JACKSON HEIGHTS — This nail salon treats its customers like royalty — complete with eight-foot-tall pedicure stations designed to look like thrones.
Va Sean Brielle, or VSB Salon, on the second floor at 93-03 Roosevelt Ave. at 93rd Street, opened in April after expanding from a smaller space a few blocks away. Husband and wife team Lawrence Brooks, 40, and Lisa "La Linda" Salcedo, 31, said they wanted to design the place to feel opulent, but not over the top.
"It's not a bougie type of scenario — it's a fun place but a royal experience," said Brooks said, who built the entire place himself, and is still working on some of the finishing touches.
Customers get pedicures while sitting in eight-foot high chairs designed as thrones, with black velvet cushions, royal purple draped fabric on either side, and gilded armrests.
Guests can also snack on fresh fruit and watch movies while they wait.
Brooks dubbed their staff the "King and Queens of Queens" and said their customer service is all centered around the nail art, which Salcedo has been practicing for half her life.
Salcedo started doing nails at the age of 15, when her aunt Luisa set up a manicure table in the back of her clothing boutique on 111th and Roosevelt Avenue, she said.
"I always loved painting nails," she said. "Nails, nails always."
She moved to Florida with her family when she was 18, and she and Brooks met while she was working in a salon in North Miami. They fell in love and moved up to New York in 2007, settling in Arverne with their blended family that includes six children.
In addition to Salcedo, who's built a client list from her first stint on Roosevelt, they recruited Jontee "Pebbles" Samuels, 22, of Brooklyn, who taught herself the art by watching YouTube videos.
She was hired at VSB after Salcedo was impressed by her posts on Instagram, and Samuels said she's "the best boss I ever had."
"It's more of a family," she said. "They make you like coming to work."
Social media is an integral part of how they attract clients, and both artists share their designs online.
Daniella Sanabria, 24, found out about the salon on Instagram, and said it's rare to find a nail salon of that caliber in Queens.
"You really only find this deep into Brooklyn or in uptown Manhattan," she said.
Salcedo is known for her classic designs, and Samuels is more of an "edge" — but the caliber of their work is the reason why they've been successful, Brooks said.
As they continue to look to expand, it's been hard for them to find other nail artists as talented as the duo in place.
"I call them aliens because the designs that they do are totally on another level," he said.
VSB, 93-03 Roosevelt Avenue, second floor, is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. until late. Call 917-832-6778 or text Linda at 646-240-0265 to make an appointment.
