How to apply

  Step by step

1. There were a few instances when the machine didn't cover my nail entirely, or it left large gaps between some areas, because of this, the polish application took longer than I initially expected. I quickly learned that in order to get the best possible result, it's important to keep your body completely still while the machine is painting your nails. For any mess-ups, a technician helped me remove the polish with a wipe and I repeated the entire process until my nail was correctly and completely covered.
2. Once all of my fingers were painted, I let my nails dry for about five minutes, and the technician applied fast-drying drops to my nails. Altogether, the entire activity took about 20 minutes total. The location I went to also had a fun selfie corner, where I was able to take a few photos of my nails using a provided ring light and a cool leafy background.
3. Overall, I was extremely impressed with the fact that a machine could paint my nails. I loved the selfie corner, and the technician was very helpful. The experience was different and fun, and it was easy and fairly effortless. Typically, a regular manicure at a salon costs me around $20, but each "minicure" at Clockwork costs $8, which seems pretty on par pricing-wise. Timing-wise, the Clockwork minicure is advertised to take around 10 minutes total, but my experience was roughly double the time. Since there were only two machines available, I spent some extra time waiting, and the fixes for each of my nails also ended up adding up.
4. I would say that the pros of this service are the convenience, the price, and the experience. As for the cons, I prefer to have a full manicure when getting my nails done, so I didn't like that I had to visit a separate place for cutting and shaping my nails prior to my Clockwork appointment. There was also no base coat or top coat involved, so my nails ended up chipping shortly after I had them done. In the future, I think I'll stick to my favorite manicurists, but if I'm ever in a pinch, I'm happy to know Clockwork is right around the corner.