Sera Nails Seoul Nail Art Salon Review

South Korea is known for being big on the nail art scene. so when I visited Seoul I knew I had to get something crazy. I was wandering around the nail bar area in Cheongdam-dong when we fell across Sera by Sera Nail Art salon, and was inexplicably drawn inside (OK< it was the pinkness and Barbie windows that did it).

The salon looked like Barbie had thrown up, had five kids and then intermarried- it was pink everywhere, from the walls to the toilet, and Barbie dolls lined the shelves in a variety of poses. The salon even featured an area where you could buy clothes and try them on in a barbie-esque changing room.

Naturally, with all this Barbie-fied activity, I knew what I wanted on my nails, and was excited they offered water decals with the traditional Barbie outline..

I was going to go super crazy (think beads, rings etc) but that was only offered with acrylics, and I’ve had bad times with that before, so opted to get gel nails with glitter and Barbie instead.

There was a language barrier but nails are pretty universal, so we quickly agreed on pink graduated glitter (grows out more subtly than full on glitter) with a Barbie head on each thumbnail.

The technician was really competent, and my nails took around 40 minutes, total. I wasn’t that happy with how far my cuticles were cut back- at one point my finger beds bled- but apart from that it was great. I love how you can’t smudge gel nails- they cure each coat with UV light, so people like me don’t have to worry about ruining a manicure 5 minutes after leaving the salon (so many times…). Once the nails were finished, the Barbie was applied by water decal- think of it as applying a fake tattoo to the nail, and then sealing it in with super strong gel. I was impressed how deftly they handled Barbie’s head- looked like tricky work!

Sera by Sera Nails really was one of the most adorable salons I’ve been too EVER- the decor, the uniqueness, the strange frozen cafe latte that was complementary.

PS. It’s also a really big thing in Korea NOT TO TIP- they view it as offensive, so that made it better. I’m not sure how much this cost, as my friend got it for my birthday, but I’d guestimate around £20/ $35.

What do you think- aren’t they Barbie-licious!

Even the toilet area here is pretty!

Should you be in Seoul, South Korea and want to visit Sera Nails, they are near the Cheong-dam Dong area, and if you get off the metro and walk for around 15 minutes they are ticked down a small, street. There are a LOT of nail salons here, so it may take you some time to find Sera, but it’s the only one with Barbie dolls in the window.