Sara does a great job on my nails. I’ve been going to her salon for three years every two weeks and she does a very nice job. She pays attention to detail and is professional. It is untrue about nail fungus and an unclean salon. I will continue to have Sara do my nails. The salon is on Islington St past Hong Kong Express on the right, next to experimac. Read Less

Thank you so much Sarah beautiful detail on my nails and she keeps her salon clean and neat, very comfortable and great experience. I will definitely be back!!! It is untrue about Sarah having a dirty salon or fungus on her nails! Read Less

I would definitely not get a manicure here. Cleanliness level was one of the worst I've ever seen at a nail salon. Place was empty.. and What was really concerning is that the nail tech seemed to have really clear fungus growth all over the bed of her own nails and was not using any protection. Also the towels and paper towels that they put down didn't look very clean. Read Less

Sarah always makes sure to find time to fit me in! My mom and I have loved going to her for years. It's the best manicure ever, cleans up my dry skin and gets rid of my nasty hangnails - all for $13!! When I find time I love getting a pedicure too - make sure to wear sweat pants so she can exfoliate and give you an amazing calf massage before the polish goes on! Read Less

I chose this place as a last minute resort to get a mani pedi before a wedding. She told me she could do express since the only appointment she had was only an hour and a half before the wedding started. She was polite on the phone and I had confidence. When I got there she was still working on filing the acrylics on the woman before me. When my appointment time came she said it would be another 10 mins. 15 mins later she sat me. I cancelled my pedicure and decided on just the manicure to save time. I asked her to cut my nails just a tiny bit and shape them square. I came in with beautiful nails that got cut to uneven sharp nubs. When I asked her to fix them she said they looked good. I told her no they look BAD and she said no one else complains and that if I wanted them done that way I should have gone somewhere else for more money. I wish I had. Read Less

Worst manicure I have ever received. Sarah is the only worker in there and she has no idea what she is doing. All of my nails are crooked and cut as short as she possibly could and all of my friends nails are bleeding. Do. Not. Go. Here. Read Less

DO NOT GO HERE!!! This was honestly the worst nail experience I have ever had. I felt incredibly uneasy after because my toes were just butchered to say the least. I told her do not clip them too short, immidialty she trims them down to the quick and now they hurt because of this. I said OUCH several times because she dug me trimming the cuticles which I polity asked her not to do and she just kept going on how it looks cleaner as I sat there wincing. I wanted to walk out. She took the cuticle clipper and scraped my nail with it! She was literally scraping my nail bed like with a file!! Normally they trim off a little of the dead skin and I have had pedicures for many years and NEVER has it hurt EVER, she dug me with them. And then the paint job she did was deplorable she completely flooded the cuticle, and globbed on the polish and had to go in with a brush and fix EVERY NAIL and they are still a mess. A small spot here or there is normal, this was just sloppy. I am very upset to be honest because this is supposed to be a fun and calming experience and it was just stressfull. I went home and put rubbing alcohol and antibiotic ointment on my toes because I didnt want them to get infected and they are tender and it feels like I have a cut on the top of my big toes. I know how a good clean pedicure should be done, and she made so many errors that could result in some serious consciences I would not tell anyone to go here. Read Less

The first time I went to Sarah was via coupon deal. I had read the good/bad reviews on Facebook, Goggle and Yelp. I found her salon to be clean and she did a great job. My only complaint was she cut the nails too short and my 'flower' was just a bunch of squiggly lines, not definitive as ones in the past by others were. She did pay attention to a toe that had fungus and that impressed me and I went back. The second time it was again good until she was selling me a bottle of fungus polish to use for $5. TWICE she said $5. and at checkout she said $12. I told her she told me twice $5. and she began to argue with me. Had that not happened, I would have gone back. There was no language barrier. She said $5. Read Less

The worst nail place I have ever been too. Two days after I got nails done I have a black something growing under my nails. She dropped file on floor twice and picked it up and used it without washing. Two weeks later my fill has tuned yellow and black nail still there. She was awful rough and cut  me in a few places. This place is dirty and was empty for the whole two hours I was there. That alone told me never to go back. Stay away!!!!!! Read Less

Sarah is a wonderful, friendly presence at her nail salon. I've been going there for 5 years and Strictly Nails is my go to place for a great pedicure. The salon and tools are cleaned and sanitized between customers, and Sarah goes out of her way to make you feel welcomed as your enter. Highly recommend her skills, and she gives the best leg massage around! Read Less

Seriously the worst manicure I've ever received. I'm bleeding, my nails are all sorts of crooked/short, and the sanitary practices here are questionable. The pedicure was not great either. The water was luke warm, and she hurt my toes cutting my nails super short. The nail polish seems old, and I watched her add what seemed to be nail polish remover to both the gel polish and the regular OPI polish. Right after my pedicure she took an unexpected pedicure in the middle of my appointment. I had gel on my nails when I came, and she used an electric nail file to remove it which hurt a lot. She then handed me a dirty buffer (picture attached), and told me to remove the rest. My finger nails were long, and she messily filed them down super short without my permission. In addition to being super short they were crooked as well. When I pointed this out, I was told my fingers were actually crooked not my nails. She didn't have the color I chose, so she pressured me into allowing her to make a color by combining two different ones. Wasn't horrible, but not exactly what I wanted. She ended up getting very upset when I pointed out all of the faults during the process, and only charged for my pedicure. My older brother is getting married tomorrow, so I have to get them fixed now. Read Less

The woman cut my friends pedi way too short and actually drew blood. I asked for square tipped nails and she file them to where they are noticeably uneven. She took forever to buff and clip my cuticles an there is still stray pieces of skin. Finally get to the en of the visit and go to pay and she only then says she doesn't accept cards. I don't carry cash or checks so had to find another way to pay. Poor experience overall Read Less

Today was my first time here.  I called right before Sarah closed right before a big snow storm.  I am sure that she was ready to go home before the storm gets bad... But she stayed! Sarah was the friendliest salon owner I have come across in Portsmouth! I moved here from SF in August and went to a fancy nail salon that was all looks and no service, not to mention, my gel didn't ever last!! So fancy or not, I am all about great customer service and quality.  I am not sure why there are bad reviews about this nail salon on yelp but my guess is that a small business can't afford to pay the big fees to manipulate reviews!! I just hope that people give it a try and judge for themselves. You will not regret it!I will be back in two weeks to see you Sarah!Thank you so much for my gel and pedi! My nails look amazing! Read Less

Yes, I loved Sarah and the services!  Her attention to detail is most appreciated, since I'd like my gels to withstand three-weeks and they have!  Most affordable in the area and easy to walk in or call quickly for a scheduled service.  Looking forward to a return. Read Less

Give Sarah another shot.  She is a very sweet woman who is doing her best to own a business by herself.  She was a little rough with my nails but honestly, they needed it.  There is a bit of a language barrier but she tries her best.  Just stand your ground on what you do and don't want done and she will do it.  She is not from here so just remember that. Read Less

I have gone to Sarah a few times now and loved every experience. I tell her I don't want my cuticles cut and she LISTENS. I don't know about all of these other people who didn't enjoy their experience, maybe you were not clear about what you wanted or not stern enough, I'm not sure, but she listens to me and does a great job every time. The pedicure is the cheapest and absolutely the best in town for sure. She takes her time and does a great massage! I think she is so adorable and so funny. I have also gotten shellac which turned out great and acrylics and she did them EXACTLY how I asked her! I wouldn't listen to the bad reviews on here, if you scroll to the bottom of the page there are "15 hidden reviews" read those, they are almost all 5 stars! Again if you just tell her to be easy with you and tell her exactly what you want, that's what you will get!:) Read Less

Just got another fabulous mani/pedi from Sarah.She has to be the most talented of anyone around.Her design work is impeccable and very unique.I feel safe here because the girls are always cleaning up.Ive been going there for about four months,and have always been satisfied with the price and more than satisfied with the talent.She is is very detailed, my nail beds have never been so large.They have hot stones there too,so I am taking my boyfriend Sunday. Read Less

I have never had an expieriance like this!  I am conflicted in my review because sarah the owner did my nails.  She was nice and the nails look beautiful problem is she was so rough she made every finger bleed from the electric file!  Then she sprayed alchohol on it as if it didnt already hurt bad enough!  You could see they were bleeding it was totaly obvious!  Husband came to pick me up and he saw how my fingers were bleeding and he was MAD.  He didnt want to pay her.  I told him just pay and lets gets out of here!  She is a very nice person but didnt listen when I said it hurts.  Nails are very pretty and well shaped but she needs to be more gentle amd listen to her clients.  Thank goodness I didnt get the pedicure I contimplated! Read Less

I got a pedicure here a couple of weeks ago. Over all the experience was okay. I work on my feet, so getting my feet massaged and exfoliated is something I really look forward to. The woman who performed my pedicure was very friendly, but not gentle. I have a toenail that sometimes becomes ingrown and even though I pointed out that that toe was tender, the generally relaxing experience was punctuated by moments of sharp pain. The nails look nice, though. I didn't want a design, but she insisted and so (after I refused three times) I let her paint on my pedicure. It's interesting, but I will not get a design next time. Read Less

I had a great manicure experience here. I went in for a gel manicure on recommendation of my mother and was very impressed at the selection of colors. Sarah, the owner, is an incredibly nice lady, and she did a really good job. a lot of gel manicures end up looking thick and chunky but she knew what she was doing and did a really great job. It is also the cheapest place in the area in terms of price. I'll definitely go back. Read Less

I went in for a manicure and pedicure. Both were very rough and painful. It was definitely the worst nail salon experience I have ever had. 7 of my fingernails were left bleeding. I actually left halfway through the manicure since I was in pain and did not want to get even more sores. My toenails were bleeding as well and she put a warm towel on my legs that smelled like mildew. I would not recommend Strictly Nails to anyone. Read Less

This was the worst nail experience I've EVER had - if I could put 0 stars, I would!  Based upon these reviews on Yelp, I thought this would be my new nail place in Portsmouth.  All I want are clean, pretty nails - I don't need to have the "spa" experience every time like at the Wingate, but I want to make sure that again, I have clean, pretty nails.  Pretty basic, right?!?Sarah, the owner, did my nails.  First, she tried to use a already used cuticle cutter (it still had the dead skin in it from the previous client).  When I asked her about it, she said it was clean.....hmm.  Secondly, she was extremely rough on my cuticles.  I asked her 5 times if she could be more gentle, but in the end, two of my cuticles were bleeding.When she was shaping my nails, many of them were not well shaped, so I had to go back and ask her to reshape them a few times.  However, she left the edges pretty rough and did not buff them over to make them smooth.  In the end, they are still not that well shaped.At the end of my experience, my nails are not evenly shaped, the color is inconsistent on the nails, and my shellac nails are very dull (she ran out of top coat for the gel nails).  I've never had an experience like this and I will never go back there.  I was tempted to leave after the cuticle experience, but I thought "How much worse can it get" - well, much worse!Please save your money and try somewhere else! Read Less

Sarah did an amazing job for me!  I went in hoping to get a pedi, and Sarah was able to schedule me for a mani too.  She was such a nice woman, smart, knowing when to talk and when to let you relax and not have to respond.  That to me is a sign of someone paying attention.  She gave me one of the best hand/arm massages I've ever had, used this wonderful sea salt mixture to exfoliate, and gave me a natural manicure because I don't like paint on my fingers.  My hard working hands never looked better!Now that the litmus test has been passed, let's talk about the excellent pedicure!  Not only did she have wonderful massage chairs with hot water soaks (I don't love the bin on the floor soak, I want a massage chair!) and it was devine!  Sarah has strong and capable hands, and knows her business.  At the last minute I asked if she could make a design on my toes, and she did it so expertly and beautifully with no fuss.If you want an excellent mani/pedi or any of the other great services Sarah serves up at New Strictly Nails, call and ask for Sarah and she'll take good care of you!I would most certainly recommend Sarah to friends, family and strangers alike.  I felt this was a good value and she didn't rush me through my services, even though some drops in walked in.  She made us all feel welcome and it was a friendly atmosphere. Read Less

I followed Vicki here after she made a move from L.A. Nails.  I found the salon very clean, relaxing and in a great location. I love that I don't have to deal with downtown parking plus it's close to Hannaford's, Rite Aid and Bank of America. I have been going to Vicki for more years than I can remember and I would follow her anywhere! I get the same great mani/pedi in a much more relaxing environment. I highly recommend this salon. Read Less