Nailed it
GOODS & SERVICES • Salons
Mission District nail salon Sparkle SF is the opposite of your neighborhood mani-pedi spot. The collective is appointment-only, no walk-ins, and patrons are expected to arrive with references and Pinterest boards as detailed as the ones they’d bring their interior designer.
That’s because, unlike your kitchen’s raw-edge shelves or artisanal bathroom tile, your nails are with you wherever you go — so the thought around how they’re finessed might be even more important. “People are always looking at each other’s nails,” founder and native San Franciscan Mia Rubie says. “But they only register if they look really bad — or really good.”
And nails look really, really good after a visit to one of Sparkle’s artists, many of whom are waitlist-only when it comes to bookings. Like Rubie, most also moonlight on film sets, head to tony homes and hotels to work on celebrity mitts, or book corporate nail gigs (Rubie, for example, is the nail pro whose work appears in Instacart’s ads and social media).
Tracking an artist you like via Instagram is a good first step, followed by a swift response when openings are announced. Rubie’s waitlist can stretch to years, for example, but once you’re in, bookings can be made within days. It’s a more complicated process than the strip mall nail salon most of us grew up with, but the results — and the compliments — make it worthwhile. –Eve Batey
→ Book: Sparkle SF (Mission) • 1380 Valencia St • by appointment only.