This review is specifically for nails. I had decided to give Denny Kemp a try after not falling in love with my experience at Haus Salon (see review).When calling to schedule the appointment, the fron... Read More
This review is specifically for nails. I had decided to give Denny Kemp a try after not falling in love with my experience at Haus Salon (see review).When calling to schedule the appointment, the front desk staff was very friendly. I had to change the appointment a few times, and they were always accommodating. I think the one thing missing was once they realized I was a new client, no one asked me if I knew about the parking lot that is across Central (which is free), and no one offered information about parking (meters that are only 2 hours). I am used to being able to walk or park in an adjacent lot for my previous nail place (the person is now retired), and it slipped my mind to ask about parking.Denny Kemp is a very large and busy salon. When I checked in, I asked if my appointment was longer than 2 hours since I had parked at a 2 hour meter. The person said yes, but then did not venture to ask, "Would you like us to watch your meter? We can fill it for you," etc. So then I stated, "I'll need to pop out to fill the meter." Only until I said that did the guy say, "Oh, we can fill the meter for you." A caveat is that this would be added to your bill at the end, which is good to note since some salons will fill your meter for you for no charge. When checking in, no mention was made of the parking lot.Once checked in, I was led back to the nail area, which felt a little like the atrium of a large and modern house. Jen is their main nail person (not to be confused with Jen the esthetician). I think at the moment there is another stylist who also does nails who is helping her out with their increased number of clients. The pedicure was great. I liked the shaping, and boy did Jen get a lot of skin off the bottoms of my feet! (It had been 2 months since my last pedicure.) She had my favorite red (OPI Big Apple).I also was in to get gel nails. Fortunately, Denny Kemp uses LED curing. I found out that Jen does buy her own collection of Gelish polishes, while the salon stocks CND Shellac. So, if you are picky about your gel polish, I would see Jen (and not the other gal, who uses what the salon has in stock). I was a little confused as to why the salon not stock Gelish, but it wasn't a huge deal for me. I requested a french manicure, and Jen made sure to pick out an opaque white. The bottle looked a little old, but I said that was fine. Jen noted that if there were any issues that I should come back, so she could fix it. I appreciated that. Her attention to detail to my cuticles (which are always rough), and to the precision of the french manicure were great. It was very close to what I was used to with my former beloved nail person.My one issue is that the price for a gel manicure is $60, not including a $5 for soak-off. That would be 30% more what I was paying at my former nail place (located in the North Loop at a high end salon). I have been getting my nails done for 12 years and am well-versed in what one should do, so I am happy to put cotton balls and acetone wrapped with foil to soak off my own nails rather than pay an extra $5 for someone else to do the same. But I'm sure that decision is made by management and not Jen. In my mind though, if I'm paying 30% more, I expect the outcome to match and hopefully exceed the great work my former nail person did.I left the nail area happy. When checking out, the person asked, "So is there a 50 cent add on for parking?" I replied, "I think so if the person actually filled the meter." I just thought it was an odd question to ask - either you filled the meter and state that it would be an add on or you didn't (and I'd have a lovely ticket on my car). I checked out, and thankfully the meter was filled.The gels did well for about a week. The white did fade a bit, but I just did not have time to get back to Denny Kemp to have Jen redo them. More disappointing was that my pedicure chipped on the big toe two days later (and my feet were not shoved into shoes after the pedicure or put through any undue stress that would affect the polish). I thought about going back to get the toe fixed, but I decided I'd just get a bottle and fix it myself.Overall, I would go back to Jen for her pedicures. I'm a little undecided on whether I would get gels again given the higher prices. The front desk did not wow me, but they weren't bad enough for me to never go there again. Read Less