Rachel’s Nails & Coffee Reviews
34 Windmill Street, Fitzrovia, London, W1T 2JR
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3025 reviews
Summary: bleeding and hurting cuticles, ugly shape of the nails and almost a nervous breakdown being scared of the infection from this place while 8 months pregnant.
Full story: I booked for 1 hour deluxe manicure, which was supposed to be an indulgence and this place looked it would be really nice! Beautiful decor, great location.
Being 8 months pregnant and very health conscious, I didn't want to use any nail polish on my nails, which I made the therapist aware of from the beginning. I said for this deluxe manicure I just want you to cut my nails short (they were quite long and almond shaped), give them a nice shape and cuticle tidy. Surely anyone can do this job in 1 hour dedicated to this treatment.
The manicure lasted 15 minutes and here it is step by step:
1. No disinfecting or washing the hands, straight to cutting the nails.
2. Rough shaping
3. Not cuticle, but liquid SOAP applied to cuticles and then a sharp metal instrument used to push the cuticles back which was a little bit painful.
4. Fingers soaked in the water for a bit
5. Cuticles cut off. At this stage the therapist cut my cuticle too deep and it started BLEEDING. She said sorry and just left it there. I asked if she could please use some disinfectant on the cut. With her head down, she simply ignored my question and continued working on other nails.
The skin around the nail on the cut finger is still bloody one hour after the "manicure". It was 5 minutes into the treatment when she cut me and the remaining 10 minutes I was growing more and more anxious :( I asked her several times if she could please look for something to disinfect the cut with, as her putting my finger in the water (that was used for soaking the nails at the beginning) and wrapping it in hot towel didn't stop the bleeding. I said I can't believe that at a salon they wouldn't have at least the first aid kit. She then asked her colleague something in Chinese and she brought out a small bottle with blue liquid, they put one drop of that on the cut and it was stinging a lot.
The shape is horrible as you can see from the photo. I did ask the therapist nicely to try filing the nails again to give them a more rounded shape, but it seems like she is simply not capable of that.
After the treatment I spoke to a person who was by the reception (another nails technician). They took my name and number. I said I was really concerned, being 8 months pregnant I wouldn't want to get any infection! Usually at other places I'd go for a manicure, they would take out the instruments from a sealed bag or at least from a sanitiser. At Coco Rachel Nails, the instruments they used on me were simply lying there on the table when I came there, I don't know where they came from and the table didn't look very clean. The tool that she cut my skin with and got my blood on later she simply put on the table next to me, which I didn't see them clean before they started with another client there.
I got so upset after the manicure, which was supposed to be a nice treat, that I cried outside the salon and called my doctor. I then went back in to ask them again how they sterilise the instruments so that at least knowing that hopefully some precautionary measures were taken, it would give me some peace of mind. There wasn't a receptionist at the entrance, all the people there were busy with clients doing treatments. One of the manicurists came over to me, as I was waiting by reception and I asked them about disinfection at the salon, I explained that I was really concerned about getting an infection being in such a vulnerable state of pregnancy with my first, she just pointed at the corner of the salon saying there is an 'enclave' (? not sure what that is) there. That was reassuring. Not.
For your peace of mind, stay away from this place. Don't get lured in by the nice decor (and higher prices for services) thinking that it is a modern place with good quality service. It is not. I wish I could upload photos here to show you what my hands look like...
Treatment by Abby T•Manicure
The place is nice, but I did not appreciate having my hollywood wax being done all in one go! Very unnecessarily painful!
Hollywood WaxingShow all…
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