I’m not talking about your typical nail technician offering home services or the somewhat popular dial-a-massage service. They’re Celebrity Nails and they promise to treat us like celebrities.

Just look at how their setup can look like once they reach your place. In my case, the deed was done in the privacy of my own room.

The Setup. Carefully done to make you feel special. Neat, yes?

Personally, after a horrendous week at work, wouldn’t you want to spend a weekend to help bring back a bit of the sanity you lost? For some women, a visit to their hairdresser or favourite nail technician can do the trick and most will agree that a little shopping therapy will work wonders but I opted for a simple stay-at-home pampering time courtesy of Celebrity Nails Makati. My nails need a bit of attention anyway!

And attention, it got. Look at the massive nail lacquer selection!

Nail Lacquer Selection. The choices can make your head spin. Gah.

I have to applaud them for being that accommodating to their client’s preferences. It’s quite hard to determine which polish she (or on occasion, he!) would want done on her nails beforehand.

But before we get to the colours of the nail polish, I have to let you folks know that though they’re called Celebrity Nails, they have quite the list of service offerings that goes beyond nails — from the classic mani-pedi plus foot spa combo to full-body massages, waxing and hair spa treatments.

Teh Foot Spa. Looking at it made me want to stop taking photos and just get right on the soaking my feet part!

Since I’ve been complaining about my sore feet from all the long walks and impractical shoe choices, I knew I had to try their foot spa. That ought to silence the grumblings of my feet and, not to mention, glorious skin exfoliation!

Nail Love: Towels and Tools. Actually quite interesting to find that the sort of tools needed for the hand and foot pampering can reach up to this much!

Oh, I already had the L’Oreal Hair Spa treatment, which was applied earlier, on me while I had my mani-pedi and foot spa. One thing that I was a bit disappointed about was that I needed to supply the shampoo and yes I had to do it myself. Good thing I use L’Oreal’s Elseve so it wouldn’t compromise the hair spa treatment’s efficacy.

The Essential Oil Burner. The ambiance is included in the service. Pretty thoughtful, eh?

But I do appreciate that they paid attention to certain details which contributes to a more pleasant (relaxing!) experience. Take for example the essential oil burner detail which is something that some may overlook. The scent helped create the spa-like ambiance, making the experience “hit more birds” by including wellness on top of all the more tangible beauty and spa services they offer.

French Manicure. Same goes for my feet!

I ended up with a French Manicure, solely due to practicality reasons. It’s easier to maintain and is actually style-friendly. Besides, personal nail polish preference has always been this one. I love it for its simplicity. And, yes, I also had it done on my toenails.

Moving towards the end of an almost 4-hour nail, hair and body love session. I enjoyed a full-body massage, which helped loosen up severely tensed muscles, before I had my hair blow dried and check how the hair spa treatment turned out.

Hair Pampered by Celebrity Nails. No makeup! And, oh, I’m getting addicted to getting periodic hair spa treatments now! LOL.

Verdict on the hair spa treatment? Though it wasn’t able to top the Essensity hair treatment which I got a few weeks ago, I still have to say that I’m impressed with the softness. For the price (and all the comfort the service brings) I’ll have to give it 4 out of 5 stars. You really have to trust L’Oreal to take care of your hair. LOL.

Over-all impression? While it doesn’t hurt that the nail technician (an all-around beautician really!) Susan and the masseuse Amor were two of the most nicest and warm folks who ever waited on me, the over-all service is still topmost that I should consider.

I like the idea that I can avail of such services in the comforts of my own home instead of waiting around in salons. However, if it’s something that would require me shelling out more than just my money (i.e. my own shampoo, conditioner, towels, etc), it’s a bit of a turn-off. You’ve got to note that these services are priced as such with selling points such as convenience and high-quality service in mind. But costing it out will reflect transportation expenses, professional fees plus other overhead and basic inventory of tools and products used, hence, the price tag. However, they’re riding on simple utilities like water and electricity which will reflect on your personal respective billing statements so if you really compute for the cost of the entire thing, you’ll have to account for these things in the final tally of expenses.

I reckon what I’m saying is that better choices are made if customers are well-informed; not simply blinded by flashy advertisements or good marketing copy. You’ll be able to set your own priorities, i.e. cost vs convenience. If you’re the sort who loves to continue experiencing these things and would want to save a trip to the salon (not necessarily busy schedules since this will still take a huge chunk out of your time anyway), by all means, this is a fantastic option. You’ll be getting great service with the given price range. But if you want to keep things clear in terms of pricing boundaries, this sort of thing will definitely violate that.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind having Celebrity Nails over at my place again (esp since they’ll be opening an office in Paranaque soon, right now I believe they’re servicing Makati and Alabang) but I reckon it’ll only be for special occasions.

Services I received:
Manicure, Php 125.00 (Classic) / Php 350.00 (Spa) / Php 550.00 (Paraffin Spa)
Pedicure, Php 145.00 (Classic) / Php 350.00 (Spa) / Php 650.00 (Paraffin Spa)
Foot Spa, Php 245.00
Hair Spa Treatment, Starts at Php 450.00
Full-Body Massage, Php 275.00 (1 hour) / Php 400.00 (1.5 hours) / Php 500.00 (2 hours)
Blow Dry, Php 250.00

For full service listing and rates, check the Celebrity Nails Service Menu. For Spa Party listing and rates, check the Celebrity Nails Spa Party Package Menu. You can also visit their official website.

Photos taken using my Nokia 6700 Classic © 2009 Sasha Manuel