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| Photo courtesy of: flickr/negativityabundant |
I walked in the door and the new owner of the salon, Puna Javzandolgor, greeted me right away. She clearly and POLITELY answered my questions, including the cost of services. Not only were her prices better, but when I asked her about the bubble tea that was part of the previous owner’s offering, she stated, “No. We don’t do bubble tea. We do nails.” I liked her right away. Satisfied with my assessment of the changes at Denver Nail Lounge, I decided to give the salon a try the following day.
At 10:45 the next morning I officially became a huge pain in Puna’s ass. I hate to admit the following but I must do so in order to give her the credit she deserves. My appointment was to begin at 11:00 a.m. and I called her to say that I wouldn’t be coming as I had overestimated that time slot. We rescheduled for 5:30 p.m. In the meantime I still hadn’t found an outfit that was befitting of the long night of dancing that lay ahead. Tommy Lee was brining DJ Aero and Sofi to Beta and it was certain to be a hell of a show. (When else can you mashup your rocker heart with your dancing body?) I wanted to look sultry because experience has shown that Tommy likes to ...
party with fans backstage. In my quest for perfection I again lost track of time and showed up late to my rescheduled appointment.
Assuming I had blown my chance to get my nails done, I was irritated with myself and turned to leave. One of the staff members was on the phone with Puna and told her that I had showed up, albeit late. The lady told me to wait. To my astonishment Puna turned her car around, paid the meter again and returned to the shop to do my nails. I quickly realized that Puna isn’t f#$!ing around when it comes to running her business. When she arrived, a frantic mess ensued because of my time constraints. I simply didn’t leave enough time for her to do a good job and she didn’t want to lose a new client. Her effort to secure my business me was stellar, but also messy because of the craziness. I originally intended to have my acrylic nails removed (yes I still like to rock long, flashy nails!) and have a new set put on. Puna doesn’t do old school acrylic nails so she had to accommodate me with something else. She applied an alternative that would be easy to remove if I decided I didn’t like them. She said, “I don’t want your nails to look bad tonight. So you can come back later and get what you want. If you are unhappy, no extra charge.” The nails got me through the night and I was able to rock the new leather and lace fingerless gloves I’d purchased that day.
After sleeping off the strobe lights and washing the stage smoke out of my hair, though, I was unhappy with my nails. I had told her several times to just skip the tips and do a manicure but she had insisted on trying to get the tips done. Worse, I was unable to get back to the salon for a week because dancing all night left me victim to the flu. At that point I kind of doubted that she would still be interested in ‘fixing’ them.
When I finally returned a week later I did not anticipate getting what I wanted. I wanted the nails removed, and for the money I spent on the subpar nails, I felt that a replacement of a manicure and pedicure was fair. Ultimately she had overpromised and under delivered by insisting on doing the tips without sufficient time. To my surprise Puna immediately recognized that it would be awkward for me to ask for what I wanted. She beat me to it by immediately offering to manicure my nails and refund my money. I asked her if she would instead consider the manicure/pedicure and she agreed without hesitation. Despite my difficult ways, she essentially let me “return my purchase” without even the slightest hassle. In truth she was really a doll about it. Not even an inkling of frustration was detectable on her at any point during out interactions. She was friendly and amenable at all times. I thought, “Have I found the Nordstrom of nail salons?” It was during this second visit that I got to know her better and I found out that she is a smart, articulate woman whose conversation and demeanor are quite enjoyable. We discussed business philosophies and marketing.
So what about my nails now? Absolutely the BEST manicure and pedicure I’ve had in years. Using only sterile tools, her techs were perfectionists through and through. After several days and household chores all I had to do was touch up a few tiny nicks. And her color selection? Gorgeous, modern, edgy colors that make a statement. Blue, black, yellow, magenta……no need to fear the nude nail here. I bought “The One That Got Away” by O.P.I. If you wear a lot of black, red, pink and purple you will LOVE this color. I’ve never found a color that compliments that entire pallet but this one does – with a hint of sparkle to boot!
When you get time, go get your nails done at the Denver Nail Lounge. Puna blew me away with her patience and professionalism. And she never bitched once. Not once.
Denver Nail Lounge
500 16th St, Ste 136
Denver, CO 80802
SW corner of 16th St and Glenarm Pl
Underground parking entrance N of 15th St on Welton
Phone: 303.623.2335
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| Tommy Lee and Sofi Toufa Photo courtesy of: TommyLee.com |
party with fans backstage. In my quest for perfection I again lost track of time and showed up late to my rescheduled appointment.
Assuming I had blown my chance to get my nails done, I was irritated with myself and turned to leave. One of the staff members was on the phone with Puna and told her that I had showed up, albeit late. The lady told me to wait. To my astonishment Puna turned her car around, paid the meter again and returned to the shop to do my nails. I quickly realized that Puna isn’t f#$!ing around when it comes to running her business. When she arrived, a frantic mess ensued because of my time constraints. I simply didn’t leave enough time for her to do a good job and she didn’t want to lose a new client. Her effort to secure my business me was stellar, but also messy because of the craziness. I originally intended to have my acrylic nails removed (yes I still like to rock long, flashy nails!) and have a new set put on. Puna doesn’t do old school acrylic nails so she had to accommodate me with something else. She applied an alternative that would be easy to remove if I decided I didn’t like them. She said, “I don’t want your nails to look bad tonight. So you can come back later and get what you want. If you are unhappy, no extra charge.” The nails got me through the night and I was able to rock the new leather and lace fingerless gloves I’d purchased that day.
After sleeping off the strobe lights and washing the stage smoke out of my hair, though, I was unhappy with my nails. I had told her several times to just skip the tips and do a manicure but she had insisted on trying to get the tips done. Worse, I was unable to get back to the salon for a week because dancing all night left me victim to the flu. At that point I kind of doubted that she would still be interested in ‘fixing’ them.
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| O.P.I. "The One That Got Away" Photo courtesy of: enamelgirl.blogspot.com |
So what about my nails now? Absolutely the BEST manicure and pedicure I’ve had in years. Using only sterile tools, her techs were perfectionists through and through. After several days and household chores all I had to do was touch up a few tiny nicks. And her color selection? Gorgeous, modern, edgy colors that make a statement. Blue, black, yellow, magenta……no need to fear the nude nail here. I bought “The One That Got Away” by O.P.I. If you wear a lot of black, red, pink and purple you will LOVE this color. I’ve never found a color that compliments that entire pallet but this one does – with a hint of sparkle to boot!
When you get time, go get your nails done at the Denver Nail Lounge. Puna blew me away with her patience and professionalism. And she never bitched once. Not once.
Denver Nail Lounge
500 16th St, Ste 136
Denver, CO 80802
SW corner of 16th St and Glenarm Pl
Underground parking entrance N of 15th St on Welton
Phone: 303.623.2335
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