One of my best friends, Ana, has a lot of theories about life that have had significant influence on me ever since we met in Shanghai, but the major one goes like this ‘Looking pretty is one of the most important things in life for a girl, no matter how you feel and whatever drama you might be going through, always look pretty and wear your most beautiful smile. Ok, so while the latter is free and no need of further explanation, but what does she really mean by the former?
So looking pretty for Ana would include taking care of these particularly girly assets: keeping your hair shiny, making sure your skin is flawless without using foundation, always having at least minimum eye make- up ( and that would translate into well groomed eyebrows and neatly applied mascara) , wearing at the very least delicate lipstick AND finally – making sure your NAILS AND TOENAILS ARE ALWAYS ‘DRESSED UP’ in BEAUTIFUL MANICURE AND PEDICURE
( ‘Because when you wake up in the morning and the first thing you see is how pretty your nails look, it’s a perfect start if a day ‘ – as Ana says ;P )
While all the other things you can get from Hong Kong, Tao Bao or duty free, what should a savvy girl do to stick to my friend’s invaluable advice without splurging her hard earned RMB?
Obviously, find yourself a good nail salon where quality doesn’t mean horrendous prices so that you won’t end up eating rice and street food in the name of beauty;) Possible in Shanghai? By all means! Where?
The story of how I found my nail salon includes, again, Ana and one of our girls’ only evenings. Since we both live in two distant areas of Shanghai, the plan was to mid half way, in People’s square subway station, get some beers and have our nails and toenails done together. Since it was a bit rainy and chilly day, we decided to stay inside the subway station and roam its shopping hallways ( and you should know that People’s square subway station’s hallways hide and lot of shopping ‘pearls’) .That was an ultimate bulls eye. Thanks to our serendipity skills we quickly found this cozy salon with comfy, big, fuchsia pink armchairs and it appealed to us immediately. Ever since that day, that nail salon has remained invincible on my list. Although I live in French concession, which is flooded with this kind of places, the 10 minute subway trip to get my nails done in People’s square is unquestionably worth it. Why? Well, for 2 reasons :
Amazing quality and flawless service for totally reasonable price. I like experimenting so I have entered a few nail salons in French concession and showing my sophisticated manicure asked them their price. It is at least double the amount I normally pay , even without using my membership card ( the average price for a fancy design would be around 170 for gel manicure, while in French concession the ‘regular’ one costs 150!)
The Chinese ladies and their boss, who also does manicure herself, are extremely patient, meticulous and hands on. You can completely trust them as they will turn even the most neglected nails into a piece of art. If the boss, called Xiao Mei, doesn’t do your manicure, she will make sure to check if her employees are doing their job according to her standards. They have an Ipad with thousands of designs and new ones coming nonstop , as well as endless number of colors to choose from. However, the ‘cherry on top’ is the fact that if your gel manicure or pedicure starts chipping within a week,( and if you are this kind of person like me, who isn’t able to even look at her own hands with any smallest flaw on nails, then you know the pain full well : O ) , they will fix it for free, sometimes, if you are their patron , then even within 10 days. They have actually become my buddies already, as every time I come over, we have a little chat with Xiao Mei and other nail artists about work, men etc ;)
The only thing might be that they don’t really speak English, but I have seen quite a few foreigners coming there, with zero command of Chinese, so that’s not such a big obstacle. And after all, honing your Mandarin in order to get the best deal in town for exceptionally done nails is a great motivation, isn’t it?
Below you can see pictures of the salon, that actually consists of two separate rooms in the hallway close to exit 10 of People’s square subway station. The lady having her nails fixed is Xiao Mei and one of her girls. You can also see some of the designs I have had done so far.