Presenting This Year's Coolest Beauty Opening: Paintbox

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We thought manicures had nowhere left to go (3D flowers? Tiny unicorns galloping across nail-spanning rainbows? We'd seen it all.) until Paintbox's Eleanor Langston introduced us to the concept of minimal nail art. The Soho salon, which opened this May, doesn't have a polish wall—instead, customers pick a design and colorway from a seasonal lookbook (fall's options include taupe gel manis topped with a single pearl stud on each nail, and glossy-black-on-matte-fuchsia French tips).

Former beauty editor Langston's eye is what makes this place special—Paintbox's signature manis are designed to complement, rather than compete with, your everyday jewelry. Plus, rather than charging per nail for art, the salon sticks to four price points, which range from $35 for a traditional manicure with polish to $65 for a gel manicure with designs. (Speaking of gel, removal is free at Paintbox.) That, plus the complimentary champagne, is enough to keep us coming back.

· Paintbox [Official Site]
· A Week of Beauty with Nail Whisperer Eleanor Langston [Racked NY]
· Attention Nail Art Skeptics: Paintbox Will Convert You [Racked NY]
· Racked Awards 2014 [Racked NY]