Polished

I have been going here for at least 4 years if not longer and I can tell you it’s the best place for a wax! Tammy is super quick and very nice. Highly recommended.

All the hype about Tammy is true. Even as someone that gets major pain anxiety prior to a wax, she barely leaves me time to feel any of it. During my last appointment, I was in and out within 12 minutes.
I’ve struggled to find a great place in DC to do my nails, but Polished is really great! Beautiful service, VERY clean, and they take there time and are careful! Its a little more expensive than I am used to paying, but for the quality its worth it.
Highly recommend.

Tammy is my go to girl! In and out within 10 minutes. You can’t beat the prices or the time spent here. My only wish is that they had more nail techs, I say that because I contemplated a manicure after my wax but they had appointment only clients.

Had a spa pedi with Lisa. One of the best pedis I’ve had… Place was nice and quiet, very relaxing. I’ll be back for sure!

Staff are friendly and flexible. The establishment is clean and they take care to be as hygienic as possible. Tammy does an incredible job. I recently had a gel manicure and it was done well and quickly with quality polish.

I called to make a same day appointment (during the week). The staff was not only friendly and responsive, my appointment started on time, my nail tech spoke English and very sweetly let me try a bunch of colors on before deciding. The salon is peaceful and modern with a good vibe. Pedicure in and out was 35 min– easily doable on a lunch break. I highly recommend!

I have been coming here for my Brazilian wax since 2013. TAMMY IS AMAZING. I went to school and stayed in the area until about last year. I live about an hour away now and i still make that drive. The first 1.5 years I was going every 8 – 10 weeks. They recommend i think anywhere between 5 – 7 wks but my hair was to short during one session and when were done it wasn’t as clean but still amazing none the less. Im african –american and I have never felt any negative vibes from the staff or Tammy. If you want to talk, you can talk, if you want to get the process over with then hush and let her work her magic. I’m there anywhere between 7 – 10 mins and I leave SMOOTH AS A BABY’S BOTTOM lol. Fast and great quality.
Does it hurt? Yes, but bearable. Honestly the worse is the very top and literally she clears it in 1 or 2 strips. I have never been so satisfied with consistent, quality and amazing service. I can’t even find a reliable hair stylist lol. The summer she gets booked quickly but if you’re lucky like me, then you can call and get scheduled in the next few days .
There have been days where i have waited well past my appt. time. It’s frustrating especially if you’re in a rush but it hasn’t happened that many times for me to be pissed and rate down. So a tip. When you schedule let them know you need to be seen at the time for whatever reason you’d like to provide.

I really enjoyed my gel manicure at Polished. The manicurist was very nice and careful. I also appreciated that they keep all tools in a sanitized package for each individual’s use, it eases my worry quite a bit. She also cut a little too close on one nail, and used an oil to prevent infections.
The only reason I am giving Polished 4 stars instead of 5 is that they charged me $ 5 to remove my last gel manicure, which seems a little absurd, especially if I am paying $ 30 for a new manicure, and also because $ 30 is the normal price in DC.
It’ll be hard for me to justify paying that higher amount consistently, which is unfortunate because they did such a great job.

I have actually been going to Tammi since I was a student at GU many years ago. She is absolutely amazing! She offers the best, fastest, cheapest waxing services in town. Do yourself a favor and book your appointment well in advance because quality services at these prices stay in high demand!

I came in here today because I’m new to the area & this is near my new place. I like my nails done a certain way because at the price you pay I’d like it to at least be done right. She rounded the edges of my nails when I like the square like what I came in with. I also get the French tip which can be white painted on but she used regular clear polish instead of gel on top like I had actually asked for. So even though I sat there for 15 mins drying when I got home & made lunch they bumped & got ruined. Needless to say that’s not okay because now it needs to get fixed. I also got my eyebrows done as well. Which she trimmed with scissors but she cut it really short on the end & its thicker towards the middle of my face. That’s not okay. Now it’s okay to grow back weird because it got murdered. The whole experience just really set me back. For the price I paid I’m really unhappy with my service & wont be coming back here. The search for a better nail salon continues.

Was in town from LA and needed my nails done. I called at noon and was lucky to get an appointment same day! Simple basic no frills and thrips nail salon but excellent work!

If you want a thorough wax in record time, this is the place to go.

All the wonderful things I had read about Tammy (their waxing lady) were true. She was quick, efficient, clean and very professional. (But don’t try to get chatty with her). I got a full leg wax in under 15 minutes, and she missed no spots. I was also surprised that while my skin generally reacts badly when I wax, this time the reaction was minimal. It’s probably because of the wax they use; it’s less sticky than the type I’m used to.
Also, the location is NOT as out of the way as it seems at first.

Tammy is amazing. The waxing is incredible, the prices are great, I love the décor, and I love catching up with her. Make sure you make an appointment and make sure you come on time! She is super fast and probably the best in DC. I won’t say painless because since when is waxing painless but it definitely is up there with the high end salons that use ‘pain free wax’. I don’t go as often as I would because I love my laser place (although Polished has laser too but I haven’t tried it here) and thank goodness for laser because I definitely needed a more permanent solution. Anyway — say yes to Polished! And bring cash for tips (although there are ATMs nearby).

I have been here 3 – 4 times to have my eyebrows waxed. I don’t require much, just cleaning up and light shaping. Every time I come, Tammy does a nice job of cleaning up my brows. My problem is that she not once asked how I would like my eyebrows to look before she started waxing. I thought it was standard procedure to discuss what will happen before it happens. Well, I’ve always left with clean eyebrows, with no shape; not a happy customer, not a sad customer.
Yesterday, as per usual, Tammy went right in and started cleaning up. This time, she took scissors and not only cut my eyebrows down to nothing, but literally left little cuts and scratches on my eyelids. This was a first for me. I saw it in the mirror when I left, and in retrospect should have said something, but I was too shocked. See the photo. I’m never going back.

$ ¹⁵⁄₂₀ (lotion included) Versa Spa tans. Great deal in DC. Always make sure I get to Polished before a special event. Trekked to Georgetown for a spray tan yesterday (Tuesday night) and the salon was randomly closed at 5pm? What’s up?

*This review is for Polished’s Laser Hair Removal (IPL) Service*
I hate to be so blunt about this on Unilocal but I have to say that Tammy is running a scam IPL business. I have been to various places for IPL treatments (In Asia and in NY) and I have never experienced anything as painful as the treatment Tammy provides.
I am disappointed I bought into this scam since Polished markets their IPL package as largely needing 3 sessions — and then every session after is touch-​up. All other places i’ve been to suggest a longer series of sessions. The trick here is that Tammy sets the settings of the machine much higher than most other places do to get «expedited» results. And yes, it is true the results are somewhat expedited (i.e. after 1 session I already noticed a slowdown in hair growth which is quite remarkable), but expedited treatment also comes with excruciating burning sensation post treatment — - which lasts at least 14hrs snd some scarring. Imagine having to ice yourself constantly for at least 14hrs (trust me, i timed it) — you’re practically dysfunctional all day after the treatment.
Sadly because I bought into a package of 3 sessions, I convinced myself to keep coming back until I finished my package. And each time when I complained to Tammy about the unusually long post-​treatment burning, she had some excuse as to why that was «normal». I had also asked whether it was possible to lower the settings and prolong the sessions (similar to what other places do) just so I can avoid the unbearably long post-​treatment pain, but her response was that she felt that by lowering the settings you don’t see any effects. Not true — as I have done IPL in other places which follow that prolonged system, and even though results took a longer time to be visible, at least there was hardly any post-​treatment pain.
Not to mention, Tammy was always half an hour late to each session, so much so that whenever Polished booked my appointment I needed to mentally add 30 minutes of time where I would be just kept lying in the treatment room waiting. I notice i’m not the only client on Unilocal who has commented on her tardiness and lack of respect for time.
Now that i’ve completed my IPL package, I definitely would not return to do it again. Even though after my 3^rd and final session, I have seen a lag in hair growth, Tammy still said I needed another 4^th or 5^th session before I move on to touch ups —– so much for saying 3 sessions after my first consultation!
I highly encourage others to avoid Polished at all costs for IPL. Just get a pedicure or wax instead.

Stood me up on my wedding day for my mani pedi. She does excellent work but is totally unreliable. Haven’t been back since. She never even apologized.

So, no one was going to let me know Tammy was running late this morning. So, I waited, and when I wasn’t seen for my 10:55 appointment around 11:10, I got pissed. I had to go up to the reception desk, to ask where she was. They said, she’ll be here in 15 minutes. Well, she had someone in front of me, so that would have made me late for work. I wont be coming here for a while, since they don’t appreciate the time, of the clients.

I decided to give this place a try based on the Unilocal reviews. I was in Georgetown on business and had some time to take care of my waxing needs so I headed to Polished. So, like everyone else has said in the reviews, the wax lady was fast. I was in and out in less than 10 minutes and the price was low. But as I have said in my other reviews, you get what you pay for. They use STRIP WAX for Brazilians. Wow… that was a first for me. I’ve always been told, and have only experienced, Brazilians with hard wax. That’s the wax that you don’t need to use cloth strips with. The reason being, hard wax is gentler for your skin, especially in that sensitive area, because hard wax only grabs onto the hair and no skin is yanked with it. Hard wax takes more skill by the aesthetician. So I guess that in and of itself says enough about this place.
So the pain factor was minimized because it went fast… but I wouldn’t recommend this place for Brazilians.