LAKA Manicure Express

In short: this place was a mess.
From their confusion and unprofessionalism to their staffing problems, from the discomfort of the actual manicure/​pedicure to the poor quality, messy results and then, to how short it lasted before chipping (a day).
In long: in February/​March, my friend and I got a month-​long «membership» for unlimited mani-​pedi through Living Social. Showed up to their Galleria stand and they marked our month-​long membership as having started when we purchased the voucher on Living Social, not when we first activated it that day. I told them they should probably call Living Social cause, while we came two days after purchasing, the dozens of others that are functioning on their vouchers expiration date six month from then would likely not be very happy or cooperative when they were told their unexpired voucher was invalid. They shrugged it away and didn’t seem to understand Living Social’s premise. We moved on and got the mani-​pedis.
As mentioned, the mani-​pedis were JUST BAD, actual thing was uncomfortable, the space was noisy, and the final result was sloppy. Here’s a tip: don’t ask for a design of any kind! In my case, it was on an accent nail and I was tempted to remove the entire manicure afterwards. Oh yeah, and they let me get a French manicure without letting me know until the end that French manicures weren’t covered by the «membership» I had just activated. Like I said, A MESS.
I gave it two stars cause the only two employees they seemed to have were working overtime trying to keep up with the Living Social appointments, which leads me to believe that, while they weren’t great manicures, they probably had an incredibly irresponsible boss who didn’t train or help with the deluge that Living Social would create. Probably the reason that one of their two employees quit two weeks into this membership deal, leaving the last remaining girl SOL.

Ok im really annoyed i drove all the way to the galleria to find that this place doesnt exist anymore? Well i bought a living social coupon for this, i dont doubt that living social will refund me but thats just annoying

Only went because they had a mall employee discount. Got a shitty manicure that lasted 2 days. Tried returning the stuff I bought until I remembered the manager kept my reciept. Awful place, never going back.

I was impressed! My manicure is still set, un-​chipped, and I keep getting compliments on my nails!
I learned about Laka from Groupon. I set up an appointment for January 4^th. Notice the date of this review — — kinda amazing that my nails look so awesome!
First of all, the manicurist was super-​friendly, easy to talk to, which can be difficult when one is in the center of Galleria III. As she removed my previous polish, I noticed something: no smell. This was super nice, but I wondering if this had to do with the open space or just my imagination. Then, when we moved onto painting my nails, the same thing: no stank! So, I asked her about it and she brought the bottle to my nose, it, indeed, had no smell! I am so smell sensitive that this was awesome to me!
I even opted for a pedicure (express — this means no water) and it was all done efficiently, cleanly, and I went home super satisfied and my nails still look awesome.
No more nail salon hopping for me — — found me a place I like :)