Last week I dashed from the office way downtown to arrive for an appointment on the Upper West Side.  One impatient ride on the 1 train brought me to the doors of Polished Beauty Bar, and in mere moments I transitioned from a stressful day to the comfort of a customizable massage chair and the warm welcome of Susan Nam, co-founder and newly titled (by me) connoisseur of salon perfection.

Some New York City venues have mastered the art of creating a cozy, “neighborhood” feel better than others. Ordinarily I consider nail salons to be far from “local” in their generally rushed formaldehyde-y atmospheres.  However, this salon has taken the art of manicure/pedicure/and alot of other stuff to a new level of warmth and serenity, undoubtedly raising bars on cleanliness, green-ness and sophistication.

Polished offers a refreshingly green approach to spa services, as it offers in addition to the well-known array of Essie and like products, eco-friendly Zoya  “triple free” lacquer, (that means there is no formaldehyde, toluene or DBP) and an intoxicating line of organic Pharmacopia products.  Also, once a bottle becomes half-full, that color may be mixed with others to create custom-made blends exclusively for Polished clients.  There is also soy-based polish remover. Let me repeat: it’s made of soy.

What’s more, Polished is clean. In fact, it is so clean, that clean as a word alone just doesn’t seem to be clean enough, and it is that attitude that defines the high-pressure “autoclave” sanitation process used on tools, an EnpuTech Air Cleaning Technology filtration system, jet foot baths with LED light that eliminates bacteria, and The Klenz Sanitizer, which may best be described as a “shoe oven” that eliminates odor-causing bacteria while clients enjoy a pedicure.

To top it off, whilst luxuriating in any given Polished offering, clients may sit back and also enjoy one of a selection of classic-only movies kept on silent (with subtitles) to preserve the peaceful atmosphere.  In a word, this Beauty Bar is nothing short of Polished.

Polished Beauty Bar is located at 250 West 78th Street, between Broadway and West End. For more information visit their website at http://www.polishedbb.com/.