It seems that nightmare nail salon stories are becoming a popular trend on TikTok, and this tale is no exception. Breanna Iglesias (@breannaanicole_) shared her recent, harrowing experience at a nail salon in a viral video that has amassed over 467,000 views.
Iglesias begins the video with an unexpected statement.
“I just left my nail salon without tipping the girl that did my nails,” she said.
“I’ve been coming to this nail salon for seven or eight years, and when I tell you, I’ve never experienced somebody this rude, this unprofessional, and just bad at their job at this place. I’m like literally in shock right now because I cannot believe that just happened.”
The story begins as Iglesias enters the nail salon and takes a seat with the nail technician. As they discuss the desired service and nail color, Iglesias starts to sense that something is off.
“This is not what I wanted, OK,” she said as she motioned to her fingernails.
“I wanted a chrome French tip, but as she started to do my nails, I totally got the vibe that this girl was not as experienced as the other nail people in this nail salon,” she continued.
Though hesitant, Iglesias proceeds with the service and gives the technician her usual disclaimer about her hyperhidrosis condition, which means she has sweaty palms and feet. To Iglesias’ dismay, the technician gives her an insensitive response.
“But this girl. I tell her that right, and then she proceeds to like when she holds my hands, she’s like ‘Ew, your hands are sweaty.’”
“[Expletive], I just told you that my hands might get sweaty! Like I just [explextive] told you that. Do you have to be so rude about it?” Iglesias yelled at the camera.
In disbelief, Iglesias decides not to voice her frustration, and the service continues. However, it doesn’t take long before another issue arises.
As the technician starts trimming her cuticles and nails, Iglesias feels the technician cut into her skin. Recoiling from the pain, Iglesias lets the technician know and quickly receives an apology. However, when it happened again, the technician had an unexpected response.
“And then she goes back to like cut my nails again, she [expletive] cuts my skin again, and tell me why this time she starts laughing. Like what are you laughing about? It’s not funny, like you’re not good at your job, homegirl.”
Getting a bad manicure is expensive
At some point during the service, Iglesias realized how much longer this appointment for a Gel-X manicure was taking. Much longer than normal.
“So like at this point, I’m like so [expletive] annoyed. And she’s taking forever, right? For-[expletive]-ever to do this job. Like I’ve literally never sat in a chair to get something so simple done before. On top of that, these are shorter nails than I normally get, so I’m like what the hell?” she wondered.
Iglesias settles for one solid color with a chrome top coat and no designs. It’ll get her out of there quickly. Then she gets an outrageous price.
“Tell me why, this girl proceeds to tell me, with these shorter nails, that my nails are going to be $120. $120—I never even with my longer nails paid $120. So at this point, I know this [expletive] is overcharging me. She’s completely overcharging me,” she said, exasperated.
After a quick calculation in her head, Iglesias is sure that the price is wrong. Iglesias waits until the service is over and then walks up to the counter to ask the clerk to double-check the pricing of the services rendered.
“So I let her finish my nails. I get up, and I go to the register to pay, and I’m like ‘Hey, she told me that my nails are going to be this much. Can you make sure that she calculated it right?’ And the guy is like ‘No, your nails are $75.’”
“What?!” she yelled at the camera in frustration.
Despite the experience, Iglesias makes it clear to her audience that she does love this nail salon and its employees so she wouldn’t be revealing the name or the location of the nail salon. However, there is one lesson she learns: Stick with the nail technicians you already trust.
“But this is why I need to go from just to having a nail place to actually having a nail person because [there are] certain people in there […] that do like amazing—like they’re so good, and I just need to start requesting certain people when I get my nails done because I can’t ever have this happen again. I just can’t. So frustrated, so annoyed,” she said.
Iglesias concludes the video by posing a question to her viewers.
“But let me know if I’m wrong. Would you guys have left this [expletive] a tip? Like should I have tipped her? Was I wrong? Because she did do my nails, but like homegirl was so rude!”
Viral drama at the nail salon
Elsewhere, one customer recorded the aftermath of her visit to a nail salon for “birthday nails,” where she was left shaken and in tears after the employees at the salon laughed at her request and her nail design inspiration pictures.
In another video, a TikToker explained how her visit to a nail salon in Miami ended with a hefty bill of $270 and a visit from the police after she discovered that her gel acrylic French tip manicure and pedicure were much more expensive than she expected.
These unfortunate stories come with an opportunity for valuable lessons. This expert breaks down just how nail salons rip off their customers, and offers one way to avoid scams.
A lesson learned
The Daily Dot reached out to Iglesias via TikTok direct message, and she had this to say about the incident:
“I have not returned to the salon. I am a SAHM of [three] with minimal help and my husband is always working so I don’t get to go as often as I like… think that’s why it was so triggering to have such a bad experience. Honestly I’ve been going to that salon for so many years without an issue and usually the techs are amazing,” she wrote.
@breannaanicole_ I love this nail salon and have been coming here for 8+ years so for this girl to have been this rude to me for no reason 🤬🤬 #nails ##nailstorytime #storytime #badnailtech #nailart #chromenails #storytelling #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #nailday #gelxnails #nailsoftiktok #nailsalon #motherhood #momlife #momtiktok #momtok #youngmom #momof3 #soloparent #2under2 #sahm #fyp #foryou #motherhoodjourney #toddlertiktok #toddlermom #toddlersoftiktok #MomsofTikTok #mommy #fyp ♬ original sound – Breanna Iglesias
“I do plan on returning but I will definitely be booking an appointment with a tech I specifically know and love. Unfortunately I feel like trying a new salon with prices the way they are is riskier than making an appointment with a specific individual,” she continued.
“Honestly having a condition like [hyperhidrosis] is very [anxiety-ridden] because you never know how someone will react to it. But I’ve learned over many years to live with it. It’s unfortunate to me that while people in any type of service industry do deserve to be treated with kindness. I also believe customers deserve the same kindness in return,” Iglesias concluded.
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