Cindy’s Nails opens in the Village
Scarsdale’s newest nail salon opened last Friday with fanfare and an unusual promise to customers.
Nailed it The Scarsdale location is Cindy Jin’s third.
Scarsdale is known for its manicured lawns—and its residents’ manicured nails as well. And now, there’s a new place to get one’s digits decked out: Cindy’s Nails just opened at 864 Scarsdale Avenue. “Last Friday was the first day,” said owned Cindy Jin proudly. “I’ve wanted to come to Scarsdale. I’ve run my business for fifteen years, and I have a few customers from Scarsdale who said to me, ‘Cindy, open in Scarsdale! I don’t want to go to Harrison or Rye,’” (the latter being her business’s two older locales).
“This salon my baby,” Jin continued, gesturing at the roomy space. “Right now I have thirteen manicure tables and eleven pedicure chairs.” For Jin, it’s the culmination of a long career journey, which began when she arrived in the U.S. not speaking any English. She studied for a license as a manicurist, attending English classes on her off day. After working at other salons for a decade, she was finally able to strike out on her own.
Premium Products
“I am always looking for healthy products,” Jin said. For a base coat her manicurists use Zoya brand, as it is chemical-free. When customers get gel nail polish, they put their hands into LED drying machines, rather than a dryer that uses UV light. “We will soon have machines that only focus on the fingertips,” Jin added. Customers who have trouble choosing a color of powder gel will be dazzled by the options here, which include over 1,000 bottles.
Color kaleidoscope The options of polishes and powders are nearly endless.
In addition to gel and powder gel, Cindy’s offers Dazzle Dry and traditional manicures. Jin says customers will notice a quality difference at her salon: “We don’t don’t use any thinner in our nail polish—that’s important for the nail polish to stay on the nails,” she said. Instead, she stressed, when a bottle runs low the salon throws it away.
Thoughtful salon layout
Jin put a lot of thought into the salon’s interior, designing it for maximum customer comfort. “The mani-pedi areas are separate,” she pointed out. “Some women, if they’ve just come from the office, just want to relax during their pedicure. The manicure people want to talk more,” she explains. Neither area has a T.V., which gives clients a chance to focus on the pampering experience. Other lovely touches include a heated floor and heated drying table.
A priority on customer satisfaction
One key difference between her salon and others, Jin said, is its emphasis on making sure clients who have booked an appointment in advance aren’t kept waiting. “We always try to take them on time,” she said. “It never happens like we say ‘Wait five minutes,’ and then we just keep you waiting.”
And then there is Jin’s astonishing promise for gel nails. “The gel is supposed to stay for two weeks. If it doesn’t, come in and let me look, and then we’re going to fix them for you. Just call. We are not going to ask why, we will fix them,” she promised.
In the back of the salon there is a comfortable waxing room. “I’m the only one that carries the Lycon Wax brand, and it’s really good for ingrown hair and sensitive skin. Each wax block is for one-time use, because I want to make sure our wax is clean for each customer,” Jin said. “Even the tweezers we used are sterilized and sealed.”
Jin is thrilled at her new “baby,” and hopes that Scarsdale’s residents will be as well. “I feel so lucky,” she said.
Cindy’s Nails, 864 Scarsdale Ave.; 914-205-3808; Open Mon - Sat: 9:30 a.m, - 7:30 p.m, Sun. 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m.; 20% off gift card sale through February. Visit the website here.