Pearl Nails

Worst experience hands down ever in a nail salon. They have no Idea what they are doing. All I wanted was a simple two nail replacement because they had broke. Gave her my time limit based on being back to work at it was apparently more then enough time. She cut the nails about ¼ the lengths of the others in a square shape when all my nails are almond. Wtf? I left with two stuck on tips with polish smeared all over my fingers on the rest because she tried soaking all my nails off. Worst place ever

I have been going to Pearl Nails for several years, and have NEVER had a bad experience. In fact, they do the best manicures and pedicures of anyone I have gone to. I was surprised at the negative reviews, as they do not reflect my own experiences there. They are careful but efficient, are gentle with nails (do not over-​buff them when removing gel polish), and as someone with some foot problems are always amazed at the care and responsiveness when doing a pedicure. I highly recommend them!

I wish they were better than they were because all the girls were so friendly and they are closer to my home than the current nail place I use but at the end of the day I won’t return. They were so nice I debated not writing this review but I felt compelled to warn my fellow Unilocalers. I would not have come here on my own except I was with a friend in the Pearl and we came here because it was close by.
I had a shellac manicure and pedicure by Stella and it was the worst experience I’ve ever had at a nail salon. It seemed like I was the gal’s first ever customer based on her work. In addition to a bad shellac job (bubbles in the polish, hazy, uneven application and chipping the very next day) the polish on my toes smudged off a couple hours after I got home. I’ve never had polish come off like that especially when I was so careful not to wear closed toe shoes. I understand after two hours the polish isn’t completely dry but walking around the house barefoot should not have caused this. I wonder if she had applied too much polish on my toes like she had done on my shellac or maybe it was bad polish? No clue. Lastly my cuticles were frayed and peeling two days after I had them done.
I ending up having everything redone by my usual nail place a week later to have everything fixed. What a waste of time and money.
Two stars for the service and 0 for the job done.

I have been a client of Tiffani’s for over five years now, and both she and her staff have been consistently thorough, sweet, and professional. My manicures and pedicures last for several weeks, and they are happy to fix any «mess ups» I may have made following my time there. I must say that I rarely make an appointment, and 9 times out of 10 I have very little wait time or none at all. I find the staff to be very accommodating and friendly, and I highly recommend them for a great polish!

Upon arrival without an appointment I was told that the wait for a manicure was 15 minutes, totally acceptable since it is a holiday.
The place looked clean and they have a lot of products for sale. The music was a little too 80’s for my taste. The polishes are ordered by tones, nice touch.
I was offered something to drink right away, which was another nice touch.
So, why the 3 stars? The technician that helped me seemed very concerned about her nail polish, she was constantly checking where it chipped when she took of my polish. Also her paint job was sloppy. I could have done a better job.
Bottom line, I will not be going back. Serves me for cheating on my favorite salon.

The ladies were very prompt and friendly. I went in on my lunch hour and got a full service mani in a half hour! They did a wonderful job! I’m going back for a pedi tomorrow for lunch!

Hands down, the best manicure I’ve ever had in Portland. Never had a pedicure with them, so can’t say anything about that, but my manicures always last over a week without chipping! Very neatly applied, with the utmost precision, no matter who I get. There’s hardly ever a wait, perhaps during the middle of the day on a Saturday, but other than that you can just walk right in and get started. Really, my only complaint is the oddly-​matched red paint colors on the walls, but all in all it’s quite clean, professional, and never fails to give outstanding quality manicures.

This place is just around the corner from my work. Instead of a lunch break, I took a pedi-​break and came here with a friend, without appointments. There were no other clients at the time and the two ladies behind the counter got started on us right away. The massage chairs were nice– but aside from that the whole experience was not worth the time or money. Won’t bore you with all the details, but basically the lady giving me my pedicure left half way through my polish application and then a (3^rd) employee who had just walked in came up and finished up the job. Sub par foot massage, and then a poor polish application that wore off within the week… not worth the $ 25. Too bad, because this place is conveniently located for me :(

The first time I walked into Pearl Nails I felt «at home.» Actually, I lived around the corner in the Pearl District and had walked by several times before I stopped in. The professional technicians greeted me with a warm welcome and a big smile. The mani’s and pedi’s are heavenly and combined with a cup of hot tea, or two, the experience was wonderful. Sharing stories and laughs with Tiffany, Nu and Jenny are something I look forward to. Even though I have now moved 25 minutes away I look forward to my frequent visits to the little shop that still feels like «home.»

As a guy who went with the gf for pedis… They did a fine job and were very professional. I liked that the chairs you sit in afterwards are also massage chairs. Very guy friendly.

Worst. Experience. Ever.
Went in to redeem a Livingsocial deal and was treated pretty badly from the start. I was told a number of times how «short» my nails were and therefore difficult to polish. Yeah, I got it, I don’t need it repeated every five minutes. The women were not very friendly and not attentive in the slightest. But that was just the beginning…
When the appointment was booked, three months ago, they took my voucher number. We told them right from the start that we had the vouchers, but I was promptly told (after the mani/​pedi was finished), that my voucher had already been used. Um, nope. I had never set foot in that salon before. After respectfully asking if maybe it was a mistake and maybe they had entered in the number incorrectly, I was told that there was no way that was true and I was asked to pay for the service ($ 48!!). I was then told that they were giving me a discount on the normally $ 60 service. Right. I called Livingsocial from the salon because there was no way I was going to pay for a service I had ALREADY paid for. The representative was helpful and called the salon. That turned into five painful minutes of arguing and the salon owner actually lied to the representative (while I was standing right there!!). At the end, Livingsocial did the right thing and refunded me the $ 30 I originally paid and told me that the salon had sold 2200 (2200!!) vouchers and this had happened to many people. The salon was making money on their own mistake. Great business sense.
Bottom line, for $ 60 please take your business someplace else. ANYPLACE else. This place is terrible.

Lovely pedicure with hot stones. It was very enjoyable and I purchsed a gift certificate to get another pedicure because I will be going back.
I was really turned off by all the bad Unilocal reviews but my friend and I actually had an easy time scheduling. I thought Tiffani and Nu (sp?) were very friendly and did a nice job.

I am sad to have to write such a negative review of this place, but I was so very disappointed with them.
I have been going there for a few years because it is so close to my office. They had always been fine. I had bought a lot of mani and pedi gift certificates there for prizes for my staff. I’ve had a few pedicures there and they were always just fine. Then I decided to buy the living social deal because I was already a customer and it seemed like a good deal.
I happen to be really busy this time of year, so I asked if I could split the mani and pedi for two trips… I don’t think the person on the phone understood what I was asking and she didn’t want to take the time to speak to me… clearly my phone call to make an appointment was an inconvience to her, so she just said yes to whatever I was asking. So a few days later, I made my pedicure appointment. I came in, started my pedi and the woman doing the pedi asked me if I wanted the deluxe or the regular — I told her whatever was on my living social thing. They FREAKED out. Two of the women in the office started getting really up in arms are yelling at me in front of other clients. They said I needed to make an appointment to use it — I told them that I was current sitting at my appointment, not that they had bothered to check or anything. And they said I was lying about the person saying I could split it up. I felt super attacked for no reason at all. It was unnecessary for them both to get involved and when I simply said «fine. whatever» because the last thing I wanted was a fight, they continued to try to fight with me. I asked if I could just skip the manicure and use the deal that I paid for to just get this pedi and they said no… even though there was no reason for that and it would have put them out on top. They told me I had to make another appointment. My deal expired in two weeks and I was not going to have time for another appointment. Eventually after a stupid amount of braiding me and offering me 0 customer service even though I had been a loyal customer and spent hundreds of dollars with them, they finally just let me use it to pay for the pedicure and I lost out on the whole point of the living social deal.
So much for a relaxing pedicure… that was the most stupid stressful lack of customer service I have ever experienced, so not only did they loose all these potential new clients with the living social deal, but they also lost this current one. I am NEVER going back after that.

The following review is the result of over 4 months of the same problem with every person I’ve contacted there to schedule an appointment. So, I’m not just hastily writing something to flame them.
Do not be a patron of a place who so despises their customers that they will be combative and argumentative to the point of lying, getting caught, then arguing and hanging up. Good luck getting them to let you talk to the owner or manager to resolve the issue.
These people are so bad that even if I could get scheduled, I wouldn’t trust them not to sabotage the service and insult me in another language the whole time.
Purchased a Living Social deal and they will not honor it. They always have room to schedule an appointment, but since you have to give the voucher number ahead of time, they all of a sudden have no openings. When asked about this, they put you on hold for over 10 minutes, then come back and explain that they have no openings.
I called Living Social, who has had such a problem with this place that they immediately refunded my money and are adding it to their investigation. I feel bad for others who have not requested a refund.

Nice enough, but nothing special to make it worth the trip to the Pearl. The chairs were not very comfortable, with spiny massage thumbs jabbing me in the kidneys. Several of the polish colors I picked up seemed ancient, all thick and gloppy.
I’m all for an upsell. Ask anyone. When a waiter/​salesperson/​internet pop up ad asks me if I want to upgrade or add to my purchase, I’ve already said «yes» while the question’s still hanging in the air. Not this time. No, I did not really want to purchase a gift certificate for another mani/​pedi. It was a good deal, but I knew I wouldn’t use it, as it just felt wrong cheating on my lovers at Healthy Nail. After I said no about three times, there was a definite attitude shift and I basically got rushed out the door after that.
So… oh, well. Tried it out. Veni, vedi, pedi.

I got the living social deal with a bunch of friends and family, and we went before my wedding. After seeing the reviews, I was a bit hesitant, but figured «how bad can it be?» Bad, apparently.
I requested french tips, one girl did my left hand, then for no apparent reason got switched with another girl who did my right. The white tips were completely different widths from one hand to the next, I had to ask twice before she fixed it, as if I was being a total pain. I just wanted something simple, clean, and natural looking. The color was ok I guess, until I got outside. My nails were BRIGHT PURPLE with white tips in the sun. It looked so tacky, but with the tight wedding schedule there wasn’t anything I could do about it. *le sigh*
And to top it off: These ladies are just not very polite. I think it’s safe to say I won’t be back.

I bought the living social deal and after reading reviews, was really hesitant to even try to get an appointment. Anyway, I had the day off so decided to just go for it, even a crappy mani/​pedi is better than no mani/​pedi.
I arrived about 10 mins before scheduled, got in right away and everything was pretty basic from there. Nothing out of the ordinary or above and beyond, just your run-​of-​the-​mill mani/​pedi.
My only complaint is that they overbooked themselves so the woman who was doing my nails kept getting up to take phone calls (taking a couple calls I totally understand, but this was close to 10), work on other customers etc.
Overall, not awful, but not awesome either.

Well, what I have to say is pretty much in keeping with what has been said so far.
I too bought one of the Living Social coupons for Pearl Nails. I had an upcoming trip to Hawaii and called nearly two weeks in advance to get an appointment. I thought the woman I spoke to on the phone changed changed her attitude once I said that I had a coupon. Every day that I suggested to come in, she was «full.» I work three days a week and still was not able to get an appointment.
A few months later, I tried again with the same outcome: they were «full» for everyday that I wanted to come in. I tried yet again and was luckily able to make the one appointment that was offered on the day I wanted to come in — this was scheduled two weeks in advance.
Today was the big day! I paid to park, had the baby with a babysitter and was excited for my mani/​pedi. Unfortunately, I was told that my appointment was for the previous day and that I missed it. I admit that my patience ran out at that point. I am normally a very polite and composed person but I had had too much. I stated that I felt they were trying to not honor their coupons and that I planned on complaining. At this point, one of the women working there said, even though I was «wrong», I was «lucky» and they would fit me in. Well, I wasn’t wrong. I work every Wednesday and have for years and never would have scheduled something on a Wednesday. To make matters worse, one of the patrons then berated me because she was there using her LS coupon and suggested that I take «responsibility» for not being able to get an appointment. The woman working continued to say I was lucky and they would fit me in but at that point I just wanted to leave – which I did.
I’m a fair person so I will say that there was another woman in the place using a coupon who seemed happy. My experience was HORRIBLE, frustrating and a waste of money. I would seriously caution anyone from going here. There are way too many other fabulous places in Portland to go.

THE BEST!
I have been a loyal customer for over a year. Tiffani and her fabulous staff always fit me in (maybe with a 15 minute wait, which is no problem) and give a superior manicure. The atmosphere is relaxing, always the latest magazines and a great selection of colors.
Living Social buyers should tip well, realize they are receiving superior service at a fraction of the regular cost and return to Pearl nails with out a discount – its TOTALLY worth it.
Due to the increase in coupon customers I highly recommend making an appt and expect to wait a few extra minutes — that’s just the reality of buying things from Living Social — small business get overwhelmed.

Went in with no appointment to get a full set of acrylic nails and a pedi. Wait was not bad, they put me in the pedi chair and gave me a selection of magazines to read. Pedi was okay, but certainly not the best I’ve had. Massage part seemed kind of short and they definitely could have scrubbed a bit longer.
But, my real issue came when they began my new set of acrylic nails. First of all, it took the woman 1 ½ hours to put a set of nails on. I have NEVER had it take more than one hour. AND, she knew I was in a hurry. I told her when I came in that I had guests coming to my home (only 2 blocks away) at 7pm. I left the salon at 7:05.
The biggest problem that occurred came when it was time to pay. Now, when I sat down I asked for a new set of acrylic nails, which anyone reading this probably knows that they run anywhere from $ 25-​$ 35 in this type of salon. And a pedi seems to average $ 25. I get up to wash my hands and return to find she has run my credit card for $ 75!!! I of course ask her to break down the charges for me and she stated the pedi was $ 25 and my nails were $ 50. I asked her why a set of acrylic nails was so expensive and she expained to me that they were gel nails! When I told her I specifically asked for regular acrylic nails she started to explain to me why the nails she put on me were better than what I asked for. I was floored!!!
I’m not going to go on and on here, but the point is she lied to me when I asked if they had regular acrylic nails and proceeded to not only give me something that I hadn’t asked for, but charged me for it as well. Oh, and they looked IDENTICAL to my normal set of acrylics, which is why I had no idea what she was up to. I ended up spending about twice as much on a set of nails that I could have gone down the road to get. Don’t give your business to this place.