Moving to Israel involves numerous challenges for olim, generally I am in favor of focusing on the positives as for me they outweigh the negatives, but there are still some things I miss about “back home”.  For example, getting a decent manicure whenever and wherever I wanted it .  So there are 2 issues here, one is the lack of quality nail salons in Jerusalem and the second is the ridiculous hours they are open.

When I first made aliyah, Eden Spa above Aroma on Emek had just opened.  I signed up to their “VIP” club which means I get student prices for life and compared to what else is on offer, they are pretty good.  They have proper massage pedicure chairs, they just moved to a new renovated much larger salon and even without my discount, the prices are fairly reasonable.  The biggest issue I have is getting an appointment. I work until at least 6pm every night and guess what, they are normally closed by 5pm.  Fridays do I hear you ask, that one day off we have a week in this country that things are actually open, well half the day anyway.  Well, even if you have time to go and get a manicure on a Friday, you will be lucky to get an appointment as they save most of them for the chayalot.

But times seem to be changing.  There is now an express nail bar in Malcha Mall called Lak.  They have an amazing choice of colors and their own brand nail polish is pretty good.  I have only been there once, I got a full manicure and the popular express and I was fairly happy with the result.  People typically sign up for an appointment when they arrive at the mall and they give you a time to come back, or they call you when they are ready.  It is definitely more expensive but you are paying for the convenience.

Hadar Mall in Talpiot now also has a nail bar in the middle called My Lak.  This time I opted for an express manicure with is 30 ₪,  they had a good choice of Le Chat nail colors and the manicurist was very professional.  They are open 9am-9pm so it is very convenient to be able to go after work. They also have an express eyebrow shaping service which I did not try, but I will in the future.

I still miss being able to go and get a manicure during my lunch break and have a great Vietnamese manicurist who does not leave polish all over your fingers, but perhaps one day, I will find that here.