I do three things when I’m stressed (orrrr heartbroken. Either way, these things are 100% effective, believe me). I eat to make my tummy happy — with friends, so we can catch up on the latest chika; I travel so I can declutter my mind and soul — those blue beaches never fail to unwind me; and I pamper myself, so I can relax my physical body.

Yass. A girl’s got to pamper herself once in a while. If I had a choice, I’d do it all the time. There’s nothing that tops a good massage and a mani-pedi session to remove all of the stress from work.

Last Sunday was all about spoiling myself (most especially my nails). I always look forward to pamper-me day as it always gets me energized and excited to get back to work afterwards… and also because I love seeing my newly happy-colored nails on my fingers, typing away on the black keyboard.

My destination last weekend was a newly opened nail spa located along the stretch of Timog, Quezon Avenue called Kukugara Nail Spa.

Kukugara got its name from the Filipino words, “Kukong Magara,” which roughly translates to ‘elegant nails’.

The first thing I noticed when I entered the salon was its clean interiors and cozy feel. Off to a good start. I loved the vibes it gave me.

Secondly, my eyes quickly averted from the reception to the walls of nail polish that they had. I squealed (internally) at the vast number of nail polish shades to choose from. They have, for starters, the crowd favourite, Orly. They also have Zoya and Misa for those who prefer organic polish. They also have Essie, China Glaze, Ruby Wing (the kind that changes color when exposed to sunlight!) and OPI nail lacquers. If that’s not enough to make you drool, they also carry Dior and Chanel! zOMG.

Even my friend couldn’t decide which color to get. 🙂

They have plenty of packages to choose from. They have the basic manicure pedicure package called Fast and the Charming — nails are trimmed and shaped and buffed and polished (Php 350). You can also opt for a Simply You, a soothing spa and scrub, hand and foot reflex (Php 699). There’s also a package for the gentlemen called You da Man! (Php 549) and for kids called His Royal Princess (299).

I went for the package called Let’s Sheer Plus (Php 1299) — complete cleaning for the hands and the feet. It includes a sea salt soak, a soothing spa, a clarifying scrub, a moisturizing mask and a hand and foot reflex. If you want an additional paraffin treatment with that, you can get the package called You Deserve The Best (Php 1899).

Their spa chairs are AWESOME (pictured above). It comes equipped with a back massager, a side tray for your drink (they offered coffee/tea/iced tea the moment we came in), and a tub for the foot soak. I was tempted to close my eyes for a moment and let go while the staff did their thing, but I had to pay attention to what was going on, so I could tell you more about it!

So, the sea salt soak came first. They filled the tub with water, added the sea salt scrub and turned on the tub.

They worked on the hands after that, rubbed my arms with a hot towel, then scrubbed then massaged. They put the minty mask on then wrapped our arms in plastic sheets and a towel.

They soaked our fingers in some kind of a bowl (specialized equipment that I wish I had asked the name of) to soften the cuticles. They proceeded to do the nail trimming, shaping, buffing and cuticle care.

I actually saw the nail kit — cutter, clipper and such — come in sealed pouches. I asked why after the session (I was curious) and was told that they sterilize their equipment before using it on customers. I saw the UV Sterilizer myself.

Very clean and very niceeeeee.

They went back to our feet for cleaning and we were temporarily distracted when they gave us the box of nail polish colors. I had my mind set on an aqua shade, but then changed my mind about 10 times.. I eventually settled with a gray shade from Zoya.

Kukugara offers nail art, too!

I asked if they do spa parties, which is the the trend lately for bridal showers (like when Mareng Kaye Abad had a salon themed bridal shower (READ: Kaye Abad sizzles In Pre-Nup Photoshoot with Fiance Paul Jake) and birthday parties. Good news: they do! You can have the spa area all to yourself and your sisters for 4 hours exclusively.

We had so much fun at Kukugara Nail Spa! I give two thumbs up for the quality service! Jas and I were de-stressed and ready for work right away!

Kukugara Nail Spa

59 Timog Avenue, Quezon City

0917-843KUKU / (02) 441-2377

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kukugaranailspa

Instagram: @Kukugara