In Store

Inside a Bellevue nail salon a brother and sister wax and polish their customers and seek the perfect pressure point.

Photography by Virginia Bunker

Pro Nails’ front window advertises some mysterious services: “Fiber glass” and “eye- lash,” along with more familiar ones like “waxing” and “spa pedicure.” This flat-roofed building, with its front yard of wayward, reedy grass, leaning lilacs and three leggy rose stems, conjures an older Bellevue — that of the 1980s or before, with a culture that was quieter, less determined to create an impression.

Lan Chu, who goes by Lana, moved to Washington from Manhattan about a year and a half ago to take over the tidy shop in the little strip mall two blocks from Bellevue Square.

A woman leans back in a spa chair, a white pillow on her lap, and Lana’s brother, Kenny, massages her hand and forearm from a low stool. Kenny is slim in his slouch jeans and T-shirt; his short hair is combed with water. Surrounded by bottles and open jars of cream, Kenny daubs white lotion onto the customer’s hands and massages. There is some murmured, slightly forced conversation between another spa worker and the customer, which finally resolves into a restful silence. Kenny does not look up from his work often.

If Lana seems tired at first, she quickly brightens when talking about cosmetology. She loves to create beautiful fingers, brows and toes.

“Oh, most of my customers are ladies, yes, but the men come here with their wives, then they come back later by themselves,” she laughs. Many, she explains, come to Pro Nails just for foot massage. “They like us, because here we know how to press the pressing points.” Behind her are dozens of slick, globelike nail-polish bottles. There are taffy whites, pinks and fluorescent greens — so tart they make the eye ache. Lana talks about what colors customers favor: “Now, in the spring, or if they’re going on vacation, they want something like ‘I’m not Really a Waitress.’” She shows it to me — a candy-apple red in a particularly rich, edible shade. “But in the fall, customers go for ‘Midnight in Moscow’ or ‘Lincoln Park after Dark,’” she says, pointing to little flasks of dark plum. “My God,” she says, “they love these!”

Pro Nails:
Pro Nails
103 Bellevue Way NE, Suite 3
Bellevue, WA 98004
425.452.9421
Hours:
Monday through Friday 9–7,Saturday 9–6,Sunday 10–6