Non-Toxic Nail Salon Near Me in Coral Gables: Gloss Nail Bar

Gloss Nail Bar, at 261 Miracle Mile in Coral Gables, is the rare nail studio that makes its own polish. The Gloss Naturals lacquer line came first, in December 2013, and the salon opened a month later, in January 2014. More than a decade on, the house rules have stayed the same: 7-Free polish, soy-based remover and hospital-grade sterilization for every guest. An Essential manicure costs $28 and an Essential pedicure is $50. If you are searching for a nail salon near me in Coral Gables and care about what goes on your nails, start on Miracle Mile.

Most salons pick a polish wall from a distributor catalog. Gloss went the other way: it built a lacquer line first and then opened a room to use it in. The studio calls itself a clean-beauty nail studio, and its own Clean Standard spells out what that means. The lacquer is made without toluene, dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, camphor, xylene and parabens, which is what 7-Free refers to. It is also vegan, cruelty-free and made in the USA.

The recognition came early. Miami New Times named Gloss the Best Manicure in its Best of Miami issue in 2014, the year it opened. In 2017 the Gloss Naturals polish won Best Nail Care at the Indie Beauty Expo Best in Show, for a shade called Honesty, and Departures put the salon on a list of 15 non-toxic nail salons in the United States. Time Out Miami included it among the 9 best nail salons in Miami in 2024, and Coral Gables Magazine readers voted it the People's Choice for Best Mani/Pedi in 2025.

Gloss belongs to a small family of salons that also includes Avant Garde Salon & Spa in Coral Gables and Salon Sora, a hair salon in Boca Raton. The nail bar itself is a single room: light grey walls, natural wood and stone, cream chairs and warm light, with the Gloss Naturals polish wall glowing at the back.

The most noticeable difference is the remover. Gloss takes polish off with a soy-based remover that is 100 percent biodegradable and petroleum-free, with no acetone, so the sharp chemical smell that hangs over most nail salons is missing here. Tools are sterilized for each guest, and the manicures and pedicures use organic and natural products, from essential-oil soaks to raw sugar scrubs.

The polish label is short enough to read in the chair. Alongside the solvents, it lists nitrocellulose from plant cellulose as the film former and a biodegradable plasticizer that helps the color stay on. The bottles, lids, wands and brushes are recyclable, and the boxes are recycled paper printed with soy ink. If you like a shade, you can take it home: a full bottle of Gloss Naturals lacquer is $15, the soy remover is $21 and the almond cuticle oil is $15.50.

The menu is built in tiers. The Gloss Express, at $22 for 20 minutes, covers shaping, light cuticle care and polish for a lunch-hour visit. The Gloss Essential, at $28 for 30 minutes, adds a softening soak with organic essential oils, ginseng-almond oil, moisturizer and a hand massage. The Gloss Sumptuous, at $36 for 40 minutes, layers on an organic raw sugar scrub, a 10-minute hand and arm massage and butter hand cream.

For longer wear, the Gel Polish Manicure is the Essential finished in non-toxic gel, at $55 for 45 minutes, and gel removal is $15. Dazzle Dry is the house answer for anyone avoiding UV lamps. It is a non-toxic, fast-drying system that sets without a lamp, at $38 for a manicure and $60 for a pedicure. The newer services cover the techniques that took over social feeds: a builder or rubber gel manicure in the BIAB style is $85, and dip powder is $70.

The most interesting addition is the gentle e-file manicure, the Gloss take on the Russian technique. It is priced by finish, from $75 with regular polish to $170 with Apres extensions, with Dazzle Dry, gel and builder gel options in between. Nail art runs $5 to $7 per nail, and a French design is $15 on a gel, Apres or dip manicure.

Every Gloss pedicure starts the same way, with an aromatherapy soak of organic sea salt and essential oils. The Essential pedicure, at $50 for 40 minutes, then moves through shaping, cuticle care, an organic raw sugar scrub, callus and heel filing and a hydrating foot massage. The Sumptuous, at $60, adds a hydrating masque and a 10-minute foot and leg massage, finished with a butter foot polish.

The Custom pedicure, at $70 for an hour, is the one to book after a summer in sandals. It includes everything in the Sumptuous plus complete removal of calluses and roughness and an organic oil wrap. A gel polish pedicure is $78. For an extra $24 you can add Eco-Fin, an eco-friendly paraffin treatment that works on hands or feet. Men have their own menu: the Gloss Mister manicure is $25 and the Mister pedicure, with lemongrass and tea-tree oils in the soak, is $48. Children 10 and under get the Gloss Missy manicure for $17 and pedicure for $28.

Booking is online around the clock, and the salon notes that its online booking runs in English. First visits follow three steps: book, arrive, and then a short consultation in the chair, where your artist confirms the service and goes over aftercare at the end.

Monday is the short day, with the doors closing at 5 pm, so that is the evening to avoid if you work office hours. Tuesday through Saturday the salon stays open until 7 pm, which leaves room for an after-work gel manicure. Sunday runs 9 am to 6 pm. For a slow Sumptuous pedicure, an early weekday slot right at 9 am is the calmest time on Miracle Mile, before the lunch crowd fills the sidewalk cafes.

Gloss runs a membership for people who book every couple of weeks. The Essential plan is $125 a month for any two manicures and any two pedicures, which the salon puts at about 20 percent below menu prices. Gel Essential is $176 a month for two gel polish manicures and two pedicures, and the Dazzle Dry plan is $180. There is a $25 initiation fee, billing is monthly with no fixed term, and memberships can be frozen. Unused visits do not roll over, so the plan only pays off if you actually come in four times a month.

Gloss is not the cheapest manicure in Miami-Dade, and it does not try to be. What you pay for is a calm room, a clean chemical story and a polish brand you can read up on before you book. The Essential manicure at $28 is fair for what it includes. The real value is in the pedicures, where the sea-salt soak, scrub and massage are standard rather than add-ons. Skip the e-file service if you just want color, and book it if your cuticles need serious work. Google reviewers gave the salon 4.6 stars across 495 reviews as of early October 2026.

Miracle Mile is Coral Gables' main shopping street, and the salon sits close to the cafes and boutiques that line it. Give fresh polish a few minutes before you dig through a bag, then walk one block north to Aragon Avenue, where Books & Books, at 265 Aragon Avenue, has been the neighborhood bookstore for decades. Next door, the Coral Gables Museum, at 285 Aragon Avenue, fills the city's old police and fire station.

The free Coral Gables Trolley runs along Ponce de Leon Boulevard, a short walk from the salon, and links Miracle Mile with the Douglas Road Metrorail station, so you can skip parking altogether. If you want to make an afternoon of it, use the Karpo APP to find a Cuban coffee window or a quiet lunch spot near Miracle Mile after your appointment.

Gloss Nail Bar, at 261 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables, FL 33134. Hours: Monday 9 am to 5 pm, Tuesday through Saturday 9 am to 7 pm, Sunday 9 am to 6 pm. Gloss Essential manicure $28, Gel Polish Manicure $55, Gloss Essential pedicure $50, gentle e-file manicure $75 to $170 by finish. Prices are listed before tax and gratuity. Booking is online 24/7 in English, or by phone in Spanish. Children's services are for ages 10 and under.