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Heard on the Hill: The Royal (Nail) Treatment

On Saturday, Rep. Steve King was spotted indulging in a little rest ’n’ relaxation at Tammy’s Nails on Capitol Hill.

A couple of things about King: He is a rather conservative (read very conservative) Republican from Iowa. In other words, he is not exactly who comes to mind when you think mani-pedi kinda guy.

So we wondered whether this was a thing for dudes on the Hill. We called the Grooming Lounge, famous for its hot lather shave and male-centric spa, to get its take on the number of Hill guys popping by to get their nails done.

“Business manicures and feet treatments” are very popular, Grooming Lounge founder and CEO Michael Gilman tells HOH. (Come on, guys. Let’s just call them manis and pedis and be done with it.)

Gilman says the hand-and-foot treatments are kind of like “a gateway drug to getting into spa treatments.” Men come in for the business manicure and then the technician says something like, “If you like this, you should feel our foot treatment.” The next thing you know, the guy’s getting a facial and then a waxing.

Oh, those wily beauty and relaxation pushers!

So who are the main clients?

“It’s really all across the board,” Gilman says. “Lawyers, lobbyists and a fair share of politicians.”

“We have a lot of Congressmen and Senators who have been coming in for years,” he adds.

We asked and asked for names and hints, but, alas, Gilman wouldn’t tell us a thing, except that once a week there are Secret Service milling about.

He did tell us about a trend happening among the more regular VIP clients: paraffin wax foot treatments.

Some places have wine lockers for their regulars, and the Grooming Lounge? It has a VIP paraffin locker.

Color us very jealous.

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