The experience was fabulous. Absolutely fabulous.

On this month’s Asia Society Asian Business review, fellow senior Ellen Gaffney and I got in touch with our sensitive sides at Sunrise Impression Nail, a nail salon located on the intersection of 86th street and Fort Hamilton Parkway.

When we walked into the salon, we came upon several Chinese women working diligently on the nails of their customers. The smell of nail polish permeated the air. Ellen pointed out that Ellen Degeneres was celebrating her 60th birthday on TV.

A short Chinese man suddenly appeared from behind the counter and asked what we were here for. It was a manicure for Ellen and a pedicure for me.

I didn’t have experience with any of this, so I followed Ellen’s lead. She walked over to a wall lined with rows and rows of colorful nail polish. According to her expertise, all of these polishes were “Essie knockoffs”, which was important to note.

One of the women, Mrs. Yu, directed me to sit down in a massage chair. Ellen handed me a copy of Instyle. The chair began to swivel. It was all happening so fast.

After a ten minute wait, Mrs.Yu came over and began to trim my nails. At first everything was how I expected it would be, until she pulled out a clipper shaped like a plier. My eyes widened as she began to cut places that I had previously thought were unreachable.

The basin attached to the bottom of the massage chair began to fill with warm water. Mrs. Yu lifted my feet and brushed my nails with oil. Then she pushed back my cuticles. My nails became glistening and smooth. But we weren’t done.

Mrs. Yu took out an exfoliating sponge and began scrubbing my feet. It was like my feet were being dipped into the fountain of youth. When she finished, all my toes looked like baby carrots. When I got up walk around, it felt like I was trying on a new pair of shoes.

Ellen also had a pleasant experience with her manicure.

“She made them square shaped which is what I like. The layering was even. Everything was good,” she said. Ellen also said that a pedi-mani combo would normally cost upwards of 30 dollars, but at Sunrise the total cost for both of us was just 17.

Sunrise Impression Nail is only a ten minute walk away from Poly. For cheap and quality service, Sunrise didn’t disappoint. The wait was pretty long, so I recommend that you book a reservation in advance. Asia Society gives this place a big thumbs up, and the nail on that thumb looks amazing.