SB NAIL BAR - Santa Barbara, California

layla calderon

My favorite nail salon!! Ivy and her sister do an amazing job I have been going to Ivy for years, they never let me down. It’s in a very cute setting too with super comfy massage chairs. They are fast and do a consistently great job everytime. Would definitely recommend this place to everyone!

Kitty XX

I always get my nails done here and never been disappointed! Emily, Mai, Melissa are so great at their service. I recommend this place 100% for acrylic, gel, gel x, mani or pedi you name it! 10 stars ✨

NishatTasnim Maisha

I really wanted to like this place but after telling my horror stories to people everyone unilaterally encouraged me not to go anymore. I came here for a total of 3 times.

The second time I went a young guy did my nails I think his name was Michael (young, short dark hair and square glasses) but I can’t recall the name for sure. I asked if acrylic extension can be done for $87 and he said yes. So we proceed with the service and he kept clipping my natural nails really close to the skin and I kept telling him it hurt me and even moved my hand away because it hurt so much. But he glared at me and asked for my hand back. I got the sense that he was really angry and annoyed that I kept telling him what he was doing hurt me.

I then asked him how much more it would cost me if I wanted bigger jewels on every finger and he barked at me that it was $10 more. When he yelled it was really loud and the salon was really quiet and everyone heard him and I was so embarrassed and traumatized. I wondered if I should just get up and leave and ask for a different person. But I just decided to bear it in case someone else couldn’t do that design.

Then when it was time for my pedicure I got up and left and I told the front desk girl how awful and rude he was. I asked her to have a conversation with him about how he’s making his customers feel. She was embarrassed on my behalf and gave me $10 off my manicure. I got a different guy for my pedicure who was much nicer but he hurt my feet and cut my nails too short.

Admittedly, the young guy did do a really good job and the nails looked great and lasted 1.5 months and I got a lot of compliments. So I was hoping that the 3rd time would be the charm so I booked with Ivy having heard good things about her. I showed her the color I wanted (the same manicure that I previously got done at this salon). 3 ladies ganged up on me and told me that they never had that color and insisted that I wanted the mermaid color which needed a black base and I was really confused because I wanted a light aquamarine extension. Ivy proceeded with the black base and it turned out it was clearly not the color I wanted. We later did find the color I wanted but all the black had to be filed away. This when my nails were already fragile.

Then she moved the filer too close to my skin and made me bleed. I was absolutely horrified and blood was gushing out. I told her to put a napkin on it and it took 3 rounds of rubbing alcohol to get the blood to stop running. In the end the actual nails did turn out good and lasted 1.5 months but both times it was such a horrible, traumatic, and miserable experience that I just can’t bear to go through it again just to have nice nails. When I could get nice nails with people that don’t traumatize me.

I am predicting that this place will close really soon just out of bad karma and horrific experiences.

ashley gill

ive been coming here for almost 2 years. i recently moved to ventura and i still make the drive to SB just to have mai do my nails. its so hard to find someone perfect what you want every time. ivy, mai, and emily have all done my nails and have done an excellent job so if mai isnt there i know i will be well taken care of and happy with the way my nails come out.

mdrose

Mai Mai is the absolute best!! I’ve been going to her for a couple of years now to get my nails done and they are always beautiful. She really knows what she’s doing. Her attention to detail and her eye for precision is unmatched. She is so nice and everyone in the shop is great too. I cannot recommend her highly enough! I see the work she does on her other clients as well and she is very talented! Thank you Mai Mai!!

Ellie Turner

My girl Emily at SB Nail Bar is THE BEST. I always leave with nails that look way better than anything I could have ever thought of and they LAST. She also is just a nail wizard in general and anything you want she can do. Today I felt inspired to have some healthier nails and she suggested builder gel nails over acrylics and I am obsessed. Pics below, but end of story every time Emily does my nails I feel like I went to Hailey Biebers nail stylist she is just that good!

Kendahl Schoen

Really disappointed in my experience here.

I came after a great recommendation from a friend and instead, all I got was a rushed appt with many mistakes.

The nail tech didn’t even file down my nails and didn’t touch my cuticles. Not it looks like my nails are already grown out. I asked for oval nails and got stilleto and more than one crooked nail.

The paint job was the worst part. Many mistakes.

I wanted to speak up but could tell the nail tech had lunch plans. And it literally wasn’t even busy!!!

And I tipped 20% for this. Just plain not worth it. A full set in 45 min. ?

Thea Lombardi

The nail salon is located on State street and has a spacious internal area.

Me and my friend were both accomodated as “walk-ins” which was lovely. I had a manicure and she had a pedicure and i can say that we were both satisfied with our nails. We both chose regular polish which included a base coat, a layer of coloured polish and a top coat, all for the price of 23$ (manicure) and 32$ (pedicure).

The technician who did my nails was very kind and met my request perfectly. My only comments are that A. the products they were using weren’t high quality: the polish was a bit old and the nail file was not suitable for the job, and actually looked as if it came from a kids toy. B. the manicure could have been better as she didn’t fully clean off my cuticles.

But to be fair my nails look amazing and feel like gel even though they used normal polish.

Overall a good experience.