Ninety minutes to two hours

The first five minutes decide the rest.

Shape, length and structure get settled before anything is filed, because all three are much easier to change now than at minute seventy. Here is what happens and what to bring.

The Gilded Nail / Your first visit

i · 5 min

The consult

Your tech looks at your natural nails, asks what you do with your hands all day, and settles shape, length and which service. This is where a photo does more than any description.

ii · 20 min

The prep

Dry cuticle work, shaping, and dehydrating the plate. The least interesting part of the appointment and the part that decides whether it lifts at week two.

iii · 45–70 min

The build

Product on, apex shaped, cured, hand-filed. Ten fingers, one at a time, no drill on the natural nail at any point.

iv · 10 min

Colour and finish

Colour, tier-one art if you want it, cuticle oil, and a look under real light before you pay rather than after.

Turn up With bare nails,
or do not worry
about it

With a photo

Having eaten

Not in a rush

Come with bare nails if you can

If you are wearing a set from somewhere else, say so when you book so the slot includes a removal. Turning up with acrylic on and a ninety-minute booking means either a rushed removal or a rebooking, and neither is a good start.

If it is your own polish, do not bother taking it off. It comes off in ninety seconds here.

What the consult decides

What you do with your hands. This is the question that actually determines the answer. Typing all day, lifting at the gym, gardening, playing an instrument, small children: each of those rules something out, and it is much better to hear it now than to pay for a set that fails on Thursday.

Shape. Read choosing a shape if you want to arrive decided. Almond and squoval survive most lives; stiletto and long coffin survive almost none of them.

Structure versus length. Most people book length and need structure. If your nails bend or peel, builder gel will do more for you than an extension will.

Afterwards

Nothing to avoid, nothing to recover from. Cuticle oil once a day is the whole aftercare, and it does more for how long a set lasts than any product you can buy.

The practical answers.

How long does a nail appointment take?

Ninety minutes for soft gel, closer to two hours for a full set with art. Add half an hour if you are wearing a set that needs removing.

Can I bring my own nail polish?

Yes, and about one client in twenty does. There is no charge and no eye-roll.

What if I do not like my nails?

Say so before you pay. It gets changed there and then. That is much easier than a phone call the next day, though we will fix that too within seventy-two hours at no charge.

Do you take walk-ins?

Sometimes, and never for a full set. Call first; the desk knows which chairs have a gap and it changes hourly.

Do I tip?

If you want to, sure. Nobody here is counting. Techs here rent their chairs and set their own prices, so what you pay is what they earn.

Come with a photo.

It settles shape, length and art in about ninety seconds. Full sets book roughly five days out.

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