WCCO Viewers' Choice For Best Manicure, Pedicure In Minnesota
WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. (WCCO) -- Spring has sprung, and it's time to get your nails in order, especially if you're showing off your bare feet.
Just in time for Mother's Day, we went in search of the best manicure and pedicure in Minnesota. Your votes sent Natalie Nyhus to White Bear Lake for a little pampering at Indulge Salon and Spa.
There's something so luxurious about caring for the hands and feet. And when it comes to the best place in Minnesota to get a manicure and pedicure, the name says it all.
"We don't know who came up with the name Indulge, but as soon as someone said it. We thought that's exactly it. That's exactly how we want people to feel when they come," Owner Kim Schoonover said.
This is Indulge Salon and Spa in White Bear Lake, a business born from a belief of four women: Kim, Linda, Joelle and Vicki.
"We used to joke, wouldn't it be fun if we won the lottery and opened up our own salon," Schoonover said.
That dream became a reality in March of 2012.
"We all put our heads together, sat on this deck and said we are going to do this and came up with some crazy ideas. We said we believe in you and are going to make this happen," Schoonover said.
Three years later, Indulge is an award-winning salon.
"We designed the building with the principles of feng shui. When you come in you feel very welcome, it's very open," Schoonover said.
Curved hallways send positive energy through the building, and a crystal punctuates the energy center.
"It's become more of a healing place than I expected," Schoonover said.
We are hard on our hands and feet, and nothing erases all those life miles like a good manicure and pedicure.
"Your feet have a very healing quality and capacity to them. Your energy starts and comes out of your feet. You have to really take care of them," Schoonover said.
"We help rub those aches and pains out. You see all ages, right? I've done little girls and had a 90-year-old client in last Friday," Vicki Clark, Schoonover's business partner, said.
The experience at Indulge is more than just the polish. It's massage, smoothing and buffing. And a little therapy.
"I always tease people that I should write a book. It's like bartenders. We hear it all. But we like to listen," Clark said.
Days like these make it easy to forget I was on the job.
The little extras and attention to detail help make a manicure and pedicure here an indulgent experience.
And sure the polish is perfect. But what makes this place the best? Well, I think my new friend Judy summed it up best.
"Everybody is so nice and does their job, but you always feel good when you come and even better when you leave because they've done such a nice job," she said.
"We love our clients. It was all about creating an environment for them . Getting this award and honor justifies and makes it feel like we succeed. We actually have done what we set out to do," Schoonover said.
Kim and her staff say manicures and pedicures are not just for the ladies. They have many male clients, too. A few of your other favorite spots were A La Mode in Edina and The Refinery in Dinkytown.
