NEW YORK CITY — If this warm weather has you caught off guard, it's time to take care of those ghastly haven't-seen-the-light-of-day-since-September toe nails. Local natural nail salons promise an Earth-friendly experience, free from as many chemicals as they could eliminate from the process.
While you'll certainly pay more for your mani-pedi at these places, the salons provide nail polish that is either three-free (free from dibutyl phthalate, toluene, and formaldehyde) or five-free (add formaldehyde resin and camphor to that last list).
Here's seven natural nail salons to check out this spring:
[pH 7] at 277 Grand St. in Williamsburg
Price for basic manicure is $18
[pH 7] claims it offers a "guilt-free experience." There's three-free and five-free nail polish, non-acetone polish remover and moisturizing products are essential oils and organic shea butter. You also get a cup of organic herbal tea.
Magnolia Organic Spa at 111 E. 31st in Kips Bay
Price for a basic manicure: $20
Magnolia only uses organic products such Nature, Shira and Deep-Sea to keep all their treatments — nails to waxing to facials — as pure as possible.
Hortus Nailworks at 210 Forsyth St. on the Lower East Side
Price for a basic manicure: $15
Peppered with real herb plants, Hortus feels more like a greenhouse then a nail salon. Hortus uses small-batch products from independent companies along with with three and five-free nail polish. They also have sugaring available, which is a food-grade alternative to waxing.
Sakura Nail and Spa on the Upper East Side (1709 2nd Ave. at 88th St.) and Lower East Side (35 E. 1st St.)
Price of a basic manicure: $18
Sakura, a Japanese-inspired salon, uses its own brand of cream that is natural and non-toxic. Even the herbs in the cream are grown in Kumamoto, a city in Japan that has water renowned for purity.
Sweet Lily Natural Nail Spa and Boutique at 222 W. Broadway in SoHo
Price for a basic manicure: $26
Even down to the cleaning products and furniture, Sweet Lily tries to keep its spa as natural as possible, so it's good for you and the environment. And its manicures — Lavender Cream or Honey Walnut — sound more like a dessert than a nail service.
Very Polished at 1082 Fulton St. in Clinton Hill
Price of a basic manicure: $15
Guests here are offered natural and organic products that are created by Very Polished co-owner Anjaneth Aguirre. Choices include the peppermint lime soak, which is made from peppermint oil, lime and Himalayan salt. There's also a Margarita manicure that uses tequila to loosen dead skin.
Tenoverten in SoHo (132 W. Houston St.), Midtown (119 W. 56th St.), TriBeCa (112 Reade St.) and the Financial District (121 Fulton St.)
Price of a basic manicure: $25
Tenoverten is a nail salon as well as a line of nail polish and nail care products. All of their creations are considered eight-free, meaning they are free of formaldehyde, ethyl tosylamide, xylene, and triphenyl phosphate (TPHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), toluene, formaldehyde resin and camphor.
