Essence Nails & Spa

This is my first and last time trying Essence Nails in Rockford. I treated my mother to a manicure. The color was a beautiful bright pink & looked great, until, less than 12 hours later, she showed me how her nails were peeling. We decided to go with regular polish vs no-chip - my mom is 82 years old and not rough on her hands. I called the salon and told them about the issue, needless to say, they were not nice and said, “we only guarantee no chip polish!” Really? I’ve always used regular polish on my hands and have NEVER had a problem 12 hours later.
They offered to have us come back and they would do them again. Went back and decided to try a different color just in case the polish they originally used was bad. Again, they argued with us and told us this is what happens when you don’t use no chip. They did her nails, and again … the same exact thing happened. Only difference is … it started bubbling up and literally falling off her nails that same evening. I have no idea why this happened, but I do know 100% for sure that this is not the norm with regular polish. What is really frustrating is that they were so mean about it.
Don’t waste time at this place!
Idk how this place has any good reviews. Stand behind your work and don’t treat customers like idiots!!
I wish I would have taken pictures of the polish peeling off.

This is a really nice nail establishment. The quality is good and the techs are friendly and listen and try to meet your needs. It is comfortable and quick. I'm becoming a regular!

I always get in as quickly as they can manage (which is generally within 10 minutes, even though I never make an appointment). They do an excellent job and my nails always look great when they finish. I have been going there for 5 years. It is definitely my favorite nail salon.

I decided to try this place based on my friend's recommendation. I got no chip with a manicure. I was pretty disappointed with the service I received. I wasn't asked what shape I wanted my nails to be, they did them squared and I had to file them round at home (although I came in with rounded nail shape). For the manicure, they clipped the cuticles and put oil on my hands. The oil part/massage lasted for a few seconds hence the oil wasn't absorbed/rubbed in so I was left with very oily hands that I had to wash off immediately. The no chip polish ended up being patchy and unevenly painted near the edges of the nails and nail beds. I wasn't happy with how my nails came out but I thanked them, paid, tipped and left. I really couldn't get to liking my nails so I came back the next day asking if they could change the color/fix my polish. I asked for a different color because I was afraid the one I already had on wouldn't look good the second time around. They agreed to fix them for me but in the end I was told that it was patchy because of the type of color I picked and that I changed my mind about the nail polish color so it's not their fault but they fixed it anyway.

Thiefs: They did a good job on my nails but after paying with my card and tipping 18% in cash, someone wrote in an extra $5 in the tip line on the receipt. It’s small enough amount to where it wasn’t worth my time to confront them. Some people may not even notice such a small amount of money being stolen from them, that’s probably why they only stole $5 so they wouldn’t be caught. Who knows how many times they’ve done this, but hopefully anyone reading this review will be aware of them stealing.

This was the first time going to the nail salon. I got two full sets and one pedicure. The full sets were incorrect which I let go as they were very busy. Today as my nails started to come off the acrylic gel was put on so thick that my physical nail has cracked in half on more then one nail! I will not be going back there and I have half a mind to go get my money back!

I went here for years and always loved their work. After a break I returned for no-chip polish. I was pressured into a full manicure. Some guy I had never seen before did the job and see seemed rushed. He didn't rub my hands or anything, he just cut off the dead skin. The next day all of my fingers were red and inflamed like I had infected hang nails, ifI never felt anything like it. That lasted for over a week-- longer than the no-chip polish! That started to peel within a few days! And he didn't even get my color right, I'd asked for one color with glitter over it for New Year's but only got one layer, he was too busy trying to get me to have a pedicure.

I will never go back. I used to go twice a month. All it takes is one bad experience.

This place is terrible I do not recommend it. When I walked in they were all talking and laughing so we just set ourselves down. As soon is my Pedicure and manicure began they were laughing at me and my cousin for having "gross feet" I only noticed because I speak Japanese and Chinese. And the day after we got our nails done four of my nails already chipped completely off and they didn't do the design that I wanted and it cost us 10 extra dollars to get a design. Terrible place Unless you like rude workers and terrible nail polish quality.