotten pedicures so far, but I’ll be coming back in a few days for a manicure and report back.

I uploaded a photo of my mani it for reference.
I took my friend here for her birthday. Got identical acrylic manicures for a total of $ 75 (/​w tip). They were not identical. My friend asked to have hers reshaped multiple times, the women just could not file a point. Her French tips were uneven and sloppy. The next day the top of her nail just broke off.
I felt terrible and thought I was just her nails. But no, it’s been about a week and a half and I’ve lost 3 nails. That’s fake nail and the tip it rips off. Ugh the feeling is disgusting, I wish it upon no one. This manicure made me never want to wear nails again.