Small Luxury: Pedicures

This weekend I made the trip into town to go to my favorite nail salon, Leon Nails. 

It's not a fancy place. It's a small store front in a strip mall: manicures tables on the right, pedicure chairs on the left, and three big revolving racks of polish in the front.  A small altar is centered on the back wall, with joss sticks and fruit. There's a row of licenses above the manicure tables and an autoclave in back. Lucky bamboo and fashion magazines complete the ambiance. It may not be "spa like" but, it's comfortable.

But the real reason to go, is that these ladies know their business, and give great service at a good price.  A pedicure there does not just mean that they paint your nails. They resurface your feet (great for those of us with cracked soles) moisturize and massage all the way up to your knees. The polish job includes a base coat, top coat and two coats of color, not to mention trimming, shaping and basically doing their best to make your feet look worthy of glass slippers, or at least open-toed sandals. 

And did I mention they are really nice? I once destroyed a nail getting into my car, and they re-did it for free.

I could paint my nails myself, but I can't do as good a job. So I'm happy to spend $25 (including a $5 tip) for the pleasure of having my nails done really well. And cherry red toenails make me happy.

My toes, freshly covered in Quarter of a Cent-cherry