Butter London offers a smooth, clean take on glamour

When it comes to treating yourself to a nail treatment, nine times out of 10 you want the 90-minute manicure-and-pedicure combo, complete with foot soak, massage chair, paraffin dip and polish. But sometimes, all you have is an hour at lunch to get the deed done. For those in that boat, there's Butter London.

The London-inspired Westlake Center nail salon (which also has a Sea-Tac Airport location and will open a third in Starbucks Center the week of Oct. 15) takes a pared-down approach to pampering, offering spare design, a brief menu of waterless treatments and a minimum of chemicals.

Forty-minute pedicures ($40) and 20-minute manicures ($20) are given at simple treatment stations in Butter London's sleek black and butter-yellow salon on the mall's third level. Each treatment begins with a refreshing spritz of clove and eucalyptus antiseptic, followed by a cuticle-softening treatment, gentle exfoliation, massage and polish. There are no footbaths, and clients sit in comfortable, but not cushy, black chairs.

Polishes (always referred to as "lacquers" here) are deeply pigmented, meaning what you see in the bottle is what you get on your nails, whether it's the deep ebony of Union Jack Black or the sweet sheer pink of Notting Hill. The lacquers' other alluring feature: They don't contain formaldehyde, toluene or dibutyl phthalate, the carcinogenic chemicals found in nearly all other nail polishes.

With ample room for walk-ins and swift service, Butter London offers just the right dose of midday pampering.

Butter London is at Westlake Center, 400 Pine St., 3rd floor; 206-652-0759. Visit the salon online at www.butterlondon.com.