Mollie's Feel-Good Feed: All things nails plus a gold mine of pop tunes

Plus your new TV drama binge

Welcome to Mollie’s Feel-Good Feed, a place where each week Mollie King shares her round-up of the things bringing her joy in these strange and uncertain times. Check back each week for uplifting music, self care tips and, hopefully, a smile being put on your face.

Oh, do I have some undiscovered pop treats for you today! There’s nothing I love more than pop music that makes me smile, from its clever melodies or amusing lyrics. So however your week has been so far, I truly hope these music choices, along with some of my other recommendations, set you up for a good weekend – this is after all a feel-good column!

Music

With the title Mad At Disney, this track immediately had my attention and got me turning up the volume to listen closely. My first thought of course was, ‘who could possibly be angry at Disney?’ I’ll tell you: Salem Ilese, that’s who, and even stranger is she makes a very good point!

This pop song sounds like it could easily be another smash hit from songwriter Julia Michaels. With thought-provoking lyrics, it really makes me smile as there is so much said in it that I, and probably a lot of us, can relate to.

As someone who growing up dreamt their life would be a montage of rom-com moments (and still does now!) – think opening a book shop like You’ve Got Mail or singing my way through the streets of Los Angeles à la La La Land – a song about how Disney has given us unrealistic life expectations really made me chuckle. It’s probably a realisation I should’ve come to on my own after my first few heartbreaks but what can I say, I’m a dreamer!

Salem Ilese delivers us a subtle yet hugely relevant song to get our teeth stuck into. Ironically, she could be the fairy pop princess we’ve all been looking for!

The pairing of these next two artists, Gracey and Alexander 23, excites me as they’re both at early points in their careers; but with so much talent between them it’s no surprise this song is such an undeniably feel-good bop!

Gracey has already written hits for other big name artists – Rita Ora and Olly Murs to name a few – and has already seen chart success from her last single with 220 Kid, Don’t Need Love. I have no doubts this next single will head in a similar direction. Like That is instantly light and uplifting, and if you’re into a funky baseline, this will have you moving before you know it. Give it a listen!

TV shows

Making a return after the hugely successful first series, Netflix’s Criminal is back and better than ever. As the first series got off to such a strong start with appearances from David Tennant and Kit Harington, it was no surprise the second series would grab our attention too.

Criminal is a drama series set in a police interrogation room and has you on the edge of your seat trying to play detective and figure out the verdict for each episode's suspects. This show will consume your mind and leave you thinking for days about the episode you just watched!

Self care

This week I treated myself to a nail salon visit! Going to a salon or spa feels more of a treat than ever at the moment, but it felt good to give my nails some attention and have a professional tidy them up. It’s been six months since I last visited this salon and so it was lovely to see a friendly face and hear the manicurist laugh as per usual at how I always always go for a ‘natural nail’. She jokes that I should mix it up and almost fell off her chair a while ago when I sat down with a red varnish in my hand! However, I just like to stick to the motto of ‘if it’s not broke, don’t fix it’.

Nude nails are perhaps the most frustrating colour palette to love, as they can differ so hugely depending on skin tone and how opaque you like your polish. Personally I like to be able to see my own nails under the colour, which this leads me to my recommendation this week; I’m finally moving away from Essie Ballet Slippers (apparently the Queen’s go-to nail polish shade!), and have found some OPI contenders.

Try I Think In Pink for a very subtle gloss that looks like it could just be your natural nails that happen to be lovely and shiny, or Privacy Please for a slightly warmer nude touch, which looks a little more ‘done’.

If like me you normally spend an embarrassingly long time looking at a wall of seemingly identical colour options and fail to make up your mind, give either of these nudes a go… you’ll walk out of the salon like I did, saying ‘nailed it!’

Thanks so much for reading Mollie’s Feel-Good Feed – check back on Marie Claire every Friday for more of my feel-good recommendations. Take care and stay safe!