Nail Salon Near Me in Fitzrovia for Japanese Gel Art: Yuki of London

Yuki of London will put 3D teddy bears on your thumbs if you ask. The Japanese-concept nail and lash boutique at 48 Mortimer Street, London W1W 7RN, is open every day from 10 am to 7 pm and prices bespoke nail art from £60, gel colour included. Oxford Circus is about five minutes on foot. For a nail salon near me search anywhere between Oxford Street and Fitzrovia, this is the address for nails made with Japanese gel rather than acrylic.

The business trades as Yuki Beauty Solutions, and its pitch is simple: a highly skilled, artistic approach to nails learned in Japan and brought to the heart of London. Everything on the menu follows from that. The salon works with gels made in Japan, applies them in thin layers rather than heavy acrylic, and lists continuing training for its technicians, who it says pick up new skills every year.

London guides noticed early. A 2021 round-up of the city's best nail salons picked Yuki as the place for Japanese-style art and technique, describing the kind of work it would happily do: teddy bears in 3D on the thumbs, chains hanging from the tips. The same writer added that even without wild designs, a simple Japanese organic manicure was worth the trip, which is still the most useful advice for a first visit.

Start with the two gel lines. The Organic Gel Manicure, the salon's Japanese system for stronger, shinier nails, costs £45 and takes 55 minutes. The Durable Gel Manicure, chosen from hundreds of colours, costs £40 for the same time. A plain OPI Polish Manicure is £35 for 30 minutes. Matching pedicures cost £45 in organic gel and £40 in durable gel, each about 45 minutes, and a Colour Change without pedicure is £35.

Art is where Yuki earns its reputation. Nail Art without extensions starts at £60 and is booked for an hour and a half, with the gel colour manicure already included, so you do not need to add a separate gel booking. With extensions, it starts at £100 and runs two hours: the team fits plastic tips, then paints the design over them for a seamless finish. Plain extension sets cost £70 with Japanese organic gel or £65 with durable gel colour.

Treatwell's old category scores tell you where the studio is strongest: nail art carried a perfect 5.0, while pedicures sat lower at 4.2. If you are choosing one service, choose the art. Bring a reference picture of the design you want, because the menu describes the work as bespoke rather than picked from a fixed chart, and the final price depends on how much detail goes on each nail.

A few line items change the bill. A Colour Change does not include removal, so if you arrive wearing old gel, add Gel Removal for £15 and 10 minutes. Pedicures come without a soak by default; the Foot Bath for Pedicure, a light scrub in a traditional wooden bucket, is a £10 add-on of 10 minutes, and the salon is clear that it is not a medical-grade foot peel. Payment is by cash, card, Apple Pay or Google Pay.

Booking runs through Fresha, linked from the official site, with instant confirmation and around-the-clock availability. The salon no longer accepts bookings through Treatwell, so ignore any old listing that still shows a Sunday afternoon slot. Professional eyelash services sit on the same menu, so one visit can cover lashes and nails.

The boutique calls itself bijou, and it is decorated in soft pinks and pastel tones with sparkling details that one guide called made for showing off a fresh manicure. Clients repeatedly describe the room as calm and relaxing. Google currently shows 4.5 stars across more than 360 reviews, and the Fresha profile is a verified business with 23 services listed.

The regulars fall into two camps. One group comes for maximalist Japanese art, the 3D bears and dangling chains the guides wrote about, and books the full art slot to get them. The other wants a tidy gel manicure done carefully: a 2025 reviewer on a second visit praised the incredible attention to detail and a clean, kind experience, and a first-timer wrote that the nails were super clean, efficient and pretty. Another simply called it a new go-to salon.

Skip it if you want a cheap, quick file and polish between meetings. Even the OPI manicure is £35, and a 2021 reviewer already called prices here steep. The pedicure is also the weakest service on the old review scores, so for a long foot treatment you will do better elsewhere. Come for the Japanese gel and the art, and book the time the menu asks for rather than squeezing a full set into a lunch hour.

Mortimer Street sits on the Fitzrovia side of Oxford Circus, so an appointment slots easily into a West End day. Close by, Riding House on Great Titchfield Street is an all-day restaurant and bar that opens at 7:30 on weekdays and 9:00 at weekends, a good place for breakfast before a 10 am slot or a drink while your gel settles.

For something quieter, walk a few streets south to All Saints Margaret Street, the Church of England parish church that still holds regular services and makes a calm break from the Oxford Street crowds a few minutes away. If Yuki has no space on your day, book ahead on Fresha for the next free slot rather than walking in, since the studio works by appointment.

Address: Yuki of London, 48 Mortimer Street, London W1W 7RN. Hours: Monday to Sunday, 10 am to 7 pm. Nearest Tube: Oxford Circus on the Bakerloo, Central and Victoria lines, about five minutes on foot. Book on Fresha. Gel manicures from £40, nail art from £60, gel removal £15, foot bath £10. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP to plan a Fitzrovia lunch around your booking.