How to Tip at Nail Salons:
Nail salons are one of the trickiest places when it comes to tipping. What if one person does your manicure and another person does your pedicure? Jin Soon, nail guru and owner of JINsoon Salon in New York City, recommended the following tip for tricky situations such as the one above: “You should give the full amount, whatever you want to give, and tell the manager, receptionist or your technician, to divide. You can tell them something along the lines of ‘this many people took care of me, so please share,’ and they will split accordingly.”
Soon recommended tipping 20-30%, especially since it is such a personal service. One of the only times a client should tip a bit more is if you end up not liking the color you chose, and ask for a do-over mid mani. Tipping extra is a nice gesture for the extra work done.
Additionally, if the salon owner ends up doing your service, Jin advises to tip the salon owner and the technicians equally. Even though some clients give a bigger tip to the salon owner while others don’t tip at all, a nice 20% across the board is a good general rule.
