Salon Review - The Best Nail Spa In Islamabad?
I'm kicking off the series with a visit to Shades Nail Spa & Salon which has opened up recently in F-10 Markaz. They're housed in an entire tower so you won't miss it for sure. The first floor is cosmetics, the second is clothes etc and the third is their spa. Now climbing the stairs of those first two floors I didn't expect anything too fancy when I stopped into the salon, but I was very pleasantly surprised.
So this is where you enter the salon from.
Look towards your left and you'll see their billing area.
Look right in front, they have their nail bar with a HUGE variety of nail polishes, including tons of OPI and Essie!
Towards your right is the pedicure and manicure area! How serene does this look? I love those huge windows, they bring in so much light and airy-ness to the area.
And the view from those windows? It's pretty damn good! I had a glance outside the window and sat right next to it. Sitting with a view like this and getting an pretty amazing manicure and pedicure? It really was the ultimate relaxation for me haha.
So once I selected the services I wanted, I went to the nail bar and took my sweet time picking out the shades I wanted for my manicure and pedicure. I really liked how none of the girs were standing on my head and pressurizing me to choose quickly. I opted for a blue from OPI for my pedicure, sadly forgot the name. And a white for my manicure.
So on to the manicure and pedicure, everyone will be pleased to hear that they sterilize all their products and most of them are disposable so they open them up right in front of you and throw them away too. From the scrubs to the lotions and everything, it was all in proper containers with the 'SHADES' monogram so no sketchy Miss Hollywood stuff could be seen haha. Also they didn't use any bleach on me because I told them I have issues with it.
Both the girls who were working on me were super lovely, attentive and seriously knew how to do their massages. They even threw in a mini massage for me so that was a pretty big plus!
When it comes to nail polish application, it was flawless. They started with base coats and wrapped up with top coats and had a drying station too so I don't go and ruin my new pedicure straight away by walking out when it's still wet.
Saira did my nail art, on my accent fingers on both hands and she took her time doing it. She's so patient and hardworking, plus she made a tiny mistake and started all over, since she wanted it to be perfect.
Here's the end result. A beautiful royal blue on my toes and a spruced up white mani for my hands. Both accent fingers have delicate yellow roses with green leaves on them on a background of black and white stripes and the rest of my fingers have gold and green specks of glitter fading away. I LOVED it - sadly I can't seem to capture it on camera but trust me, this look fantastic!
When it comes to nail art, they have a huge selection for you to choose from, seriously - these girls have an entire encyclopedia worth of designs to choose from and they replicate it perfectly!
Incase you guys can't tell, I enjoyed both the service a ton, and had such a relaxing time at the salon!
I'd give this salon a 4.5/5
Services I availed -
Shades Spa Mani - PKR 1200
Shades Pedi - PKR 1,100
Simple Nail Art - PKR 150/nail
Also great news, if you go to the salon in between 11am and 2pm you get 30% off for nail services - I availed this offer to making it super affordable!
They do a whole lot of other stuff like Acrylics and Gel nails etc in case you guys are interested in that.
They do a whole lot of other stuff like Acrylics and Gel nails etc in case you guys are interested in that.
If you guys do plan on going there - please ask for Saira, she's amazing!
Location -
Warraich Plaza
F- 10 Markaz Islamabad
051 2223119