Beautiful nails. Never damaged.

It is the question we are asked most, and it is a fair one. What damages a nail is almost never the product applied : it is pressure and depth. A nail worked too far down before the application, a removal rushed through, and it thins for good. We take the applied product off layer by layer and stop above your own nail, even if that costs a few more minutes. And if your nails are too thin to take an application that day, we tell you and suggest something else, even if it costs less than what you came in for.

No, and it is in fact the case we see most often. BIAB gel sheathes the natural nail and protects it while it grows out : it acts as a splint, with no tips and no added length. Allow three to four applications, roughly three months, to get back to a normal thickness. The before and after images above are exactly these cases.

No, and you should not leave with splitting nails. Removal is done gently and without forcing : we take off what was applied, layer by layer, and stop above your own nail. If you feel heat or any discomfort, just say so : we stop and work another way, it is not meant to be unpleasant. And we do not shorten your nails by default to save time : if a trim is genuinely needed, we ask you first.

A well applied gel polish lasts three weeks ; a hard gel or BIAB, up to four. What makes the difference is not the brand of polish, it is the preparation : cuticles, surface, edges. That is precisely the part we never rush. If a nail chips or lifts within 7 days anyway, our guarantee applies : come back, we redo it, at no charge.

The opposite, and we understand why walk-ins might suggest otherwise. An appointment puts a stopwatch on the chair : when the next client is booked for 3 pm, the 2 pm treatment gets compressed to finish on time. Here nobody holds a slot, so nothing pushes your technician to cut things short. The times in our menu are an estimate to help you plan your day ; when a hand needs ten more minutes, it gets them.

Sometimes a few minutes, rarely more. When you arrive we tell you honestly where we are and you decide : wait, or wander the neighbourhood and come back, la Rotonde is two minutes away. We would rather quote you an honest wait than shorten the treatment of the client already in the chair. Mornings are quietest, and online booking stays open if your day has no room for the unexpected.

What is shown on the menu, removal included where the line says so. The price of your treatment is confirmed out loud before we begin. If an extra step turns out to be useful during the treatment, we give you the price and you decide. Nothing appears on the bill that you have not agreed to.

It is a Japanese scalp treatment. You stay dressed, lying down, your head resting in a basin : a wash, a long massage of the scalp, neck and shoulders, a rinse, then a gentle dry. It is not a hairdressing appointment, there is no cut and no blow-dry, and you leave with your hair done rather than soaking.

And no : nobody expects you to talk. You can keep your eyes shut from start to finish, many of our clients fall asleep. One piece of advice to make it last : do not rewash your hair within 24 hours.

Instruments disinfected between every client, single-use files and buffers, station cleaned before each treatment. The tools are taken out of their pouch in front of you : you do not have to ask. This holds on a busy Saturday afternoon too, because that is exactly when standards slip elsewhere.

Yes, and it is arranged at the salon. Drop in or give us a call and we will put the gift together with you, for whichever treatment you choose. We do not issue gift vouchers online yet, but that does not stop you offering a treatment.