Crystal Sun Nail & Spa Esthetics, Warren Street, Jersey City, NJ
It was the weekend of our 17-year wedding anniversary and my amazing husband had organized a romantic night in a five-star hotel so we could celebrate in true style – a bottle of French champagne, burgers from Shack Shack and a night of uninterrupted sleep. You see, since our little cherub arrived almost 11-months ago we have averaged 2 to 5 hours of broken sleep a night. Let’s just say… she is super alert – like all the time and the thought of missing out on anything keeps her up all day and all night. Although we were nervous about leaving our little darling overnight, we were excited for alone time and sleep, oh glorious sleep. I remember the time when we use to get excited about going out to dinner and a night of dancing…. Oh how our life has changed (for the better of course).
So here we were about to go on a romantic night away and I hadn’t had my nails done in a few months. To me not having your nails done is like wearing ‘old granny’ knickers or mismatched lingerie that is losing it’s elastic (come on we have all been there), nothing romantic or sexy about that. I have to say I was rather embarrassed with how long and unruly my nails had become. They were a complete mess and when I say a mess I am of course talking about my toes. I had been following our Editor’s tips and tricks to ensure my manicure was up to scratch, because let’s be honest I would never let anything that was to be seen by the general public be in such a horrendous state, but my toes had been forgotten.
Crystal Sun Nail and Spa Esthetics was my salon of choice. I was greeted by the radio playing softly in the background, the bustling hum of a busy salon (always a good sign) and a rather friendly salon owner. The nail polish selection was vast but needed a little TLC as some of the ingredients had separated (I could hear our Editors voice in my head – roll don’t ever shake a polish). I resisted the urge to start rolling the majority of their polishes to fix this small oversight. Interestingly, the hot pink and bright red polishes were in perfect condition – a sign that they are the most popular colors in this area. I decided to go against this regional trend and opted for CND VinyLux’s Winter Glow a beautiful pale pink/white tone for my hands and my typical red, OPI’s Infinite Shine Raisin the Bar for my toes.
My technician was juggling her phone and speaking in hushed tones while she started to prepare my feet. I could tell it seemed urgent and later found out that she was talking to her son who was looking after his 2 siblings while she worked. It made me feel so blessed that my husband didn’t have to work weekends so he could look after our darling when I did. She did a great job sorting out my long talons and made my feet look beautiful. The polish I had chosen for my manicure needed 4 coats on some of my nails because you could still see through it. I started to regret my choice, but my nail technician ensured the end result was pure perfection. I was told it shouldn’t chip for at least 7 days and they were right, my manicure lasted a lot longer than normal. I am pleased to say that my husband noticed my primped fingers and toes. For him to comment they must have looked good. I will definitely make a visit back to this salon.
Until next time,
Ruth Shelling
- Ambience: Spacious and bustling, filled with regular customers that the owner greeted by name. They even offered free WIFI (which is a nice touch)
- Cleanliness of salon: Clean
- Polish: Manicure: CND Vinylux ‘Winter Glow’ (Retails $10-$12) and Pedicure: OPI Infinite Shine Gel Effects Lacquer ‘raisin the bar’ (Retails $12.50)
- Polish job & chip factor: Neat polish job. My toes lasted 2 weeks and fingers 7 days
- Brands They Stock: Essie, Scandal polish (3 free) CND Vinylux, CND shellac, OPI, Essie, Cuccio, LCN and Absolute Nail Lacquer
- Color range: Vast color range
- Customer engagement: Professional and friendly
- Price range: Green Tea Spa Pedicure $45, Lemon Tea Spa Pedicure $60, Raspberry & Pomegranate Spa Pedicure $60, Organic Body Blenda Spa $80, Pedicure $28, Manicure & Pedicure $38, Manicure $12
