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How to choose a manicure salon: 8 questions to ask before booking

Everyone has beautiful photos on Instagram. The health of your nails depends on what the photos don’t show – here’s what to ask about it.

A manicure seems like a harmless treatment, but the master works with your skin, cuticle and nail plate, so hygiene and technique matter here as much as in any room where skin is touched. A good salon answers all the questions below calmly and in detail. If they get irritated or just say “everything is sterile here” without explaining – that’s an answer too.

1. How are the instruments sterilised?

A good answer: metal instruments go through the full cycle – disinfection, cleaning and sterilisation in a professional certified steriliser – and are then kept in a sealed kraft pouch that the master opens in front of you.

Bear in mind that a kraft pouch on its own guarantees nothing: its indicator changes colour in a household drying cabinet too, and in a cheap dry-heat oven that doesn’t hold the right temperature. So ask what exactly they sterilise in, and ask to be shown. A salon with nothing to hide won’t mind.

At Hide: instruments are sterilised in a medical dry-heat steriliser, and the master opens the kraft pouch in front of you.

2. Are the files single-use?

A file or buffer can’t be sterilised: the abrasive absorbs particles of skin and nail. So files must be either single-use or have a replaceable abrasive strip that is changed for every client. If the file comes out of a shared cup – better leave.

At Hide: single-use files and replaceable pads for every guest, separate for manicure and for pedicure.

3. Which technique do they use?

A cut manicure is done with scissors and nippers: the cuticle is cut off, and any imprecise movement means a cut. Regular cutting also makes the cuticle grow faster.
A hardware manicure is done with drill bits: it is quick, but an inexperienced master can file through the nail plate or damage the skin at the base of the nail.
A file manicure is an atraumatic technique: the cuticle and keratinised skin are removed with files, living tissue isn’t touched. The result lasts longer every time.

More in our articles what a file manicure is and what types of manicure there are.

At Hide: we specialise in file manicure – 230 000 UZS, and also do hardware – 190 000 UZS and Japanese – 350 000 UZS (prices without coating).

4. What is the gel polish made of?

Gel polish allergy is more common than you might think, and it usually doesn’t show up straight away but after several treatments: itching, redness, flaking around the nail. The main culprit is HEMA, an ingredient of many gel polishes. Ask whether the salon has HEMA-free formulas and whether you can do an allergy test in advance.

At Hide: we have our own hypoallergenic HEMA-free gel polishes and can do an allergy test before the treatment. More in the article on gel polish allergy.

5. How much time is set aside for the treatment?

If masters book clients back to back, there’s no time to work carefully: rushing is the main cause of cuts, uneven coating and chips a week later. Ask how long the treatment takes and whether the master has time between clients to prepare the workstation.

If you’re short on time, look for a salon where several services can be done at once. At Hide manicure and pedicure are done with 4 or 6 hands – at no extra charge for the second and third master.

6. What’s included in the price?

The “from” price in an ad and the total on the bill often differ. Check in advance what the service includes: coating, removal of the old coating, strengthening, design, care.

At Hide manicure prices are listed without coating, and coating is charged separately: gel polish – 165 000 UZS, gel polish removal – 70 000 UZS. All prices are open on the Prices page.

7. What happens if the coating lifts?

Even a good master has failures sometimes: a chip on day two or lifting at the cuticle. What matters is what the salon does about it. A good answer is a free fix; a bad one is “that’s just your nails”.

At Hide: a guarantee on the work and a free fix if something goes wrong.

8. What do the reviews on maps say?

The salon picks its own Instagram photos, but reviews on maps are written by clients. Read not only the rating but the texts too, especially the latest ones: they show how the salon works now and how it handles complaints.

At Hide: 5.0 on Yandex Maps and 5.0 on Google. Client reviews in full are on the Reviews page.

Warning signs

– instruments come out of a drawer or a cup rather than a sealed pouch;
– the file is already worn or unwrapped;
– the master cuts the cuticle “extra clean”, until it’s red and bleeding;
– after the coating the skin around the nail turns red and itches – a reason to tell the master and switch the product;
– questions about sterilisation get vague answers.

And one more thing – where you’ll be sitting

This isn’t about health but about pleasure: a manicure with coating, let alone together with a pedicure, takes more than ten minutes, and spending all that time in a shared hall amid other people’s chatter and the noise of a hairdryer isn’t the same as relaxing. At Hide you get a private room one-on-one with the master, and a massage chair in the pedicure area.

Where we are

Tashkent, Taras Shevchenko St, 22 – Mirabad district, city centre. Daily from 10:00 to 20:00. Parking is available.

Book online, on Instagram, Telegram or call +998 50 10 40 941.

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