Russian Manicure NYCCustom shape.
Clean formula.
Every nail is shaped to the hand it sits on, not to a chart on the wall, and finished in gel free of HEMA, TPO and TMPTA. The cuticle is worked dry under magnification, so color sits a hair under the skin and grows out without a gap.
Book a manicureWhich one sounds like your hands?
Pick one. We suggest a shape and a service to start from, and your artist makes the call in the chair.
This only helps you book the right appointment. The shape itself is decided with your artist in the chair, and you can send a photo of your hands beforehand so we can advise before you arrive.
Nothing harsh in the gel.
The most common cause of gel allergy. Once you react to it, you react to it everywhere, including at the dentist.
A photoinitiator banned in cosmetics across the EU since September 2025. Still in most salon gels in the US.
A crosslinker linked to skin irritation. Left out of every gel we use, polish, overlay and builder alike.
Our gels are professional grade and chosen for what they leave out as much as for what they do: long wear, high shine, and a natural nail that comes out of every removal the way it went in.
Color, strength or length?
Cuticle work, your shape, one color that lasts three to four weeks. Or nothing on them at all.
A layer over your own nail so it stops bending or breaking and can finally grow out.
Strengthening, for nails that bendStructured, for nails that break
Length added in one sitting, in the shape your hands carry best.
All six begin with the same dry Russian cuticle work. The difference is what goes on after.
The Russian manicure, explained.
Shaped to the hand, clean to the nail.
What it is. A Russian manicure is a dry manicure. Nothing is soaked. The cuticle and the dead skin around the nail are lifted and removed with a fine electric file under magnification, which leaves a clean, even edge a wet manicure cannot reach. It is also called a dry manicure or an e-file manicure, and it is the same thing.
Why the shape matters. The shape is chosen for your hands before any color goes on. A wide nail bed reads narrower with a rounded edge, a short finger reads longer with a tapered tip, and a narrow bed can carry width at the tip. Your artist reads the hand first and files the shape by hand, not from a chart.
Why it lasts. Because the nail plate was never soaked, it never swells and shrinks back, so the gel bonds tighter. Color is applied a hair under the cuticle, so the first weeks of growth show no bare line. Most hands get three to four weeks of wear from a service that would last two anywhere else.
What goes on the nail. Every gel we use is free of HEMA, TPO and TMPTA, the three ingredients behind most gel allergies and irritation. It is professional grade, high shine, and comes off dry at the next appointment without an acetone soak.
Tools are sterilised between every client, and the same artist takes you from cuticle to color. Book the Russian gel manicure to start, or send us a photo of your hands and we will suggest the service and shape before you arrive.
Before you book
Does the e-file hurt?
No. The bits are fine and the work is on dead skin, not live, under magnification. You feel a light vibration and nothing more. If you have ever been nicked by a nipper in a wet manicure, this is the opposite of that.
Is a Russian manicure bad for your nails?
Done well, it is the gentler option: no soaking, no swelling of the nail plate, and the gel is filed off dry at the next visit instead of soaked in acetone. The horror stories online come from untrained hands pushing a file into live skin. Every tool here is sterilised between clients.
How long does it last, and what about the gap?
Three to four weeks on most hands. Because the color is set a hair under the cuticle, the first weeks of growth do not show a line of bare nail. You come back when the shape has grown out, not when the gap appears.
Do you remove gel from other salons?
Yes, filed off dry, then the nail is prepped for whatever you are booking. It is $35 when the gel is someone else’s work and free when it is ours.
Book your manicure.
Send us a photo of your hands beforehand and we advise on shape before you arrive.