US Nails is the first nail supplier I found in the San Jose area, and it's still my favorite by far. It has a great selection of polishes, awesome prices and fairly helpful staff. Here's a yelp page with reviews of US Nails along with the hours and address. I have to warn you about limited availability of Zoyas there. I once talked to one of the workers there and it appears that with Zoya, they only get one shipment of the new collection and then they're done. This seems to have been how things have worked for a long time. However, they do usually post on their facebook page whenever they get in the newest collection. They also can be a bit hit and miss with their selection of OPI. Polishes from the newest collections are usually there consistently, but their core line of OPI products often seems depleted. If I could only visit one store out of the 3 in this post, it would definitely be this one.
Find out what the other 2 stores carry, and how they differ from US Nails, after the jump!
About a mile away from US Nails is a store called Tully Beauty Supply. They have similar prices to US Nails and a more limited selection. However, they occasionally have OPIs that US Nails doesn't, and they also are the only one in the area that sells New York Summer for $2. I think they have more topcoats and base coats. It’s the first place I ever saw Northern Lights topcoat, for instance. Also, some of their prices of the basics are slightly lower. For instance, Seche Vite is $4 at US Nail Supply and only $3.50 at Tully Beauty Supply.
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| Nail wheel that I've only found at Tully Nail Supply |
Something I can only find there is nail wheels like the one pictured above. I found out about it in this video from the incredibly talented Colette of My Simple Little Pleasures .US Nails and others have nails wheels, but these clear plastic ones are the only kind I've found where you can crack the nail polish off like Colette does in the video. Being able to crack the polish off means the nail wheels are much easier to reuse. The wheels come in the 2 pack shown above for $2. Other than that, the only other thing that I'd point out is Tully Beauty Supply’s selection of hair care products. They seem to have more hair care than US Nails. I can't really comment on the pricing of that because I never buy hair products at either one.
There's a new nail supply place that opened recently about 3 miles from US Nails.It's called Sunlight Nail and Beauty Supply, the address is 1007 E. Capitol Expressway. Its prices are similar US Nails, but Sunlight has sooo many cool brands. They have Sation, 5x5, Verity, Dare to Wear, Cherimoya and probably others I'm forgetting. Their selection of OPI also seems less hit or miss than US Nail. They also have a huge variety of gel nail polish for those of you who have at home gel kits. There's a Rite Aid in the same shopping plaza where you might find some of the latest drugstore stuff. It's where I found the newest Sinful Colors holiday collections both this year and last year. I would guess this shopping plaza is less than 3 miles from US Nails, so you could really make a day out of visiting just the few stores I've mentioned in this post.
| US NAIL SUPPLY | TULLY BEAUTY SUPPLY | SUNLIGHT NAIL SUPPLY | |
| OPI | $5 | $5, EXCEPT ITEMS FROM NEW COLLECTIONS $6 | $5 |
| CHINA GLAZE | $3 | $3 | $3.5 |
| ORLY | $4.25 | $4 LIMITED SELECTION |
|
| ZOYA | $4, EXCEPT
FOR PIXIE DUSTS $5 LIMITED SELECTION |
||
| COLOR CLUB | $2.25 | ||
| DARE TO WEAR | $2.25 | $2.5 | |
| VERITY | $2 | ||
| NEW YORK SUMMER | $2 | ||
| SATION | $2 | ||
| 5 X 5 | $2 |
Above is a table where I’ve laid out the prices and brands at each store. If the table is blank for a particular brand, that means the store does not carry that brand. I do not 100% guarantee these prices since I’m doing this table based on my memory. However, I’m certain that I’m in the right ballpark since I shop frequently at all of these stores.
Very helpful! Now I want to come visit. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm sure lots of areas of the country have great resources for us nail fanatics, but I wanted to lay out what I knew about my area in a post! And now you know where to go if you ever do decide to stop by San Jose. :)
Deletewow great post regarding nail supply.Keep it up....
ReplyDelete