The Best Kept Secret in Town: Polished Beauty Bar

Tucked away on a quiet stretch of 78th Street on the Upper West Side, Polished Beauty Bar seems at first glance like your everyday nail salon. Then you walk in the door and all thoughts of normal, ordinary nail polish stations fly right out of your head. The owner, Susan Nam, sparkles with effervescence and enthusiasm when showing you to a polish station or taking you through the collection of polish colors. Each of the technicians pays extreme attention to detail, making sure your manicure and pedicure are flawless. Not to mention the space is CLEAN. More on my experience at Polished after the jump.



As I walked through the door, Susan greeted me warmly -- like an old friend she'd known for years, immediately putting me at ease. She walked me over to the polish racks, filled with Essie and the largest selection of Zoya polishes known to (wo)man -- over 300 shades! Susan and I talked about the salon during my pedicure with Tina -- not only was it among the first to autoclave its tools after every use, but it goes through nine air cleaning steps to filter and dissolve over 90 percent of airborne chemicals.

My favorite part of the pedicure was definitely the Klenz Sanitizer. While my feet were treated to a luxurious foot bath and the ultimate in buffing, scrubbing and polishing, my shoes entered a machine that rid them of odor-causing bacteria! Such a genius idea. (And, of course, the color -- Zoya Nova -- a gorgeous, sparkly mulberry pink hybrid.)

Susan herself did my manicure, which -- of course -- was flawless. I noted that the manicure was done dry, which is my preference -- many manicurists over the years have told me that water soaks into the nail and makes the polish shrink, causing chips and tip wear much faster. I was happy to see that Susan didn't soak my nails in a water bath -- and, days later, there were no chips to be found! (I chose Zoya Whitney, which you can see at the top of the story.)

Polished Beauty Bar is located at 250 West 78th Street in New York. To book an appointment, call 212-933-1830. You can also follow them on Twitter.

Disclosure: My manicure and pedicure were provided free of charge for editorial consideration.