What's In My Nail Kit?

I just wanted to do this because I feel like beauty bloggers in general blog a lot about face (makeup and skincare), but comparatively very little on nails except for the times when there is a new nail color to show. It's like there is makeup collection, skincare collection, travel makeup kit, travel skincare essentials, but there is never nail kit/essentials.

Without further ado, here's my nail kit.

I just have everything in a pouch that's from The Body Shop.

I set up this pouch system to contain all my nail essentials because I had to shift to Malaysia for 4 months back in 2010, and I didn't want to miss out anything. So having everything in one pouch would help when traveling, because I had to fly back to Singapore every month to make sure I didn't become an illegal immigrant. I just grab this when packing up to leave each place, and it's so convenient.

So I guess, you could say that I have been really lazy to unpack all these years, because a normal person probably keeps this nail stuff in drawers at home, not in a pouch. haha.

I got the TBS pouch from a travel set that was on sale at the year end. I think it contained the Cocoa Butter series.

I like it because it has that country feel, with that tied rope texture at the top. I also like the way it is see-through so I know that all my things are inside.

It's just a simple zip pouch. =D

Open it up, and that's everything inside.

The first thing that I am looking at is this, a 3-step nail buffer block. I got this in a nail pack from Jericho Dead Sea, and I really like it. I am not sure if other multi-steps nail buffers will yield the same effect of making my nail shine, but this is the only one that I have been using for two years. And I have two back-ups of this. So yes, I really love it, and I think that anyone who is into doing your own nails should get a multi-step nail buffer.

This is one of those multi-step nail buffer I bought a few days ago, for only $5.90, just because a group of people were talking about it then.

I haven't tried it yet, but I intend to throw my torn and tattered Jericho Dead Sea Buffer Block away, and replace it with this.

And the next thing I have is a Cuticle Trimmer and Pusher. I only use the trimming side of this, but that's enough for me. I think this thing is really magical. haha. I chose Manicare because I bought their nail clipper before this, and I swear by it. Manicare is a brand that focuses of nails (obviously), and their nail products are all very ergonomic, and high quality.

Then when I found that a cuticle trimmer cannot trim all my stray skin well enough, I went to get a Cuticle Nipper by Sephora. I must say that it's good!

I got Sephora because I already had the Sephora Glass Nail File, and I love it. I know Sephora accessories are rather expensive compared to $2 ones, but I find that they have a minimum quality guarantee. I simply hate buying something that doesn't works and go on a great big hunt for one that does, so sometimes, I just don't mind shelling out a little more for an item I know I will use so frequently (like once a week/fortnight), and I know will last forever if I take care.

Then there is my favorite nail clipper from Manicare, which I reviewed here. Wow, that's more than 2 years ago. haha.

See how it fits my fingers exactly?

Now this is my Sally Hansen Complete Care Extra Moisturizing 4-in-1 Treatment. That's a mouthful to say! I don't keep this bottle with nail polish collection because I use it so often that I think it ought to go into this pouch.

I only have one base coat/top coat, so I really only use this day in and day out. And yes, the liquid is going down! I am looking forward to emptying this.

My glass nail file by Sephora!!! I love this. Glass files are the best.

I broke my first Sephora glass file early this year, and I bought the EcoTools's metal one, only to find out how horrid a metal nail filer can be.

So back I went, to Sephora.

This is what it looks like close-up.

Last but not least, is a ear digger. I feel that so few people I know actually do this as part of hygiene and beauty. I even know a couple of friends who go to the doctor to have their ears dug when it reaches the point that the dirt in the ear affects their hearing.

And that's all my nail essentials! =D

I could always go for those pre-packed travel-size kits that contains everything, like this:

I got this free when my significant other bought clothes. It was strange, buy 3 shirts, 1 free travel nail kit. haha.

It's really cute, in a ultra compact navy blue leather-like finish. Just push in that knob and the cover will spring open!

And that's what it contains, a nail filer, a cuticle trimmer, an ear digger, a nail clipper, a trimming scissors, and a cuticle nipper in clip form.

The pro of a travel kit like this is that they have already prepared everything in one. But the big con is that not all the things will work. I personally just don't like the metal nail filer. And the trimming scissors does not work at all because the tips do not close up properly. The cuticle nipper in clip form also doesn't works as well as my Sephora one. The Sephora one is more precise, can reach smaller parts of the fingernail, and is sharper.

So now, you see why I prefer to get my own things along the way when I really need them, and put together my own nail kit. =)

And that's all for this post. I hope you like it, and that it has help you look at what can be in a nail kit, and what items out there are really super good and worth buying.

Cheers,
Jyoan
PosiNice

Do you own a nail kit that you built on your own? What do you have in it? Do you prefer to search different brands for Holy Grail clippers and cuticle trimmers, etc? Or is it just anything will do?