Bamboo

Five stars if I only had Vivian do my nails… minus one for the times I haven’t had her.
I’ve been here many times, and I’ve had consistent good service, but only when Vivian does my mani-​pedi do I get perfectly even, gentle cuticle trimming, and long lasting nails.
I love love love the quietness (Listen to me other customers… it says to TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONE… so turn your phone to silent dumbbutts!)
There aren’t any TVs. There’s not many stations, so it’s great to relax. I’ve never had a problem getting an appointment for the day of when I’ve called. The front desk has always been helpful and nice.
The pedicures are awesome and last! I tried the shellac mani a couple times, and it lasted except for having to redo a nail or two… the polishes seem thick out of the bottle and maybe they are getting old b/​c a lot of people seem to be getting their shellac mani’s redone.

Took my mom and sis here for pedi’s. $ 65, for both of them. Mom– french pedi, sis– reg pedi. The two girls did a fantastic job.
Clean, hygienic, doesn’t smell like nail polish.
Complimentary: jelly beans, tea, curren magazines
Make an appt before u go in.

I came here last Saturday after seeing a girlfriend walk out of here on Friday and my normal place unable to accommodate.
I am giving them 3 stars for the décor, offering of tea and fitting me in when i called Saturday for that same day… after seeing how the salon operates, I almost want to give them an extra star for that… almost. When i got in I noticed they did waxing as well and asked if i could get a wax appointment too. and they were not able to accommodate me (evidently the esthetician is only onsite for appointments made well in advance.
I came in because i was going to a gala event that evening. The night before i had gotten a spray tan down the street, and was getting my hair done later. When i made the appointment the receptionist advised they would have the same person give me a mani and a pedi. but when it came time, they doubled up and i had two people.
The woman giving me the pedicurist was pleasant and engaged in some chit chat. The woman giving me my manicure. not at all. and it almost seemed liked she didnt speak any English. for both myself and the person they helped ahead of me, the other woman had to constantly translate. This was evident twice. once when both myself (and the previous patron) had to tell her that the polish was our own and she had to retrieve it from the other room. but then.I specifically asked for 3 coats of the polish for my nails. I know this color. i know how sheer it is. and for the look i wanted to achieve I needed three coats. I even put my fingers up for 3. still i only got two coats.
I was unaware their basic (and evidently only) mani/​pedi function came with a scrub. as soon as the woman doing it on my pedicure put it on my feet i asked her not to use it. as i knew it would slough off my tan. She advised she would just use it on the bottom of my feet. and she did. however she didn’t rinse her gloved hands in between that and applying the lotion. which definitely took off some of the tanning lotion both streaking and coating the the gloves with the tanning solution. The technician just laughed and told me i needed to go home and apply more tanning lotion.
Through the entire exchange the technician doing my manicure was oblivious to this, and proceeded to start to use the scrub on my hands. when i pleaded with her to not use it she just gave me a blank look until the other technician translated for her. she had least had the foresight to rinse my hand off. and instead of giving me a massage in general, she just wrapped a hot towel over it and kind of pulled on my fingers a bit.
It would seem this location only ever has 2 technicians on site (as communicated by the woman who did my pedicure to another client)…So unless you made arrangements FAR in advance you would not be able to get together with girlfriends (more than 1) on the spur of the moment. I don’t see how they expect to drum up more business if that’s the case. maybe they don’t need to. but given the number of services they could possibly do in a day, overhead of rent and salaries. i dont see how they can afford to stay in Burlingame.

Appearance of the place and music was relaxing. Loved the green tea.
But nail fungus after three weeks for both of us is not worth $ 55.00 for a pedi/​mani.

Went here for an eyebrow wax. When I first called for an appt and asked regarding a Passport discount, staff on the phone didn’t seem to be very knowledgeable about what discounts they honor. On the phone, they said they didn’t accept it — but in person, after persistence they checked with the owner, who confirmed that they accept it. This was a disappointing first impression.
Despite the upfront issues, the actual appointment went well. It’s got a clean, modern, relaxing atmosphere inside. Bamboo has been open for just about ~1 yr. I just went in for a straight forward eyebrow wax — Vivian did a good job on my brows, I only shed a couple tears upon plucking. ;-P
Unfortunately, this location doesn’t have the same staffing or offer all the services (e.g. skincare) of its SF counterpart — its more like a small, abbreviated version. As a result, massages are only available upon advance appt and the number of clients they can accommodate at one time is limited. Thus, I wasn’t able to book a mani-​pedi day here w/​my girlfriends (they can only handle a max of 2 pple at a time)…
For routine maintenance, I’d come back… maybe I’ll try the mani/​pedi next time.