Nails By YS is a home-based nail salon at 104A Canberra St in Sembawang, Singapore, a short five-minute bus ride from Canberra MRT Station. It provides premium manicure services built around two priorities the salon states upfront: customer satisfaction and affordability. Adding to the charm of the home-studio setting are the salon's two cute Shih Tzu, who star in its tagline and keep clients company during appointments.
The salon has a clear founding purpose. It was established to provide affordable and premium manicure services to females, especially students and teenagers, after its founder saw how often young customers hunting for a reasonably priced manicure ended up being hard sold into overpriced packages. The intent was simple: offer premium manicure services to females without costing a bomb — with no package pressure attached.
The service menu centres on the express gel manicure, the salon's signature offering, alongside a wide variety of nail designs to choose from or a customised service catered entirely to your liking. The latest designs completed are showcased on the salon's website gallery and its Instagram feed, making it easy to browse for inspiration before booking.
Getting there is straightforward: buses 117, 883 and 861 connect the salon to Canberra MRT Station in about five minutes. Appointments and enquiries are handled directly through WhatsApp, and the salon proudly highlights its rating of 5 by customers on Google, backed by a long wall of client reviews on its website.
Nails By YS is a home-based nail salon on Canberra Street in Sembawang, Singapore, built around one clear promise: premium manicure services at prices that everyday customers — especially students and teenagers — can actually afford. From a cozy home studio a short five-minute bus ride from Canberra MRT Station, the salon delivers neat gel manicures alongside a wide variety of nail designs, with an ease and warmth that larger shops often struggle to match. Its two resident Shih Tzu, who lend the salon its tagline of an "affordable home-based manicure with 2 cute Shih Tzu," make sure of that.
The heart of the menu is the express gel manicure, the service Nails By YS leads with on its website and the one that anchors its affordability. Around it sits a broad design offering: clients can choose from a wide variety of ready designs, or opt for a customised service where the look is catered to their exact liking.
Nails By YS did not begin as a typical business plan. The founder noticed a recurring problem among young women looking for nice nails on a budget: the moment they stepped into many shops hunting for an affordable, premium manicure, they ended up being hard sold into signing up for overpriced manicure packages. That experience is what planted the thought of becoming a manicurist — with the explicit intent of providing premium manicure services to females "without costing a bomb."
The salon's stated mission is to provide affordable and premium manicure services to females, especially students and teenagers, and its message puts it plainly: "We desires to provide all females with beautiful looking nails with the best services and best price." In practice, that means wallet-friendly pricing on services like the express gel mani and a firm no to the package-pushing tactics the salon was created to push back against.
First-timers usually start with the express gel manicure — the salon's signature, done promptly and priced to stay gentle on the wallet. From there, the fun part: the design. Nails By YS keeps a wide variety of designs on hand to choose from, and happily takes on customised work for clients who arrive with a specific idea in mind. The website's gallery and the salon's Instagram feed, @nailsby.ys, are regularly updated with the latest designs completed, so browsing them before an appointment is the easiest way to arrive with inspiration in hand — or to spot a look you would like recreated.
Because Nails By YS operates from home, appointments have an intimate, unhurried feel that a busy shop floor rarely offers. It is one-to-one attention from the manicurist in a relaxed setting, with the two Shih Tzu on hand for company. Customer satisfaction is named, alongside the design work itself, as one of the salon's core passions — and the reviews back it up. The website devotes generous space to a long wall of client feedback and a "Rated 5 By Our Customers" section pointing to its Google reviews.
Design flexibility is the other half of the experience. Whether a client picks something from the gallery, brings a reference, or simply describes the vibe they are after, the service is framed as being "catered to your likings" — a small phrase that captures how the salon approaches its work.
Nails By YS sits at 104A Canberra Street in Sembawang, conveniently located near Canberra MRT Station — about a five-minute bus ride away. Buses 117, 883 and 861 will get you there. As a home-based salon, bookings are made directly rather than through a walk-in counter: message YS on WhatsApp at +65 8775 5206 to enquire or book an appointment, or reach out through the salon's Instagram, @nailsby.ys.
Arranging a time in advance suits the home-salon format — it keeps sessions personal and gives the manicurist room to prepare for any customised design you have in mind.
For students and teenagers in the Sembawang and Canberra area — and for anyone who wants well-done gel nails without package pressure or premium-shop prices — Nails By YS offers a refreshing alternative: a friendly home studio, a passionate manicurist, prices built for real budgets, and two very cute Shih Tzu waiting to welcome you.