Le Salon Nowel

(This review is from Summer 2013) I purchased a shellac mani/​regular pedi groupon. I have no huge complaints about my pedicure. Not super luxurious but the technician did a meticulous job as far as painting and grooming my feet (meticulous albeit LENGTHY). But my mani is another story. My technician had the best intentions for my mani but even with being under the UV light for 5 minutes PER LAYER of polish, and i am not exaggerating, 2.5 HOURS LATER, I left the salon with sticky uncured nails! And since I was already 30 minutes late to work (because the whole process took abnormally long… my appt was 1:30… I left at 4pm!) I could not afford to stay to have them fix it. The receptionist who is also the hair stylist there told me «just don’t touch them.» Um, what?! It’s SHELLAC. They require the UV light to harden. So now my nails are sticky and have uneven globby layers. I usually don’t write reviews and am overly understanding when it comes to mishaps in service. But I cannot stand behind this salon based on this experience. I feel badly because my technician was very sweet. Everyone there seems very nice. But I’m not paying for someone to be solely nice, I’m paying for someone to give me good service and do a high quality job. And today unfortunately was far from that.

Firstly, this salon is not closed. It has moved locations to 41 – 13 31^st Avenue in Astoria. I had a haircut and blow-​dry from Nowel and she did a wonderful job. I have a lot of long hair and it’s exactly what I wanted. I bought a Lifebooker Loot and it was a great deal. My only complaints are that I found it very strange that she did not ask for my name when I booked an appointment. When I arrived it wasn’t an issue, but it would have been a much more personable experience if she asked for my name. There was also no sign at all out front. If I didn’t have the updated address on my Lifebooker coupon, I would have had no idea where it was. Google gave me their old address. I had to walk in and ask if it was the correct place. Aside from the disorganization of booking my appointment and finding the salon, I am extremely pleased with my cut and will absolutely go back.

I bought a groupon for a Brazilian Keratin treatment for 89.00, I waited 3 days before I washed my hair. She told me it would last awhile. It looked great at first but by the second wash it was as it was before, like I never had it done. Plus, Nowel applied the Keratin treatment when it came it to wash it out she had someone else take it out, and them someone else to blow dry so I had to give 3 people a tip, so it wasn’t actually a deal at all. Plus the address that was on the Groupon they had moved so I went to that location and it was empty, so I called the number and had to go to the other location. She could have gave me that info when I made the appointment. I will never go there again!

I’m not sure why Unilocal says this place is closed — I went there yesterday and back in September. Noël is amazing. She is very sweet and listens to exactly what you want done to your hair. I couldn’t be hapier with the 2 cuts that she gave me. Afterwards, both times she took the time to give me a nice blow out.

I don’t give negative reviews (my policy if you don’t have something nice to say don’t say it at all) but I’m sorry I’m so infuriated by the treatment I received that I couldn’t hold myself back! I purchased vouchers from lifebooker for 2 shellac manicures for and 2 blowout conditioning deals for me and my sister (My sister had already used her conditioning deal and it was time for me to use mine)!
Ok let me give you a little background. Life booker last year offered a voucher for Le Salon Nowel for a blowout deal which was only $ 12! When I initially purchased it back in 2012 I bought one for my friend and I. When I used this voucher at the salon, Nowel (the owner) did a full on keratin/​conditioning treatment. I was shocked that I got an entire keratin like treatment for $ 12 bucks that’s dirt cheap. And she did the treatment on both my friend and I. I was so impressed by this deal and the job Nowel did that come 2013 I bought another 2 for my sister and I. My sister used her voucher 3 months back and again she did a full on keratin/​conditioning treatment. With my voucher i wanted to use near the expiration January 2014, so I waited.
2 days back my sister and made an appointment at Le Salon Nowel for a gel manicure and conditioning blowout (for myself) at 2 pm and then a another gel manicure at 3 pm (for myself). My sister had the manicure scheduled at 2 pm for her manicure while I had my hair appointment at 2 pm. My sister arrives at 1:57 pm and was waiting for her nails. I was looking for parking so I called my sis up and told her that I’m running a few mins late and to inform Nowel, to which my sister told me «don’t worry she is working on someone right now and she herself is running late and told me to tell you to take your time». I found parking and arrived at the salon at 2:08 pm. I repeat 2:08 pm .8 minutes late! I go upstairs I sit down, Nowel is talking to a woman in Arabic and is working on her hair and doesn’t even acknowledge my existence .ok fine.
I found myself waiting for 1 hour and my sister ended up waiting for 40 minutes to get her nails done! How do you schedule someone and then keep them waiting for that long! Very professional!
Finally when Nowel is done she approaches me to start my appointment (she didn’t even apologize for keeping me waiting) she asks me to show her the voucher and I displayed it for her. She responds with «Oh this is just a normal hair dryer job» …I was shocked!!! I’m like «What are you talking about! This is not a normal blow drying! This is the 2^nd time I am coming to you for this treatment and you just did this on my friend and I last year and a few months back on my sister» Even my sister told her the same thing! She responded back with «oh yes I remember that but that was a different voucher» I almost had a heart attack .how can someone be so filthy to lie on the spot when the proof is in their face! I showed her both vouchers and the lifebooker page where I got the deal! And she had the nerve to tell me that «oh you only purchased one voucher» when I clearly showed her 2 vouchers! I was horrified at how this woman defaulted on a deal and made me look like a liar because she realized too late in the game that she was charging a very low rate for a treatment that goes for a very high price.
Why the hell is that my problem! So I ended up wasting 2 hours! 1 hour waiting when she was conversing away in Arabic with her friend on my time and another hour wasted arguing with her to get my service done! To make a long story short (too late for that) my time and energy was wasted and I didn’t even get my hair done! I walked out of their with time and money gone in the trash and nothing accomplished. Nowel is a liar and conniving individual and I hope I don’t see the likes of her ever again! And yes this place is very much opened!

I hate to give such bad reviews being a former hairdresser myself and rooting for the little guy. so I’ll give the pros and cons. Also to note, I too got a groupon (more on that later).
Here’s the pros:
–The owner really likes doing hair and is friendly to talk with
–Easy to get an appointment
–The color application was done well, no bleeders and clean sectioning
–The salon lighting is nice
–The blow dry was adequate and fast.
–The manicurist-​slash-​shampoo lady was very polite
But, here’s the cons:
–There was way too much contrast in the end result (also, no highlight should need to rinse three separate sections)
–There was no toner, as we discussed in the consultation, and the shimmer lights grayed out my ends
–I was charged an additional $ 25 dollars for lowlights, which was NOT mentioned in our consultation and I was VERY MUCH unhappy about
I did not get the haircut with the package nor was there any conditioning treatment. End result: I got what I had asked for, highlights, but I ended up going home and toning the whole thing with a gloss to even it out after I got home.
Although I wanted to like this place, I couldn’t, Will definitely not be back.

I tried to buy a voucher appointment online for ombré hair coloring but because of the limitation of having to book a certain number of hours in advance, i was unable to. I really wanted to get hair done before the holidays and called Nowel to ask if she could see me anyway. She was incredibly accommodating and I ran over as soon as I got off the phone. I showed her a picture of what I wanted my hair to look like and she did a version that was more complimentary to my complexion. Extremely happy with results. That and the convenient location will most likely make me a repeat offender.

As everyone else is saying, I wish I’d read reviews before purchasing a Groupon for a pedicure /​shellac manicure.
This was BY FAR the worst manicure /​salon experience I have ever had. After making an appointment about a week in advance, I arrived yesterday (Tues, ⁷⁄₉) about 5 minutes late due to subway issues. Turned out it didn’t matter, as I was informed I didn’t have an appointment and the manicurist didn’t work on Tuesdays. I let them know that I’m going on vacation and i was 100% sure that I was there on the agreed upon date/​time. I was then told that the manicurist would come in «just for me.»
The location is more of a barbershop than a «salon,» and they had minimal colors available. The pedicure char was bareboned — no massagers in the chair, no jets in the tub, etc. But I felt so bad that the woman — who I should say was very nice through the entire ordeal — had come in apparently on her day off, so I stayed mum, I could deal with it. The pedicure itself was nothing more than adequate. Minimal massage, she didn’t put tissues between my toes or those little flip/​flops most salons used (so when it was time to walk to my manicure, I had to walk barefoot and get hair snippets all over the bottoms of my feet.) I requested that my cuticles not be cut, just pushed. After she kept insisting that she cut «just a little,» I finally relented. By my second toe, I was bleeding.
Finally, on to the manicure. I should mention that when I made the appointment, I was told they closed at 8 so the latest I could arrive was 6:45. I left work early to arrive as close to on time as possible. Since the woman didn’t arrive until about 7:15, and was the SLOWEST manicurist I’ve ever encountered, it was after 8 PM by the time we started the manicure. However people were still coming in and getting their hair cut.
They had even less colors for gels, and no samples of how the colors actually looked on your nails. I settled on one. She cut my nails with a toenail clipper instead of scissors, and it HURT. Again, I just shut up and kept putting up with it. It was already paid for, I still had guilt about her being there on her day off, and I just wanted my nails done before the vacation. Eventually, by about 9 PM, the whole thing seemed about done and she said I was good to go. One problem — my nails were still sticky. Now, I’ve had gel/​shellac many times before, and the whole point is that it takes just a few minutes to dry. She told me that the machine wasn’t very good, and I should keep my nails back in. By about 9:15 PM, my boyfriend had come to pick me up (mind you, I was under the impression that I would be done at 8 since that was when they «closed,») I had been there for about 2 and a half hours, and my fingers were stinging from being in the UV lamp for so long. That was when I noticed that the color was bubbling. When I pointed it out to the manicurist, she said it was because I’d kept them in the machine too long. SHE was the one who told me to put them back in, and they STILL weren’t dry. I also noticed that my cuticles were bleeding.
The manicurist and a barber told me that all of this was a result of the bad UV machine, which they’d «told the owner to replace, but she won’t.» If the UV machine wasn’t working, I should have been told that before I came in for a UV manicure and wasted my entire night.
In addition, my toenails still weren’t dry. I’m not sure how that’s possible, after sitting for over an hour, but it might have to do with the fact that they didn’t use a dryer. They didn’t bother to wrap my toes or anything, so they also were ruined by the time I got home.
After being there for nearly 3 hours, I left without tipping, which I have NEVER done in my 30 years on earth.
It is now 12 hours later, and my fingernails are still bubbly and sticky, and now look dirty because everything I’ve touched is sticking to them. In addition, my cuticles on my fingers and toes are sore, and my fingers still feel sensitive from being in the UV machine for so long.
Adding insult to injury, in order to get it re-​done, I’m going to have to pay another salon to soak off this gel hack-​job.
This was the worst manicure, pedicure, and over all customer service experience I can recall. I have reported it to Groupon, will be following up with the owner, and will do everything in my power to at LEAST get a refund. I only hope my bleeding cuticles don’t get infected.

WOST PLACE ON THE FACE OF THIS PLANET !!! I WARN YOU DO NOT GO HERE!!! SAVE YOURSELF THE HORROR I WENT THROUGH!!!
Here is my story. I bought a Groupon for haircut, color and keratin treatment. I called the salon right away to make an appointment and they gave me one 2 weeks later? Ok thats fine. So I went in that day and as I requested when I made my appointment I wanted the owner Nowel to do my hair because supposedly she had most experience ! The place was completely empty, looked like a salon from the 50’s MY LORD ! Dirty, old furniture, things seemed to be falling apart, BUT I thought you know what as long as they do a good job I dont mind this horrible looking smelling dirty place. This woman Nowel was rude from the moment she said hello, I mean the disrespectful sarcastic rude… My hair is brown and I told her I wanted the same brown but even looking everywhere, because it got washed out, I even showed her the picture of what I wanted I MEAN HOW HARD COULD IT BE? I was a brunette already! just wanted my hair color even and fresh looking THAT IS ALL! She did the coloring pretty quick then moved me to another chair and sat down a new client that just came in, even though I had all my stuff right in front of that chair. The whole time I felt this negative energy, I tried being friendly and talking to her but the woman was as cold as a stone basically not saying much, ok thats fine whatever. Then this other girl takes me in the back to get my hair washed OMG she burned my scalp with hot water, then had me sit in that position for 30 min so Nowel can finish with the other girl. I was in such pain I couldnt move my neck after. The whole time I wondered «what the hell is happening here, what kind of place is this»? Finally I went back to the chair and they took out the towel to my Shocking surprise my hair was ORANGE !!! I had a heart attack WTF !!! I told her this is not what I wanted, this is not brown its orangeeee, she said yes it is its just lighter… WHO ON THIS EARTH WOULD ASK FOR ORANGE HAIR??? NOT ME!!! I was shaking, so she said come in the back and I ll put on toner, so another 40 min waiting for that, she washed my hair pulling and acting like she wanted to hurt me. Again i looked at my hair it was the same. So I said «my hair seems ruined, but can you please put color over it or just fix it» she said «no, this is good enough and I did my best». I was sitting in a chair with my hair RUINED, soaking wet, hair color around my face. She took on another lady and started doing her hair… I said «excuse me, whats happening here»? She ignored me completely. I said «are you gonna do anything» she ignored me like I wasnt even there!!! I literally started crying !!! Not only that she ruined my hair but she was rude disrespectful, and told me ‘BYE BYE’ I didnt say anything I just left BUT I wish I looked at the Unilocal reviews before going there. I will never forget that day, WORST day of my life. I went to CVS looking crazy with my hair and bought color and did it myself. It came out BROWN ! I had such a horrible experience that I will never forget! THIS WOMAN IS PSYCHOTIC!!! This place doesnt even deserve a one star ! BE SMART AND DONT GO HERE! SHE HAS SUCH BAD REVIEWS FOR A REASON, AND SHE IS A HORRIBLE EXCUSE FOR A HUMAN BEING ! By the way I ve been sick for the last 2 days since I ve been there I will be taking legal action against this place! And yeah if you see a 5 star review it is fake! Its her or someone she knows giving a fake review.

I love nowel. My hair is over bleached from my own doing and I went for a Brazilian keratin blowout and she made my hair look like glass:)). And it stayed for months. Then I tried another salon in manhattan using the formaldehyde formula cause I thought it would be better but it was NOT as smooth or soft.
Also I went to another place near the Empire State Building that told me the price would be 89 bucks then waited till they had already per shampooed me to jack the price to 350. I ran out with wet hair at 7pm on a Friday and when I called nowel she was so sweet to me and told me to come Ad then she did the keratin and it was a very reasonable 120 bucks.
U know a good stylist by how they do ur hair. But u know an exceptional stylist by how they do ur hair and how they treat u when u are in a hair emergency. And nowel is an exceptional stylist. Worth the trip to queens

I have been to this salon twice now and both times walked out very very happy. First time was to have a very orangey, leapardy, streakey botched highlighting job fixed that was done at a Manhattan salon for twice the price. She fixed me right up! (The highlights also helped hide the horrible haircut I was given! :P)
Second time was for a full head of highlights again but my request was to go darker blonde if possible. Not only is the color EXACTLY what I wanted but the highlights look so natural, right to the roots. They are beautiful.
The owner is very sweet and was handling many other clients at the same time but still managed to provide appropriate attention to everyone. I am new to Astoria and think I have found my new highlighting go-​to. The salon itself is a no-​frills type of place, not pretentious, or snobby. Exactly what I am looking for.
Very pleased, thank you! I will be back many times over.

Purchased a Groupon for a pedicure and shellac manicure for $ 38 — only $ 7 less than the nail salon I usually go to, but it was a moment of panic… MUST SAVE MONEY.
Anyway, I got there for my appointment, waited for a few minutes and was lead to the pedicure. I should’ve been suspicious when they didn’t have me pick a color ahead of time, but I was tired and hungover and just wanted to sit. The pedicure well was filled with soapy water, and I noticed they simply use Duane Reade liquid hand soap for this. No special packets or fizzy things or anything. The chair didn’t have massage capabilities, which was fine because I was writing, but still good to know. The other chair looks like its used for storage for used pedicure tools.
The pedicure was just okay. No leg massage, no lotion, and the girl who did it — while very nice — didn’t understand anything I said, and would up choosing my color for me. It was fine, not something I’d come back for.
The manicure was abysmal. They have less than ten gel colors — a bunch of pinks and reds, mint green, a weird pastel orange, and one or two others. No black, no navy, no trendy colors at all. I decided to just get my nails filed and my cuticles fixed, told the girl, and she tried to push me to get a regular mani. No thanks, I’ll go to my normal place and get my navy shellac, thanks.
Oh also, their nail polish selection generally is odd — no OPI, no zoya, six Essie polishes, and then a bunch of Sally Hansen and a few brands I’ve never heard of but I imagine they’re not great.
Additionally, I was there on Saturday morning and for an hour I was the only person in there. Every nail salon I passed on my way over was packed. Says a lot about a place when it’s dead at a popular time to get nails done.
Definitely will not come back here.
Overall, while the staff was very nice, there’s no reason to come here when there are other nail salons in Astoria that are LEAGUES better than this place. I wish I hadn’t wasted my money on the Groupon because I just wound up getting everything redone at Athena’s nails that afternoon.

I’d purchased a Groupon deal for a keratin treatment with Nowel. She did a phenomenal job. My frizzy curly hair is flawlessly straight and shiny. She took the time to make it perfect, and she was great to chat with. All in all, a lovely experience. I highly recommend, and will definitely be back. Thanks again, Nowel!!!

I went in for a brazilian wax recently and I should have listened to the other Unilocalers. The woman never once changed the stick that is dipped in and out of the wax, then from person to person, appointment after appointment. That’s not sanitary. I should have put my panties on and walked out then, but I stayed and ended up leaving covered in wax and burnt. I’ve been waxing for years and it is very hard to find a good esthetician, and I will certainly continue my search. This is not the place for me.

I had a brazilian blowout (aldehyde alternative), My hair is natural, a little coarse, loosely curled and lightly bleached. As soon as I walked in I was greeted by one of the stylists who asked what i needed done. Right away, they offered coffee and had the male stylist start on my hair. I believe they are a french establishment, alas the name, and perhaps, because i picked up a few words here and there (thanks to my 3 years of HS french). The language barrier was bothersome at times when he attempted to give me take-​home instructions, all I could do was nod and repeat what I thought I heard. Luckily I know a few people that had the same done, quick reference. The end result was marvelous! Ive gotten so many compliments over my new do and I would definitely return in 3 – 4 months for touch-​ups.

I had a zero keratin treatment here, and since then I’ve had two others so I can compare the quality and experience.
This place is great! The staff was super nice to me, not pushy at all– really nice people.
This treatment lasted WAY longer than all the others I had after and left my hair soft, healthy and straight hair for over 6 months!
I will be going back soon for another one.

I recently had brazilian zero keratin treatment done using a groupon i purchased. The deal was sweet only$ 89!
Reading the other reviews I was a little scared of what I was going to experience but it turned out to be a pleasant one! The salon itself was a bit run down looking, not very modern for the time but it was clean! Other Unilocalers described it as dirty but they may have been focusing on the overall décor not the cleanliness. As far as the staff they were very sweet, nice, and accommodating :)
My keratin treatment was completed in about a little over an hour. Usually the process takes what seems like forever. I noticed that the way they did the keratin was a little different from other salons i had been to. First they wash your hair, then put the keratin in your hair, place a cap on your hair for about 30 mins, blow dry the hair, and lastly flat iron. In other places they wash the product out of your hair and then blow dry it again. The stylist instructed me to leave the product in for 3 days and then wash. Also, I did notice that when using the flat iron to my hair she took bigger pieces of hair than other salons (which I believe take about an inch sections of hair at a time). However, now that the treatment has been completed, the results are just what I expected from a keratin treatment! I will definitely come back again, that is if there is another groupon deal.

Ha! So the salon has commented that they have reported me to Unilocal for writing a negative review. What sort of business does that? For your information my appointment was back in October. That’s a little moronic on your part to assume that the day I wrote the review was the day of the appointment. I just recently received a keratin treatment and after talking to the stylist I felt compelled to write a review and warn others.
Ps. I’m an atheist so you can save that god bless for someone else

Nowel is blessed with magic hands. I was on the hunt for a new stylist after a botched cut at another local salon a few months earlier. Nowel trimmed me up very quickly and my hair has grown very long, very fast. She cut my bangs PERFECTLY. Loooove her for this! Also, since she cuts so well, I won’t have to visit her so often to take care of split ends.
As other reviewers have mentioned, she’s got a no frills set up but I don’t mind because it transports me back to the neighborhood salons of my childhood in the ‘90s haha
I’ll def be back bc she really is so sweet and talented.

I had a great experience here yesterday. I had my hair Brazilian keratin treated with Nowel herself. They are running an awesome special where they will do any length hair for $ 100 though March 23^rd. It’s usually about $ 200.
The space is clean and convenient. I was came in on a Monday afternoon so I was the only person there and received fantastic service. Nowel was pleasant to chat with and answered all of my questions about the treatment and how to take care of my hair moving forward. I’m actually stopping by tomorrow to buy this fancy shampoo from her because she sells it for cheaper than I found it on the internet.
There is a special every month– so get on the e-​mail list!