Life & Culture

Students willing to pay top dollar for nails; many prefer in-home nail technicians

Viviana Avila, Staff Writer

December 2, 2025

In recent years, home nail technicians have taken over the nail service industry. With quality work for more affordable prices, most ECC students have stopped going to salons and started going to home nail technicians.

“I love home technicians because I feel like they’re so much better,” said Patel. “I’ve seen girls go to salons and they tell me about the outrageous prices.”

The price of nails is controversial, with new trends nail prices and services are constantly changing and evolving. Home-based nail technicians are at the forefront of these changes, while nail salons fall behind.

Newspaper outlet Baylor Lariat states “If you want something trendy or detailed, an at-home tech is often a better choice than a salon worker trying to meet a daily quota,” Not only are home technicians more detail oriented, but also at a more affordable price. “Since most at-home nail techs work independently, they set fair rates without overhead fees. In the long run, clients get high-quality nails without breaking the bank.”

Some students who opt for at-home nail technicians are still willing to pay three-digit prices to have their nails done; others feel differently.

ECC student Melanie Garcia wears stelleto black French tip nails with charms

ECC student Mari Jiménez is willing to travel far and pay a steep price for a quality set of nails from a home-nail technician.

“I know this is gonna sound crazy, but I am willing to pay like $100 for nails,” Jiménez said. “For a good nail technician I would take a train to her.”

Similarly to Jiménez, student Evelyn Aguirre is willing to pay “$100 to $120” for a set of nails because she only gets them done once and a while.

For ECC student Keni Patel, $7o through $80 is a more reasonable range, and how much she is willing to pay depends on the work and length.

An ECC student displays her nails. But, nursing students are not allowed to have nails this length due to the nursing student handbook. This protocol is necessary for safety and sanitation reasons (Lila Dzikowicz)

With this, when there is a special occasion some students are willing to compromise on the amount they pay for a set of nails.

Typically ECC student Melanie Garcia would pay at most $110 for a set, but for a special occasion she is willing to pay more. “ I remember from my birthday set, I once paid 150.”

Similarly, Patel states she is willing to pay more for nails that she really wants. “If it’s once in a blue moon then it’s fine.”

While this luxury service can get pricey, students can agree that they add personality to their character.

Aguirre is “very loud” with her outfits, so when she gets her nails done she wants to match the same energy. She typically gets “y2k” style nails, which match her outfits and give her confidence.

Hands with dark green nail polish. — ECC student sports dark green nail polish. (Lila Dzikowicz)

Donate to Observer

$525

$5000

Contributed

Our Goal

Your contribution will allow us to send students to the National College Media Conference in San Francisco in March 2026. This will grant them an opportunity to learn about about journalism and receive recognition for their work.

About the Contributors

Viviana Avila, staff writer and podcaster

This is Avila’s first year at ECC pursuing an associate in arts. This is her first year serving on The Observer. Avila joined because she wanted to learn more about story writing and time-management. She enjoys covering club and organization opportunities that surround the ECC campus. Avila hopes to take complex topics and write them in a creative way, so her peers can be more interested. Her personal motto is to make a difference in her community. Contact information: [email protected]

Lila Dzikowicz, staff writer and photographer.

Dzikowicz is a freshman at ECC interested in studying music. This is her first year on the Observer staff. She joined the Observer because she likes to write and hopes to gain more experience. She is interested in covering politics and human-interest stories at ECC and in the wider community. She hopes her experience on the Observer will give her the chance to meet more people in the college and surrounding towns who she otherwise would never have had the opportunity to have a conversion with. Her motto is “If you hold your hand closed, nothing good can come in” (Bridget Mason). Contact information: [email protected]