HAUL: Well Manicured | Nail Care and Nail Art Tools

A proper nail artist needs proper tools, won't you agree?

"To do a job well, one must have the proper tools.  

But the tools themselves don't do the job.  

One must attain the skill to use the tool well."

What tools do you usually use for your nail care routine?

Recently, a friend received a 50%-off-coupon from Julep with her Welcome Box.  Yes, she subscribed! Yay!!! I rode-on her discount and purchased some tools along with her order.  I got the  Plié Wand and the Well-Manicured Kit. (As well as the "Gem Collection", you may read about it more here.)

The Plié Wand set consist of the Wand, a magnetic connector and a short handled brush.  I ordered extra connectors (and brushes).  Okay, I skipped the box when this tool was offered.  It along with two polishes would have been $19.99 US.  But there was no budget then.  Now, with the discount, I obtained it for $10.00... So I think that would have amounted to the same price if it were purchased in the subscription box.  I think...  I bought extra magnetic connectors so that when doing nail art and I would need 5 colors, I can put connectors on each of the bottles.  That way, I will only have to move the wand with ease (assuming the wand will work wonders ;)

Testing out the grip, the  Plié Wand is suppose to help in a more controlled use of the brush especially by the non-dominant hand.  Yup, I could hold it like a pen... let's see how it works in painting later on ;)

And here's the Well-Manicured set.  I like that it is elegantly packed in this black box.  The materials used for the case seems durable.

 A comparison photo of my present nail care tools....  I added more tools to this case, of course.

My Cuticle Nipper is getting dull... I wish there is a way to sharpen it as it is actually a great tool.  I bought it on sale at a drugstore (Revlon $16.00 Cad)  I have been in search for a new Cuticle Nipper for a while. I've seen some videos about this Julep tool kit, but just like this post, it merely presents the tool and not actually show how well it works.  So I intend to put that to the test ;)  $40.00 is quite steep for my budget, but because of the discount code, I got the tool-kit for half the price.  That's almost the price of the cuticle nipper alone!  And yet I got a few more tools to go with it.  So I thought it's worth the try. 

The cuticle pusher looks like a dentist's tool... hmm, that might take some getting used to.  There is also a clean-up tool, it is similar to a chisel head orange stick but much heavier.  The nail clipper is bigger than my usual tool.  It's almost the size of a toenail-clipper but the weight is very similar to my small clipper (I mean it's light).

 The case can contain Julep Polishes in it as well. I placed 7 bottles inside.  That means you can carry along a base coat, topcoat and 5 other colors to take with when going away.  I thought that was pretty neat.  Although I wish they sewed in a pouch in there for that purpose, or a sheet of material to protect the glass bottles from getting scratched by the tools. Maybe even an additional inside pocket for the carry-on polish remover pads... For the price of $40.00, that attribute would have been a really nice addition.

 I want to show you the size of my current tool case... mind you, it's only tools and no polishes, although I was able to add in it other tools as well - like two tweezers and a pair of scissors.

 Compare now with the size of the Julep Well-manicured case with 7 bottles of polish inside.
Which tool kit would you rather have?  I could replace the contents of my smaller tool case with that of Julep's if those actually work better.  On the other hand, the ability to carry polishes with you is a neat idea too... It probably depends whether I'm staying foot or going away.  ;)

Do you have a tool case too?
How do you organize your nail art tools? And what is your favorite tool (besides the nail-clipper, lol)?

Stay tune to see how well these tools work.  As I work more on the OMD2 nail art challenges, I probably be able to test these tools quite enough, (wink)...


Please share your ideas with me in the comments section below.  Have a great day ladies and I wish you lots of love and joy today.

xoxo, Maya