Groupon Review: Classic gel manicure + classic pedicure at Bugis Cube VIP Spa and Beauty

I bought a Groupon deal to have my gel manicure, but didn't want to stop at the fingers alone, so I opted for a classic pedi as well at a cost of $28 which comes with a return soak off.

But seriously, who actually turns up for a return soak off without having to get their nails painted again if they sign up for a package deal? Just thought that the return soak off offered at most nails salon is a gimmick :x

Here's the expired link to the Groupon deal I bought: http://www.groupon.sg/deals/singapore/vip-spa-and-beauty-1/720095579 

It's not my first time buying Groupon deals for manicures. I'm not someone who likes to sign up nail packages because I don't paint my nails frequently. But I know that it's always wise to call up the salon to make an appointment, just to check how busy they are before one actually buys the Groupon deal online. I had the experience once of buying a back massage deal on Groupon and not being able to to find a suitable time slot to enjoy it! Wasted my $28 dollars!!

Anyway, so I called up VIP Spa and Beauty to confirm that they have a free slot for me to do my nails on a Nov Sunday. A lady picked up the phone and I told her my desired timing and she noted it down without asking for my name. Just my phone number.

1 week before I was due to visit the salon, I wanted to make sure THEY REMEMBER my appointment. Call it instincts, but true enough, when I rang up the salon, another Chinese lady picked up and told me that they did not have any records of my appointment!!! But she said they are free and she could just write it down immediately. 1 day before the appointment, I received a SMS reminding me that I have an appointment with them.

Tip: Always call the hair/nail/face salon to confirm your appointment! 

Took the cab driver some time to figure out where is Bugis Cube. He brought me to Bugis+ instead and charged me an extra $5 for him to make unnecessary turns only to realise that it's a one-way street and he had to drive further to turn back to get me to my destination. -.-

Anyway, when I reached the salon, I was offered a small cup of floral tea and was told to wait as all their nail therapists are occupied. I waited for about half an hour before it was my turn. I was asked to choose from the range of gellish nail colours they have. I wasn't really impressed because there wasn't many nude colours to choose from except for a light shade of pink. I was looking forward to have a creamy beige nail colour (like the one shown below) for my photoshoot in Korea...oh well :(



For my toenails, I picked fiery red and you know what, before I realised, the "Manager" - a pretty Chinese lady in her 40s, took a pinkish red for me although she repeated the colour code I chose after me. :( Well the pinkish red turned out cute, but it wasn't what I picked right?

Anyway the first nail therapist who prepared the water to soak my feet was pretty quiet which I appreciate because I dislike making senseless small talk. I bought the deal which consist of a classic pedicure. I thought classic pedicure aka regular pedicure, NOT EXPRESS pedicure includes basic scrubbing to remove dead skin. It is why it is called a classic pedicure right? No, I was asked if I wanted to add $2 to include scrubbing. Not a big deal, but I thought how scheming of them to ask for top-up for a basic scrubbing to remove dead skin. There's no simple massage of the calves or lotion application at all. Hmmm....

After she painted 2 coats of that pinkish red nail polish, I was again asked to top up another $2 to apply a coat of quick-dry. Fine...

Then another Chinese lady came to paint my finger nails with the gellish light pink colour. She commented that I have good strong nails and I replied "Yes, because I don't paint my nails often" in Mandarin. Hahaha!! Attitude, I know :p

She tried persuading me to top up $x (I cant remember if it's $8 or $10) to do a gradient gel with glitters which I thought is so outdated (I used to do it like for a few years of CNY) so that when my nails grow out, it's not so obvious. I was thinking to myself, "Is your gellish nail polish good enough to last me for so long before they start to crack?" I rejected her politely saying I don't fancy glitters this time round and wanted to keep it simple.

I also realised this salon doesn't do fancy nail art. They have no samples for nail art or crystals / stickers add on which is rare. But that doesn't really bother me because I want to keep my nails nude and simple for the photoshoot.

This Chinese lady was painting my nails halfway (2 out of the 3 coats) before she was asked by the Chinese lady manager to serve another customer. The lady manager thought that she can manage the last coat of paint for me herself. Another reason being she couldn't communicate with the Caucasian  and she wanted the other lady to serve her instead.

So the manager started making small talks with me and when it was finally all done, I had to pay the additional $4 top-ups right? That's when she started trying sell me nail packages. Packages at $300. With a $300 package, I can choose to do their gel or classic manicure / pedicure at members' price and they throw in free sea-salt foot soak. She told me she found that she could talk to me better since I speak Mandarin and I could go for a smaller package of $200 which she is only offering to me (showed me the invoices she issued for the past week to prove her point) and that if I were to do gel manicure/pedicure for Christmas and CNY, I could use up the $200 in no time.

Of course, I didn't give in. Firstly, I dislike putting cash deposit. If you were to tell me to sign for 5 gel manicure sessions, ok maybe. But $200 is not equivalent to a fixed number of sessions. Probably you can do 2 or 3 sessions with some $x left, and then you will be asked to sign another $200 in order not to waste that $x remainder. It's a gimmick. Secondly, they don't have a good array of gel colours for me. Thirdly, I picked Red, they gave me Pink Red. And of course if I were to change my mind and want crystals add-on, what do I do? :(

My review for this salon? I think it's ok for the price I paid. But it's not a place I will return soon.

Here's the end product:

Oh, and the colours started to crack 16 days after and I could peel off the whole coat from one of my nail completely. :(