A nail technician shaping a client's nails at the studio table

Nail Atelier · Est. Arlington

Lacquer Room

A small, precise studio for structured gel and considered nail art. Booked by appointment, open late, and never rushed.

  • Open late · til 8pm Tue–Fri
  • Walk-ins · after 2pm
  • Ballston · Arlington VA
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  • Structured gel
  • Builder overlay
  • Russian manicure
  • Freehand art
  • Chrome & cateye
  • Spa pedicure
  • Soft gel extensions
  • Open til 8pm
The Lacquer Room studio floor: mirrored stations, warm lighting and a polished stone floor
A floor-to-ceiling rack of gel colour samples framed by two potted palms

The studio

Six chairs, one standard,
no conveyor belt.

We kept the room deliberately small. Every appointment gets a full hour minimum, a technician who stays with you start to finish, and tools that came out of an autoclave, not a drawer.

The work is structured gel: a properly prepped nail, an apex built where it belongs, and a finish that grows out cleanly instead of lifting at week two. It takes longer. It also lasts.

  • Hospital-grade sterilisation, logged for every tool
  • Single-use files and buffers, opened in front of you
  • HEMA-free and 10-free product lines available on request
  • Ventilated stations at every seat
  • 6Days open a week
  • 8pmLatest appointment
  • 60+Gel shades in stock
  • 1hrMinimum booking

What we do

Services

Six disciplines. Open one to see what is involved and roughly what it costs.

01 Manicures from $28
A hand with soft almond-shaped nude nails resting on a cream throw

Dry-machine prep, cuticle work under magnification, and a shape cut to your nail bed rather than a stencil. Finished in polish, gel, or bare and buffed.

  • Classic
  • Russian
  • Gel overlay
  • Buff & bare
02 Pedicures from $45
Feet with a fresh bright pink pedicure, resting after treatment

Pipe-free tubs, liner-lined for every guest. Callus work, a proper heel file, and a lower-leg massage that is not a token thirty seconds.

  • Express
  • Spa
  • Deluxe 60min
  • Gel toes
03 Gel & Builder from $40
A technician filing a builder gel overlay at a station with a dust extractor

BIAB-style overlays for nails that split or peel. We build an apex, thin the free edge, and cap it — which is the difference between three weeks and ten days.

  • Builder overlay
  • Rebalance
  • Strengthening
  • HEMA-free
04 Extensions from $70
Two hands with square white extensions photographed against a deep burgundy backdrop

Soft gel tips and sculpted forms. Length and shape agreed before we start, and kept to something you can actually type and drive with.

  • Soft gel tips
  • Sculpted
  • Acrylic
  • Infills
05 Nail Art from $5
A technician painting a client's nails, polish bottles lined up on the table

Freehand line work, chrome, cateye, encapsulated foils and French in any colour. Bring a reference; we will tell you honestly whether it suits your nail length.

  • Freehand
  • Chrome
  • Cateye
  • French
  • Encapsulated
06 Waxing from $12
Smooth lower legs after a waxing treatment, against a plain white background

Hard wax for face and bikini, strip wax for legs and arms. Single-use spatulas, never double-dipped.

  • Brow
  • Lip & chin
  • Underarm
  • Half leg
  • Full leg

Recent work

Lookbook

See all

In their words

Reviews

I came in with three nails split from a set someone else had rushed. They took the whole thing off, looked at what was underneath, and put a builder overlay on instead of selling me another full set. Four weeks and nothing has lifted.
Maya R. · Google, August 2026
Booked the 6:30 on a Thursday because nothing else in Ballston is open that late. Sat down at 6:30. The Russian manicure is the cleanest cuticle work I have had here, and I have tried most of them.
Elena V. · Google, July 2026
Brought a screenshot of a chrome French I was fairly sure nobody could actually do. She did it — then told me straight that it would sit better a few millimetres shorter, and she was right.
Priya S. · Yelp, July 2026
I react to most gels and had given up. They keep a HEMA-free line, prepped the station before I arrived, and nothing flared. Six weeks of appointments now with no reaction at all.
Danielle K. · Google, June 2026

Where & when

Visit us

Opening hours

MondayClosed
Tue – Fri11am – 8pm
Saturday10am – 7pm
Sunday11am – 5pm

Last booking is one hour before close. Walk-ins are taken after 2pm when a chair is free.

Appointments

Book the chair

Same-week slots usually open up on Tuesday mornings. Call the studio or send an email and we will fit you in.

Call Book