I have a few “essential” items that I would never be without that I thought I would share with you all:

Lush Lemony Flutter Cuticle Cream

Possibly the best cuticle cream Ive ever come across.  It smells divine and the consistency isn’t too greasy.  Im a serial user of this product to the point where I have a second tub on my desk at work and apply it several times a day just because I love the smell.

Lush Tiny Hands Massage Bar

Don’t be fooled by the name, this massage bar is in fact a solid hand balm which melts in your hands when you rub it between your palms.  It leaves an oily coating on your hands to rub in and takes about five minutes to sink in completely.  It leaves my hands far softer than any hand cream Ive tried.  My only word of caution is to keep the wrapper it came otherwise it will leave an oily residue whereever you store it (so not one for the hand bag).

Crystal/Glass Nail File

These are so widely available these days and relatively inexpensive that I sometimes wonder why anyone would use anything else.  The finer grain of the nail file leaves a much smoother finish, the nail file can be washed which is hygenic and best of all it never wears away (well mine haven’t anyway).  Again I have a few – one in my nail toolbox, one in my handbag and one on my desk at work.  They can be bought for about $10 here in Australia and if you hunt around, there are some with very pretty designs on the handle.

Pump Action Nail Polish Remover Dispenser

Easily picked up for about $3 on ebay, a pump action nail polish remover dispenser is one of the bottles seen in salons where you press the cotton wool to the dispenser pad at the top of the bottle and it pumps up nail polish remover, removing the action of having to turn the bottle upside down all the time.  I got a two pack so I can have two nail polish removers on hand to suit my mood!

Nail Dotting Tools

Another $3 ebay purchase that I love – nail dotting tools (also referred to as marbling tools) are simple two ended tools that can be dipped into nail polish and used to do designs with different sized dots on your nails.  I have so much fun with these.  I have a stack of small greaseproof paper squares in my nail toolbox and I put small spots of different nail polishes on these and use it as a palette when I use my dotting tools.

Pointy Tweezers

An absolute essential if you’re uing rhinestones or nail art stickers.  I also use mine to hold my cotton wool when I clean my konad plates to prevent getting cotton wool stuck to my nails.