DuPont Nails & Spa

I had just moved here for an internship and am a regular at my nail shop back home. I needed a good place with a gel mani-​pedi that was clean, located near a coffee shop, and had a great selection of gel polishes. But VOILA! This is it. The staff is friendly, patient, and efficient and they take the time to polish you nails so they won’t chip. Overall fabulous experience.
The only con: it’s a little crowded because the nail shop is small and there are lots of pedi chairs.

I can’t say enough to good things about this place; from the front desk and their welcoming customer service up to getting the service and walking out. I had the groupon package to do pani –padi, facial and massage. Everyone was super friendly and did a great a job. Susan who did my facial was super professional (and funny!). She answered all my questions patiently and gave me advice on my skin type. She also showed me the self-​tanning room and explained the process when I asked her. I also enjoyed talking to Anna who did a great job painting my nails and toes. Definitely coming back to do tanning and try the other services.

A friend and I came here yesterday. She got a pedicure and I got a manicure and polish change. We both were really happy with our services. The people were nice, and I especially liked that they had uv drying for my manicure.
The only down side is that my toenail polish smudged a few hours after I left.
Definitely will be back again.

Do not go to this place. I have given it many chances as it is very close to my house but every time it gets worse and worse. Last night the owner (Lee?) cut my pinky nail basically half off-​as short as one could do it without drawing blood. Then she looked at it and asked me «too short?» Yes! What could she do then? She also made my finger bleed which seems to be the normal at this place. I’ve had numerous bad experiences here. Despite their convenience, I cannot go back.

Came in for a gel fill on my way home from work. Really liked this place. It was quaint, clean, the service was fast service, and it wasn’t over the moon pricey. The only reason why I’m giving it 4 instead of 5 stars is because he didn’t tend to my cuticles the way I hoped and the gel was a little on the thick side. Otherwise, I’ll still give them another try.

Like most nail salons, which manicurist you get can make the difference between great and awful. Per the wonderful Unilocal reviews about Jessica, I booked an appointment with her for a gel manicure and wasn’t disappointed! She was super helpful in helping me pick a color (and didn’t get annoyed at my terrible indecisiveness!) The manicure was careful and thorough and the result is really really great — among the best I’ve found in DC. I will definitely return here for my future nail needs!

I came by the salon during mother’s day weekend to take care of my poor nails. Tiffany did a great job on my gel Mani and regular pedicure. Although the place was packed on a Friday evening, The two glasses of wine helped me relax. I was out if the salon within one hour. I will definitely make this my new go to nail salon.

I come here to get my eyebrows thredded by Ronisha. She is absolutely amazing and the best Ive found in DC thus far. She is quick and efficient. I will continue coming back here foe my eyebrow appointments as long as she is here.
Just got a pedicure here for the first time today. The technician was friendly and I left feeling like a new woman.

I got my nails done with a friend here last week. We got a manicure and pedicure for $ 41 and had a really great experience! They gave us two glasses of wine while we were getting our nails done and the lady that worked on my nails, Kelly, was just incredible! she was clearly an expert and a professional :) I am very happy with the results! She also waxed my eyebrows and I have no complaints and I’m very picky about that usually…
I will definitely come back!
My only comment is the place is very crammed so it was tough moving around while making sure our nails don’t touch anything.

I came in about 40 minutes before closing and they quickly accommodated me for a gel manicure, which was great!
Bad news was my thumb peeled the second day as the paint was on my cuticle and I had to get it fixed at a salon out of town for a wedding I was in. The salon looked at my nails and took a picture for training purposes for their staff since all my cuticles had started to pull away from the polish after only a day and a half. Bummed I wasn’t able to rock my gel manicure for the two weeks I anticipated. I have become pick-​happy as I do when the gel grows out and only have a few fingers remaining.

I’ve found my new go-​to spot!
I love that this salon is open until 9 PM during the week. They have the biggest gel color selection I’ve ever seen. They even offer you a complimentary beverage/​wine during your mani and/​or pedi. Everyone in the salon is very friendly and professional.
I was very pleased with my gel take off because sometimes I’ve had people be pretty rough and actually hurt me, but not the case here. The length and shape of my nails was exactly what I asked for and the gel polish looks great! They will put sunscreen on your hands to protect them from the UV light. This was the first time a salon has done this for me so at first it was a little odd, but definitely makes sense!
$ 29 for gel mani with gel take off. Cash only for tips.

Pros: The ambiance for the salon was lovely and the staff were friendly. The lead/​hostess was friendly and checked in on my friend and me as we were getting out nails done. Prices are reasonable.
Cons: the best I can describe my manicure was lazy. the second coat didn’t cover my nail, so the polish looks patchy, the top coat also didn’t cover, so the polish is chipping, and the manicurist cut me when trimming my cuticles several times. My nails were also trimmed unevenly so several are longer then others. It’s rare that I’m disappointed with the quality of a manicure, but this was rushed and it shows. I imagine this was just a one-​time issue as my friend got a great gel manicure and the reviews here are very positive, but I’m apprehensive to go back and get my nails painted again at this salon.

Visited here today because a friend got me a Groupon Spa deal for my birthday. Special included a Mani/​Pedi, European Facial and 30 min Reflexology Massage. I’ve gotten my nails done plenty of times but do not frequent the nail salon on a regular basis. I’ve had a facial once or twice before at Aveda Georgetown but I had no idea what to expect of a reflexology massage so I was a little nervous. All of the three technicians that worked on me were great! The reflexology massage (advanced foot massage) was awesome. You’re in a dimly lit room with soft music and it’s very relaxing despite the DuPont traffic just outside. Mani/​Pedi came out great and I even got a couple glasses of wine during my service! What’s not to like? Facial was last and was done by Susan who is personable and funny and seems very knowledgable about skin care. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my Spa Day!

Happened on this spa by chance. I absolute love the customer service here. Felt like a VIP. Shawana does hair upstairs and is an absolute dream to work with. My nail tech is fabulous, which is big for me because I am super picky. This place is my best kept secret… was. :)

Went here for the first time last Friday night for a manicure and it’ll be my new go-​to!
Pros:
— No appointment & no wait on a Friday night
— I was offered wine the second I stepped through the door (important)
— The technicians were the right amount of friendly but not chatty
— They didn’t try to up-​sell me on an eyebrow wax or additional services
— Nice ambiance
— Fair pricing
I’m a little reluctant to share this amazing place but you’ve got to spread the word when you find a keeper!

I met Henry, my all time favorite manicurist, here last month. At the time, Henry was the only person willing to give ombré nails a try. I shared with him how I’ve previously had it done and he quickly picked up the method during our first sit down. Today, I returned to get my nails done again and his performance was nothing short of perfection. For an additional $ 5, I was able to get the ombré nails. It took a good hour to complete but it’s worth every second! Now I’m all set for NWFW and the Grammy’s. Thanks Henry!

I’ve been coming to Dupont Nail and Spa for almost a year and I’m super happy with their services, professionalism and their customer service care. My girl, Lared is pacient and sweet, she takes her time and I never feel rushed like I do when I go to other salons. Chrissy is super accomodating with last minute appointments. Thanks ladies!

I’ve been a few more times and I’m somewhat of a regular now. My last couple of visits have gone well. No chips!

I began getting acrylics with Tiffany about a month ago. I started off with very short nails, almost zero nail bed, and basically nothing to work with. She did a fantastic job the first time, and the nails lasted 3 weeks. Then I went for a fill and by my most recent fill (pics attached), my natural nail has grown the length of the acrylics and I can tell that they are thicker than ever under the nail. Also interesting is that by my third fill, I no longer have the tip and the nails still look great, which goes to show how talented she is.
If you need to get your nails done for a special event, you need to see Tiffany. I think doing the fill ins tends to be cheaper for me $ 23/​every 2 – 3 weeks, vs $ 16 or $ 23 each week. Also, Tiffany doesn’t work on Mondays, just as a heads up! She also has a ton of patience – I’m very indecisive about nail color and she’s very calm and patient with me and will give me her opinion which helps!

Just my luck… my thumb nail (acrylic) fell off and I needed an emergency fill. I was in the neighborhood and decided to check out this salon. I was immediately pleased because they were able to sit me down as soon as I walked in the door. The salon is quaint and nicely kept. I didn’t catch my tech’s name, but she was the first chair. She was great! I got an acrylic fill with gel polish and I love the way they look. Overall the experience was wonderful, but the only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars was that they charged extra to file down my nails which is normally standard for a fill.

I moved here in May from NYC and I’ve checked out all the nail salons in the area that are on Unilocal plus a few more. This one’s the best in terms of quality of the service, price and ambience. The technicians are nice and really funny, the color selection is good, the massage chairs work well and I’ve always left with great looking nails. I’m a stickler for getting all the cuticles, and they do a wonderful job without hurting you.
The salon reminds me of NYC. One of my worries about moving here was not being able to find affordable and good quality nail salons, so I was happy to find this place. The free wine doesn’t hurt, and once they were celebrating someone’s birthday and gave me a slice of cake :)
My only (very minor) complaint is that they don’t have the plastic hands that show the colors of gel polishes available. It’s hard to tell the color of a gel polish from the bottle, so it makes picking out a color a bit of a gamble, and they rush you a bit to pick a shade.
It’s my neighborhood go to.

I have been to this nail salon quite a few times now, so I thought I’d share my experience. Great atmosphere. They accept walk-​ins and I’ve never had to wait longer than 5 minutes to be seated. I am always warmly greeted by the front receptionist which is nice. The complimentary wine is a plus! I usually get a gel manicure, but I’ve gotten a pedicure once or twice. Professional work and my nails looks great (there was one instance where my mani started chipping within five days– but they fixed it free of charge). My only downside is the eyebrow threading. I did not like how they turned out whatsoever, but they were gracious in waving the eyebrow fee which shows they really care about customer satisfaction. This is my go-​to nail/​spa salon in DC!

I just moved to the DC area and so far have not found a salon or technician to beat my gal back home. I came here because of the great location, super close to DuPont metro, and you won’t find such great prices anywhere else in DC. Jessica did my nails and they are AMAZING! Very friendly staff and great service. Place is tiny cut cozy. Finally found my go to nails salon! Highly recommend Jessica she’s awesome!

Super friendly staff and they were helpful in picking a color to go with my dress I have to wear this weekend.
Clean facility and they offered me wine/​champagne.

I was staying a few blocks away for a work conference and did a quick Unilocal search as I was in desperate need of both a mani and pedi. I walked in mid-​morning on a summer Friday. The place was under a bit of renovation, but it was still a nice, clean, and comfy atmosphere.
While getting my pedicure, I was offered a variety of beverages (water to wine).
I was looking to have my nails done to recreate something I’d seen on pinterest. My technician was great! She worked hard to recreate the look. It took a while, but she was getting it right, and that’s worth waiting for. When I went to check-​out and pay, the receptionist was shocked I’d been there so long and offered me $ 20 off my next visit. I wish I’d kept that card, because I’d definitely go back!
They have a great selection of colors, they put sublock on your hands before having you dry your nails under the UV lights, and, of course… wine!

I was craving a mani pedi and thought I had a little time to kill before the Unilocalchella (it was my first DC Unilocal event and I didn’t realize about the get there early line…). So, being a good Unilocaler I checked reviews for a place near Dupont Circle and decided to give DuPont Nails & Spa a try. I called ahead, not sure if it mattered but figured it couldn’t hurt. You have to go down a couple of stairs to get into the place. The layout inside is pretty good given the limited space. I liked the color selection and decided to go with pink fingers and a fun bright green for my toes. I used regular polish for my toes but picked within the shellac (or whatever I am suppose to call it) for my fingers.
The shellac mani and basic pedi were $ 52 together. You can upgrade the pedi for a more spa like experience. The women next to me had and was really enjoying the attention her feet were receiving (the fact that she was on her second glass of wine may have also played a roll…). Regarding the wine (& other beverages) I was not offered anything which hurt my feels at first but I think it was just each person with whom I spoke thought someone else had already offered (or maybe they could tell I was on my way to fun Unilocal event and would be taken care of shortly…)
The location was clean and fresh. The massage chairs are nice and they all seemed to be working. The polish drying stations were industrial looking and did the job pretty quickly.
If I was in this area regularly this would become my spot and my search for a good mani /​pedi location would be complete.

Pros:
— Huge selection of nail polish both gel and non-​gel — biggest selection I have ever seen at a nail salon!
— Friendly staff
— Free nail polish if you check in through Unilocal
— Reasonable price for Dupont at $ 27 for a pedicure
— Great pedicure massage
— Comfortable massage chairs
— Flat screen TVs so you can watch TV while your nails get done
— Buy the Unilocal deal so your gel manicure is only $ 27
Cons:
— Gel manicure was not very good, the polish touched my cuticle and skin so it peeled off quickly instead of lasting the normal 2 weeks
— Pedicure painting was just ok
— I overheard the receptionist telling a customer that prices are going up soon :/​
— My nails were filed too short as well
On my way to pay I noticed a piece of hair got stuck on my nail and was painted over with gel so another manicurist fixed it for me but I didn’t have time to stay back and have her fix all of my other nails as I was in a rush.

I was definitely burnt by my waxer this past eyebrow wax. Thankfully I went far enough in advance of my wedding that the burn has gone away. Not thrilled, I will have to be more picky about who my technician is.
The first eyebrow wax was great, the second not so much.

I came into Dupont Nails with long, pretty, natural nails. I left with ugly, uneven little nubs that I had to run back to the hotel to fix myself with a mini file and my husband’s nail clippers.
They looked so bad that even he was shocked. All I needed was to get my cuticles fixed up (that didn’t happen), have a dark red gel polish applied (ended up with the wrong color, and sloppy, uneven application), and a light filing/​shaping. They messed up my nail shape so much that I left with the shortest nails I’ve ever worn! I was scared to tell them that I still wasn’t happy with the shape, because I was afraid how much more they’d take off! The nail tech, Henry, was very polite and apologetic, but the fact is, he did a really bad job, and I still had to pay full price. Actually, more than full price. The sign outside said a gel mani was $ 27, and they charged me $ 30.

I used to like this place but after my experience today won’t be back. My manicurist was terrible. I asked for the razor and they said it was no longer offered, then while getting my pedicure I heard someone else being offered it. Instead of a razor he used a cheese grater on my feet and then washed it off in the same water my feet were soaking in BEFORE the massage. So I got dead skin cells all around the top of my calves after I put them back in the water. Gross! But that wasn’t even the worst part. My nails look terrible, he didn’t paint the base or sides of my nails so the nails look thin and stubby. The nails also have waves in them which I mentioned to him and he repainted some of them but not all. At that point I just wanted to get out of there. The girl at the front asked if my service was satisfactory, but I couldn’t be honest because the man who did my nails was standing right next to her.
I’d always loved this place before but with the 44 dollars I just paid for a terrible mani pedi I won’t be back.

I finally found a nail salon that is affordable yet awesome! For years, I have been looking for a nail salon that is clean, affordable, and caters to client.
Although I walked in on a Saturday evening, I walking promptly guided to the pedicure chair. Yes, it was crowded but there was enough staff to work on everyone. I was offered wine, soda, or water. WHAT??? I can get wine!!! Since I had other plans, I decided to opt for water.
Nam was the gentleman who did my mani/​pedi, and he did the best job I’ve had in my 8 years of living in the DMV. He was really sweet but extremely precise with his work.
My nails turned out fabulous, and I didn’t break the bank. I will try to come during the week since there is a discount on Shellac Monday– Thursday.
I can’t wait to return and partake in wine while I’m getting my fabulous pedicure.

If I could give this nail salon a NO STAR, I would absolutely do so.
I got a gel manicure and, although it looked fairly good when it was done, One of my nails chipped on the second day. On the fourth day of my manicure my thumbed is chipped as well.
It is very frustrating to pay 30 + tip for a manicure which is supposed to last at least 10 days and which is actually not lasting a week.
I would not recommend this naim salon. Not worth your time and money.

Quick and cheap manicure. Not the worst, but not 100% perfect either. For the price it was worth it. I’m a little disappointed their still allowing clients in though through the ongoing renovation. There was a maintenance worker wiring the ceiling and spreading drywall dust everywhere, while clients had to squeeze around all the equipment and dust off clothes just to get in and out.
They were very accommodating though for my friend and I who got our nail appointments scheduled together by letting us talk to each other for the duration and moving the stations closer. At one point my nail bumped the drying fan and Kelly redid the whole nail painting to fix it. Overall, despite significant remodeling inconvenience, the location can’t be beat and the service was extremely reasonable for the price.

Sooo this review update is specifically for the wait time. I came in two days ago, and there was a huge wait, which is fine– I understand walk-​ins can be difficult. For this reason, I made an appointment for yesterday at 5:30, under a tight schedule. When I make an appointment, I expect to be seen at that time. I had to wait 20 minutes to be seen, and had no notice that there would be this extra wait. Not cool guys…
I will say that as usual, the quality of service was great. Just unfortunate about the appointment management.

I’m new to town and I went to this establishment based off of the Unilocal reviews and lets just say, Unilocal nailed it. Sorry pun intended. The host walked around regularly asking if I was okay and I really liked that attention to detail. It made me feel like I wasn’t just another customer.
If you’re looking for a place that reasonable, has great customer service and is also not shy of offering you glasses of wine I def recommend this place. I will be back.

This will be my new nail spot! I finally found a nail technician (Izzy) that has the attention to detail, creativity and patience. I did my research and looked for the perfect spot to do my nails for NYE. Izzy’s work and professionalism lived up to the other Unilocal reviews. I showed her a Pinterest picture of what I wanted and she delivered. She was warm, friendly, and did everything I usually have to ask nail technicians to do. The service from making my appointment, adjusting my appointment, arrival and departure was spot on! The added bonus was that they offer complimentary wine, tea, and water! Andddd, they are a one stop shop with organic facials, massages, and hair services. Color me impressed!
My only critique would be that my scheduled appointment didn’t start until 20 mins later. I expected that though, it was NYE.