See the end of the review for an update.I just took my daughter to Glama Gal for her birthday. This was her first "spa" experience. When I called to set up the appointment I was told that they have ... Read More
See the end of the review for an update.I just took my daughter to Glama Gal for her birthday. This was her first "spa" experience. When I called to set up the appointment I was told that they have a mommy & daughter package, and both would get a manicure and a pedicure, but that they don't cut out the dead skin around the nail and that they use the OPI nail polish (which is generally good quality). We would also get a photo to take home. In addition to that I ordered a craft - my daughter would get to make her own lipgloss or lipstick to take home. The cost for the package was $45 for each person (didn't matter whether adult or child), and the cost for the craft was $10.When we showed up for the day we were greeted and got crocs for our feet and spa robes to put on over our clothes. The salon looks pretty nice if you don't pay close attention to the paint job. Fairly pleasant overall. However, one thing that I noticed right away was that there were no manicure tables or pedicure chairs. I thought that it was odd, but figured that it would work somehow. We got to go into a small room and pick out some bath fizzies that would go into the soaking water. We also got vanilla ice cream to eat during out pedicures. This was the end of the good part.The pedicures were received with us sitting on a couch. My daughter had to have a bunch of pillows behind her, as she wasn't tall enough to sit comfortably. Our feet got to soak in 2 large bowls (definitely not large enough for adult feet). The nailpolish that I had on my feet was left on during the soak, and the soak itself took about 2 minutes. There was no nail cutting, no cuticle cutting (that I was aware of, from the phone conversation, but I did expect to have the rest of the pedicure/manicure). A bit of filing with the cheapest, harshest nailfile you could find. The nailpolish was old (even though it was OPI brand), and I had to ask them to put thinner into it, so it would go on the nails in some acceptable manner. We had 1 person do everything, which meant a wait for one of us at all times.When the pedicures were done we went over to a bar where they apparently do manicures (as opposed to regular tables). The chairs at the bar were regular, so again, my daughter couldn't reach. I found this odd, as the place says that they serve children from the age of 6. She had to get a chair from the person who was doing the manicure, just so she could put her hands up on the bar. The person doing the manicures/pedicures had no clue what she was supposed to do beyond just painting nails. She said that she had 1 year of experience in this place, but didn't study for this. She was unable to cover the whole nail or to make the nailpolish go on smoothly (this might have been just the crappy polish). The photo that was printed had two huge finger smudges on it, and had to be redone. Also, no nail dryers available at all, making it much harder for the polish to dry, especially on the hands of children.I would definitely NOT recommend this place beyond a one time shot for a child, for the "general feeling". The manicures and pedicures were atrocious, and even though we spent 1.5 hours at the "spa", our nails were still getting smudged when we came home another hour later. This is too expensive for just the experience. If they got some real manicurists, this place would make sense, otherwise - don't bother.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Jan 5, 2012 UPDATE - I just received a phone call from the owner. She was very pleasant, and appologized profusely for what happened. Apparently, she was away due to a family emergency during the time of our appointment, and was not able to oversee her business. She seemed very interested in improving it, and offered me a refund and a chance to try them again.She also explained some things - she said that the steel bowls are easier to disinfect due to not having jets, and that they have a smaller table for manicures that they should have used. Also, they should have put a quick drying coat on top of our nailpolish, which they didn't do. Finally, she said that they have 3 esthetitians, but the one who was supposed to be working that day called in sick.I believe that the owner truly cares about her business and is sincere about improving it. The fact that she is able to acknowledge mistakes and work on them is already more than what 99% of business owners are able to do. 5 stars for the owner, and her personal service. I guess it may we worth a try if the owner is there, as well as an esthetitian. Read Less