We share your distrust of nail salons.
Our technicians perform services as aseptically as possible, follow strict sterilization protocols, never operate outside their scope of practice, and will never attempt to diagnose or treat abnormalities of any kind.
You’re Invited!
We’d love for you to visit us, tour our facility, and enjoy a service at Unvarnished.
Prior to every service at Unvarnished, clients undergo a thorough consultation and evaluation. Should we notice any abnormalities at all (discoloration, injury, severe deformity, slow capillary refill), the client is refused service and referred to an appropriate physician for professional diagnosis and–if necessary–treatment. When the physician determines the client is eligible for services, the client may return to Unvarnished with a signed release.
Upon arrival, all clients must thoroughly wash their hands at our handwashing station. Employees are required to wash and disinfect their hands prior to gloving up for a service and immediately after completing the service. Additionally, our professionals sanitize the hands and feet of every client. Treatment areas are disinfected and draped with laundered towels and plastic-backed liners to ensure the client’s skin never comes into contact with our tables or foot rests.
All professionals wear single-use gloves and face masks during every service.
For the safety of our clients and professionals, we treat every client as if they are immunocompromised, diabetic hemophiliacs carrying contagious skin disorders and bloodborne pathogens. Even the most sensitive clients can rest assured that our services are safe and will not compromise any of their medical conditions or treatment programs.
To protect our community (especially our immune-impaired clients), we never, ever permit Unvarnished professionals to come to work if they are ill.
We use an M9 Ultraclave and hospital-grade sterilization protocols. All metal implements are pre-cleaned, sealed in autoclave envelopes, and sterilized with steam under pressure to ensure the complete destruction of all microbial life.
If it can’t be autoclaved, it goes home with the client or directly into the trash. All of our files, buffers, and toe separators are single-use at Unvarnished.
To eliminate the risk of cross-contamination, our body products (salts, scrubs, and butters) are dispensed into portion containers and sealed. (Nobody is dipping their nasty fingers into tubs of product at Unvarnished.) Any unused product remaining in the portion container is disposed of or sent home with the client for their own personal use.
We are completely waterless at Unvarnished. We do not and will never utilize “spa thrones” of any variety. (We both know how disgusting and dangerous those are.)
We do not cut living tissue. Cuticles are softened; never cut. Calluses are smoothed; never sliced with blades or graters. While we understand that it’s nearly impossible to prevent all microtrauma, we utilize 200 grit files and buffers to minimize the risk of even the most minor skin breakage.
We know the odds of any pathogen surviving in a bottle of polish or a tub of paraffin are extremely slim, however, we prefer to eliminate risk altogether. At Unvarnished, our paraffin is measured and poured from our warmer into single-use bags before being applied to the client. Our polish is only applied to sanitized nail plates by our professionals.
Unethical nail technicians intentionally cut into a client’s toenail at the sidewalls, leaving a pointed shard of nail behind so the client experiences discomfort as the nail grows, requiring them to return to the technician for another pedicure to relieve the pain the technician caused in the first place. Other technicians simply aren’t trained to properly manage ingrown nails and will cut into the nail plate at the sidewall to “help” the client.
At Unvarnished, we know better. We only clip nails straight across–never into the sidewalls.
Should a client have a minor ingrown toenail (not infected, visible in the sidewall, and non-puncturing), we can gently smooth the sharp edge using an ingrown toenail filing implement only. Clients with ingrown toenails that are not minor enough to be quickly smoothed away are referred to a podiatrist for appropriate care.