NEBO

A Russian manicure is a technique built around one idea: nails that look immaculately clean and cared for. Instead of soaking the hands, we work dry with a fine electric file. It lifts the cuticle gently, removes the excess skin that grows onto the nail plate and takes off the dead cells that dull the surface, so what is left is a smooth, healthy nail with a crisp, even line at its base. Colour can then be applied right up to the cuticle, with barely any space between the cuticle and the polish, so your hands look cleaner and the result lasts longer. Most importantly, a Russian manicure is a professional service that has to be performed by a skilled professional. In the right hands it is the cleanest and most refined manicure you can have.

Yes. A Russian manicure works only on dead skin and on the excess cuticle that has grown onto the nail plate. The living skin that seals the base of the nail stays exactly where it belongs, and the nail plate itself is never thinned. Working dry is part of what keeps it safe: the skin is firm and clearly visible, so the technician sees where the dead skin ends and the healthy skin begins and takes off only what should go. Every instrument comes to your table in an individual sterilisation pouch straight from the autoclave. Like any professional procedure, it has to be done by a professional. The technique itself is gentle, and the skill of the person holding the file is what keeps it that way. If you have read that this manicure can be aggressive, that describes a poorly performed service, not the technique.

SMART is the pedicure system we work with, and we chose it because it gives the smoothest, longest-lasting result so that everything that touches your feet has either just come out of the autoclave or is being used for the first time. At its heart is a metal disc that goes through the autoclave and is fitted with a fresh single-use abrasive file for every client, used together with an e-file for the nails and the cuticle area. The whole pedicure is done on dry skin, and that is what makes it so effective: dry skin shows exactly where the hard layer is and where the healthy skin begins, so we take down what needs to go and leave the rest, evenly across the whole foot. Skin that has been soaked swells and hides that line, which is why a soaked pedicure so often feels rough again within days. Working dry also means there is no shared water, so nothing passes from one pair of feet to the next. You may also see this pedicure called a Russian pedicure; it is the same method, and the result is feet that stay smooth for weeks.

If your feet ever feel tired, dry or sore at the end of the day, yes. Your feet carry you through everything you do, from a full day at work to training, and when they hurt, the quality of everything else drops with them: you walk less, you stand awkwardly, you stop enjoying the sport you like. Most of the foot problems men put up with are easy to prevent. Toenails that are too long or cut into the corners press into the skin and can grow inwards; hard skin and calluses build up where the foot takes weight and make every step feel like walking on a pebble; dry heels crack and start to hurt. A regular pedicure prevents all of this: nails shaped so they do not press, hard skin taken down to a comfortable level, heels kept soft. At NEBO the pedicure is done dry, without water or blades, and without polish. You feel the difference the moment you stand up, and men who come once for a specific problem usually keep coming, because their feet feel better and stop needing attention.

Every instrument goes through the same five steps after every client. First, cleaning: instruments and e-file bits are scrubbed free of all residue. Second, disinfection: they are placed in a disinfectant solution for the time the manufacturer specifies, then rinsed and dried. Third, packaging: each set is sealed into an individual sterilisation pouch with an indicator that changes colour once sterilisation has taken place. Fourth, sterilisation: the pouches go through a Class B autoclave, the same standard used in dental clinics, which sterilises with pressurised steam. Fifth, the cycle is logged. Your pouch stays sealed until it is opened in front of you at your table, so you can be certain that nothing touching you has touched anyone else since it left the autoclave. This is what gives you complete peace of mind.

NEBO is a studio in Barcelona's zona alta, opening soon. We are preparing the studio now and will publish the address and the opening date as soon as both are certain. Join the waitlist or message us on WhatsApp and you will be the first to hear when we open, where we are and how to book.