Botanic School of Nail Technology Salon

What? A complementary non-​chip manicure? You get an automatic five (5) star rating and this review shall not go on any further.
Wait a minute… I will take my words back because this free service was excellent, and Nadia, the student nail technician, was thorough, paid great attention on every step, and will be graduating on time certainly.
The entire student salon area felt like a school. All the tools appeared to be sanitized, labeled, and stored in each drawer and shelf. The atmosphere was very friendly and welcoming.
It was a solid one (1) hour and thirty (30) minute service I received. I could tell Nadia was confident and familiar with each and every step. She had the «checkpoints» in her mind and she had no intention to rush through the process. Violet, the instructor onsite, engage fun conversations with the two (2) other ladies in Spanish about the nail colors. I wish I could pick up more words in order to be in the know, but I will get there once I build up the vocabulary someday.
My choice of non-​chip color was CND Shellac «Hotski to Tchotchke.» In essence it was bright turquoise/​teal with a funky name. Apparently it wasn’t a popular color there, but I’m an individual who likes unusual, interesting things.
Tipping is highly-​suggested. The cash can be handed directly to the student nail technician.
It was a bit strange to see one of the instructor, who was getting his pedicure performed by the student, held a clipboard with the checklist. I hope everyone passes, graduates, and starts earning some ching-​ching.
Parking is available adjacent to the school. Otherwise, it wasn’t awfully from Foster Ave. I utilized CTA #92 bus this afternoon to get me on time for the appointment.
I will definitely book another appointment with the Botanic School of Nail Technology student salon, but as you know, free things don’t come by often. I was fortunate enough to find a slot that fit my work and off-​day schedule.

Wow. I love Botanic. I’ve been in three times and only once has the work been at all «iffy.»
1) First time I went in I got acrylics applied to my nails. I had an event I needed nice nails for later in the week. The acrylic itself was wonky and not working well. She switched to a different brand and it worked much better. overall my acrylics were too thick and felt somewhat unnatural, but she’s a student and I got free acrylics for the event the next day and no one noticed they were thick.
2) Pedicure = perfection. (and I got a free donut because a past student had brought in two boxes of donuts so they offered me one. Score!)
3) No Chip Manicure = I love it. And the Hand Massage was KILLER!
I’ll keep going back. I always tip (I mean, c’mon, who DOESN’T tip on a free service?!) and the instructors are always near by to supervise.
Everyone is really friendly and you get pampered for free. I might be wary doing acrylics again, but I don’t tend to get acrylics anyway.
Definitely don’t make an appointment for days where you’re in a hurry, though. Because they’re learning, the gals aren’t as fast as a salon employee. A Pedicure or Manicure might take a few hours. But it’ll look great.

Honestly I wish Unilocal would allow for zero stars because I can barely give this place one star. I’m reviewing as a client, not as a student. I went in on Tuesday to get acrylics done and boy, what a mistake that was.
First, the girl doing my nails was an hour late. How incredibly unprofessional for a student to show up an hour late. That’s the kind of nonsense that will get you fired right away at a real job and you’d think as a student these girls would be as professional as possible.
Next, online it said the service would take 1.5 hours. For free I figured fine, I’d deal with it. My god, it took THREE FREAKING HOURS.
Then, this girl, who is supposedly graduating in 2 weeks (how, I don’t even know…) didn’t even know how to properly file my nails and was constantly asking questions of her teacher beside her. I get it, it’s a school, they’re there to learn, but two weeks away from graduation you’d think she’d figure out how to file nails? Also, this student wasn’t even the one who actually laid down the acrylic, she did the prep work (which she also screwed up by not putting on a primer – more on this later). Again, she’s two weeks away from graduating and doesn’t know how to lay down acrylics?! Yikes!
Either way, the woman who did do my nails, the teacher, also did a shoddy job at laying down the acrylic.
I walked out of the «school» with acrylics that were uneven in length, filed crookedly, and looked the way acrylics do when they’ve grown out for three weeks.
It’s now Sunday, less than a week later, and my nails already started to lift on Thursday (due to lack of primer). So basically I wasted 3 hours of my time and let these people screw up and completely damage my nails for a crappy attempt at acrylics and now I’m going to pay $ 20 to get these removed and get a manicure to hopefully cover up the damage that has been done to my nails.
NEVER AGAIN

I’m reviewing this as a client, not a student. The pedicure itself is a 4 – 5 star; the lower overall score is because the setting is totally no-​frills. (But it’s free!)
I went here for a pedicure, since they offer free manicures and pedicures (to give their students a chance to practice their skills). You make an appointment online, then they send you a reminder email the day before.
It wasn’t very fancy — don’t come here if you’re expecting a posh experience (but remember! free!) — just a couch and some little tubs for your feet and the table-​chair things the technicians sit at and prop your feet up on. There’s also not always a front desk person; don’t be afraid to walk in and give a yell to let people know you’re there.
That said, the pedicure I got was great. The nail technician doing my feet made my sad winter toes look beautiful, and the leg and foot massage were nice. The woman next to me was getting a French pedicure, and it looked great too.
So, if you’re looking for a luxurious spa experience, this isn’t for you. But if you’re on a budget (again, free!), and want to _​look_​like you’ve been to a fancy nail salon, check it out.
By the way, the technicians will accept tips if you want to give them. Since the service is free, I figure it’s a great deal even with tip.