Its all about the Feet

This article was posted on Jun 01 2007

Our poor feet probably cop the harshest treatment, we put them into shoes for fashion and not comfort, we stand on them all day, they are sorely neglected and in winter they rarely see daylight.

They deserve to be pampered! So what does it take to give your feet a good pedicure? There are two options, go and get it done professionally and enjoy the pampering or you can do it yourself in your own time.

OK, so you are going to do it yourself, where to start….

Gather all the equipment first…

1. A foot spa (if you have one) or a large bowl that your feet will fit into.
2. A good nail file, a glass file is great for toe nails or a 180/240 grit foam file.
3. A pumice stone or pumice file.
4. Cuticle Pusher or orangewood sticks.
5. Cuticle softener.
6. Toe nail clippers.
7. Base coat and Nail Polish.
8. A good body moisturising lotion.

Take your time through each step and relax and enjoy!

First step is to file the nails so they are even and neatly shaped, also if you have a buffer, give them a good buff to smooth and even the surface of the nail plates to reduce any ridges. Because toe nails are generally a lot thicker than fingernails, you don’t have to worry about filing in one direction only.
Get a comfortable chair and two towels. Put an old towel under your spa or bowl. Fill the bowl with warm water and let your feet soak, but don’t soak until they turn into prunes. Gently dry your feet.

If you like at this stage you can either rub a little cuticle oil into the cuticles or if needed use cuticle softener and using a cuticle stick or cuticle pusher, very gently push the cuticles back.

Using some cotton wool and warm water, wipe over the nails to remove any excess oil or cuticle remover (if you don’t do this, your nail polish will not adhere).

Take the pumice and get to those hardened areas like the heels and rub them down, use a towel to brush off any remaining dust after this process.

Apply your base coat and nail polish. Let it thoroughly dry. You can also use a hair dryer to speed up the polish drying process.

Final step is to rub in the moisturiser to the heels and all over, this will softern the skin and leave your feet totally pampered.