The joy of my job is that I get to recommend brilliantly effective and useful products that might otherwise be ignored. Occasionally, this occurs to me as I'm using something on which I am so dependent that even I have begun to take it for granted. Muji nail clippers (£3.95) are a perfect example: I've used them for more than 10 years and won't let any other sharp implement near my nail tips (I even take them to nail bars). Why? They are so sharp, strong and precise that I never need to use a nail file afterwards (I'm convinced that regular filing, even when done professionally, damages nails). The Muji clippers leave a perfectly smooth surface and are in a different league from common or garden clippers. There's a (bigger) toenail version, too.
Other bargain tools that cannot be bettered include the Wet Brush (£9.99), which makes detangling wet hair a fast, painless and frizz-free job I use it daily on my children as well as on myself and the Tweezerman Deluxe Cosmetic Sharpener (£5.50), which accommodates any cosmetic pencil from slim liner to fat, chunky crayon, thanks to an adjustable aperture. You will never need another sharpener.
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