We offer perfect-every-time manicures and pedicures in classic shades, delivered with a dash of delight by our all-star team. Our shop is located at Marin Country Mart in Larkspur, just 20 minutes across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. Drop us a line or pop in for a polish!
We believe in simple pleasures and our services are designed accordingly. At High Five, you can expect thoughtful hospitality, curated products, and appointments that always start and end on time. We specialize in natural nails and regular polish, and our preferred brand is Essie’s 3-free longwear formula, which is super durable yet non-damaging. With proper care, our manicures last 7-14 days, and our pedicures last a month or more.
In an industry notorious for lackluster labor practices, our pricing reflects our commitment to providing sustainable compensation for our team, and automatically includes “extras” like premium polish and complimentary touch-ups. To avoid fumbling for cash with wet nails, we process payment and tips via credit card, so you can feel confident that your manicurist is being compensated fairly and walk out smudge-free.
Our signature manicure, with everything you need and nothing you don’t. Includes expert shaping, gentle cuticle care, and a short but sweet hand massage. Choose from our curated selection of long-lasting polishes, or skip the color and opt for a shiny buff or sheer nail strengthener instead.
Toes too! Our signature pedicure includes a hot water soak, expert clipping and shaping, cuticle care, exfoliation, and a short but sweet foot massage. Choose from our curated selection of long-lasting polishes, or skip the color and opt for a shiny buff or sheer nail strengthener instead.
Marin Country Mart
2243 Larkspur Landing Circle
Larkspur, CA 94939
(415) 448-5181
Open Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm
Closed Sunday and Monday
Free parking in the Marin Country Mart lot.
We started High Five because we—customers and employees alike—deserve a better nail salon. Many of us were shaken by the now-infamous New York Times expose detailing the mistreatment of nail salon employees. Meanwhile, a fresh manicure is crucial to feeling confident and professional. It shouldn't be a tradeoff. We're committed to providing ethical treatment and fair pay for our nail techs and a modern, delightful service for our customers.
Joining our team as a nail tech is just the first step. We arm our team with with proprietary training, frequent feedback, and opportunities to advance to management roles.
We provide a safe, ergonomic, well-ventilated work environment for our nail techs. The high fives, smiles, great tunes, and all around good vibes aren't bad either!
About the Job
Part-time and full-time roles available, starting immediately.
Competitive, guaranteed hourly pay and promotion opportunities.
You must be a licensed nail technician in California with expertise in regular manicures and pedicures. We will additionally provide advanced training in our signature process once you join the team.
Conversational proficiency in English is required.
Must be located in the Bay Area with access to a car or ability to commute to central locations via public transportation.
A positive attitude and sense of adventure are a must!
Our preferred polish is Essie’s longwear formula (3-free), which is designed to last 7-10 days for manis and over a month for pedis (with proper care), but comes off with normal polish remover. That said, we do have a handful of other polish options on deck just in case, and you’re always welcome to bring your own color. As far as color options, we believe choosing a color should be as seamless as slipping on your favorite blue jeans, not a staggering wall of decision fatigue. We offer a curated selection of the highest-quality polishes in classic shades—our Forever Favorites—plus a handful of Seasonal Specials that rotate regularly. After each appointment, we save your polish selection to your account so you can revisit favorites, track trends, and get personalized recommendations.
Our first brick-and-mortar shop was located at 1893 Hayes Street in SF and was open from January 2020 through April 2022. At that time, with our SF lease coming to an end, we made the very difficult decision to close the SF shop and consolidate the business at our Marin location. For context, we had been short-staffed for many months after the pandemic and our small but mighty team was stretched extremely thin. Focusing on one location means more consistent opening hours, more manageable shifts for our team, more service options, and significantly more capacity for group and day-of appointments. For everyone who visited our SF shop over the years, thank you for supporting our small business, and we hope to see you over the bridge in Marin!
You're welcome to select up to two total polish colors for your manicure or pedicure, whether that means an accent nail, one color on each hand or foot, or even alternating colors every other nail. Additional colors beyond that will increase the service time and cost, so please check in with our host upon arrival, and we'll see what we can do depending on what you have in mind.
Yes! Starting in May 2022, we added gel polish to the menu. Our focus has always been durable yet non-damaging manicures in classic shades. For our signature manicure, we use Essie’s longwear polish line, resulting in a super shiny, richly pigmented manicure that lasts 7-10 days. That said, we know some of you are looking for even more durability, which is why we added gel polish as an option—perfect if you’re tough on your nails, are headed on a trip, or just love walking out of the salon with dry nails. We use CND Shellac polish for our gel services and have a selection of about 20 curated color options. To book a gel service, select the Gel Polish Add-On, and remember to additionally select the Gel Removal Add-On if needed. Note that we can only remove normal gel polish; we are not equipped to remove dip powder, builder gel, or acrylics.
Our signature pedicure includes a hot water soak, trimming and shaping, gentle cuticle care, and a short but sweet foot massage. Choose from our curated selection of long-lasting polishes, or skip the polish and opt for a shiny buff or nail strengthener instead. For gel polish, select the Add-On. If you’re looking for a little more zen, we recommend the 10-minute extended massage add-on, which you can select when you book your appointment.
High Five is a licensed establishment with the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology, and we’ve always adhered to strict industry cleaning and sanitation standards. Our nail technicians likewise have extensive safety and sanitation training as part of their education as licensed professionals. We use brand new, single-use files, buffers, cuticle sticks, and cotton pads for all our services, and any metal tools used are carefully disinfected with hospital-grade solution prior to every use.
Specific to COVID-19 prevention, our entire space is thoroughly cleaned and disinfected each day, and all team members are additionally Barbicide COVID-19 certified. We ask both our team and customers to self-screen for COVID-19 symptoms and stay home if you feel sick, are exposed to COVID-19, or test positive. As of September 2022, masks are optional for both team and customers, but we will continue to provide clean surgical masks at the front desk for anyone who would like one.
You’re more than welcome to book an appointment at the same time as a friend or family member. Give us a call or reply to your appointment confirmation email to let us know if you’re coming with a friend, and we’ll do our best to seat you at stations next to each other. That said, we cannot accommodate folks without an appointment, so please arrange for friends or family members to make other plans if they’re not booked for a service.
If you'd like to bring a small child along with you to your appointment (but they will not be getting a service of their own), please reply to your appointment confirmation email to let us know ahead of time so that we can plan accordingly.
Kids aged five and up are welcome to come in for a service of their own! Simply book a regular appointment for your child via our website. We’ve found that kiddo manis and pedis require just as much time, care, and attention as adult services, so pricing and timing for kiddo services are equivalent to our adult services.
We ask that pups stay at home (apart from service animals) to ensure a comfortable, sanitary environment for all guests. But dogs are always welcome to stop by our storefront for some water and a treat!
We are primarily appointment-based and recommend booking in advance wherever possible. However, pending availability, we may be able to accommodate appointments with a shorter lead time. Please either give us a call or speak with our host at the shop to book same-day appointments: (415) 448-5181.
We ask that you limit the number of items you bring to your appointment to the basic necessities (keys, wallet, etc.) to keep our space clean and clutter-free. We have hooks for coats and small bags.
We kindly ask that you refrain from eating or drinking during your appointment as it can impact the service or cause spills. We’re known for our on-time, efficient appointments, so we promise we’ll have you on your way and sipping your coffee in no time.
Give us a call to let us know, and we’ll do our best to accommodate you. If you’re more than 10 minutes late, there’s a good chance we’ll need to reschedule your appointment for a future date: (415) 448-5181.
Cancellations up to 24 hours prior to your appointment are free of charge, and you can do so using the Cancel Appointment button at the footer of your Appointment Confirmation email. Cancellations or changes within 24 hours will be charged a 50% cancellation fee. If you need to cancel last-minute due to something unavoidable, please give us a call to explain the circumstances and we can waive the fee on a case-by-case basis. Thanks! (415) 448-5181.
All our nail technicians (lovingly referred to as “techies”) are employees of High Five and our first priority in everything we do. When we closed due to COVID on March 13th, 2020, we immediately issued a paycheck for two weeks of cancelled shifts to help ease financial uncertainty, and we haven’t laid off a single team member. Throughout Shelter-in-Place, we supported our techies from afar with a weekly newsletter featuring key updates and resources, hosted virtual office hours, provided individual support with unemployment insurance, and had the pleasure of seeing some of our techies in person during our Summer 2020 Pop-Up series.
As always, thank-you’s, kind words, exchanging names, and eye contact are always appreciated. Our techies work hard to make your day and deserve every ounce of respect!
100% of tips for each service go directly to your technician, and High Five covers the credit card processing fee so techies receive the full amount. As a rule of thumb, we recommend tipping 20% if you’re happy with your service. While you’re very welcome to tip more if you’re able, it’s worth highlighting that our compensation scheme is designed around a generous hourly pay rate (with tips being an added bonus), contrasted with many salons where cash tips and commissions comprise the majority of technician earnings.
hello@wehighfive.com | (415) 448-5181
