Not all nail salons abide by the same rules and not all of them really care about your health, that’s just the cold, honest truth. Nail salons operate with salon software to keep records of their clients and they have some of the tightest margins of the service and hospitality industry. The employees are often either really amazing at their jobs or really terrible. We’ve all heard the horror stories of getting cuts, rashes, and various allergic scars.

If you arm yourself with some basic sanitation facts, then you won’t be one of those suckers who paid the price with a nasty skin infection, after receiving the unbeatable mani-pedi deal of the week.

Fit for a Queen (or King!)

Make sure you have a good open line of communication with your nail technician. If they are quiet and cold, they are either really serious about their job or betting on your naivety to be able to make shortcuts and provide unsafe service for the sake of time. Lack of communication could lead to accidents and unnecessary pain, discomfort, or infection.

Your technician should be using an autoclave system to disinfect all their tools, never settle for some amateur soap and scrub operation. While this may be okay for personal nail technicians, it is unacceptable for a large-scale operation, where the stakes are much higher for breeding of bacteria. On top of that, your tech should also always be wearing gloves, this further reduces the chance for bacteria to spread to you, the client.

Get your nails done, too, fellas!

Once you’ve nailed down a great place to get your nails done and unwind in a comfortable atmosphere, you’ll want to spread the news to all your friends and family. Don’t leave out the guys! Sure, they might be apprehensive at first, but a guy who takes care of himself will always be a turn-on for the ladies. Besides, they can get a manicure in Ottawa or a pedicure in Ottawa at salons that cater to men, making them feel at home. Men will eat up the attention and all they need to do is sit back for a half hour or so and just get the standard clean and trim job. No lacquer or polish. None of their friends will actually know they visited a nail salon anyways, unless they’ve been to one themselves, in that case they won’t have anything to stand on now, will they?