butter LONDON - Revolutionary nail care

November 9th, 2007

butter LONDONThursday was day one for the new butter LONDON store in the Starbucks Center and I was invited in to check it out. Ooh la la! The small space is robin egg blue with their signature whimsical crow painted near the back corner, the illuminated back wall holds chic square bottles of lacquer, and you get pampered while sitting at rich black and gold furniture. This is not your old strip mall nail salon! Not only does the place have a great vibe, owners Nonie & Sasha are changing the way you get your nails done. They don’t use water (no more bacteria baths for your toes!), they give you the nail file they just used on you (so someone else’s nail germs don’t end up on you) and their non-toxic lacquer is revolutionary. The entire line of edgy-colored lacquer is “3 Free” - there’s no formaldehyde, toluene, and DBP. I didn’t even know that stuff was in my polish! Gross.

I’ve had many manicures in my day, so I consider myself somewhat of a “manicure-oisseur.” I can honestly say that I had an incredible manicure and I look forward to an incredible, waterless pedicure! Manis are $20, Pedis are $40.

butter LONDON
Starbucks Headquarters
Mon, Th, Fri - 7a-4p (open to the public)
Westlake Center
Mon-Fri 9:30a-9p, Sat 10a-9p, Sun 11a-6p (walk-in only)
Sea-Tac Airport, Concourse C
Mon-Thu 6a-8p, Fri 6a-9p, Sat 6a-8p, Sun 11a-8p (walk-in only)

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5 Comments Add your own

  • 1. J.P.  |  February 2nd, 2008 at 9:12 pm

    I recently had a nightmarish encounter at the Butter London location at the Seattle airport. I had never been in Butter before and went in to check it out. I would have loved to have had time for a manicure, but figured I could at least do some browsing before my flight. The staff was maybe a little overly clingy for my taste, but after listening patiently to the initial sales spiel I was able to explore the product selection on my own. Unfortunately, I realized my flight would be boarding soon and I needed to leave quickly. Imagine my surprise, then, when I came out of the ladies room moments later to find the store manager waiting in the concourse to accuse me of shoplifting. I was initially too stunned to know what to say, but when she insisted one of her staffers had seen me take something I voluntarily emptied out every pocket of my purse and computer bag to show her they were mistaken. I went from being simply offended to downright upset to close to tears, all shortly before having to get on a plane for a five and a half hour flight back home. The greatest disappointment was that I never received an apology, even after turning all my belongings inside out in the middle of the airport. The manager just kept repeating that her employee was sure she had seen me shoplift (which, by this point, it was clearly obvious I hadn’t). She at least had the decency to look a little embarrassed over the whole episode, but that’s nothing compared to how I was made to feel. When I went to the company’s website to send them the details of my harassment at the hands of their overzealous staff I discovered they are planning to open a location near my home, so it’s too bad my initial excitement over the nail-salon-at-the-airport concept was turned to total disenchantment in less than 15 minutes time. If the employees could have kept to doing nails and left the airport security to the trained professionals at the TSA I’m sure the shop would have been a welcome pit stop during my frequent business travels, but there’s no way I’ll ever be persuaded to give them any business now.

  • 2. J.P.  |  February 5th, 2008 at 7:12 am

    I’d like to update my posting below … Upon receiving my complaint email, the Director of Operations for Butter London promptly replied with a firm and sincere apology for my experience. She indicated that the incident had been addressed with the store’s staff. In her words, “It is our highest priority to provide our clients with an exceptional shopping and nail care experience and in this instance we certainly failed to do so. What you experienced is very unusual and we have taken steps to ensure that this does not happen again.” Since I took the opportunity to post my bad experience I think it’s only fair to follow up with the good and let any readers know that the company is attentive and quick to address any issues that arise.

  • 3. cindy  |  March 9th, 2008 at 11:22 am

    they totally ruined my nails,6 weeks later they are still peeling and chipping. If you value your nails,stay away

  • 4. amanda  |  March 31st, 2008 at 7:49 pm

    I had the best manicure experience at the Westlake Center location last week.
    I’m kind of a shy person, so often the chatty salon atmosphere stresses me out, but the man who did my nails was warm and friendly without high fructose corn syrup.
    My nails look mahhvelous!

  • 5. Get rid of your toxic pol&hellip  |  April 18th, 2008 at 12:01 pm

    […] Did you know that nail polish is made with some pretty gross toxins? Formaldehyde, Toluene and DBP are the big 3, which is why most nail salons all have that same gross smell. From April 15-May 15, butterLONDON is letting you bring in 3 bottles of polish with one (or more) of the 3 chemicals and you’ll get a bottle of their “3-free” lacquer for free. I must say that they’re lacquer is probably the best I’ve ever used so it would be worth the trip in there. As I wrote before they give fantastic manicures, too! […]

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