They never fail to grab your attention: peeptoes, sandals, slingbacks and flip-flops sitting on the shelf begging you to buy, but are your feet fit to wear them? Here’s how to do a pedicure at home for feet as gorgeous as the shoes they’re destined to slip into!
The Easy Pedicure
Shape Nails
A pedicure begins with a warm foot bath. Five to ten minutes are long enough to soften nails, cuticles and skin.
Shorten nails with nail clippers. Nail length should be even with the tip of the toe. Cut straight across to avoid painful, ingrown nails.
To prevent nails splitting, smooth with an emery board, but don’t round off too much.
If necessary, push cuticles back with a cuticle hoof.
Remove Callouses
Callouses and elegant, open footwear are never a good combination.
Regular use of a pumice stone keeps feet soft, but don’t remove too much hard skin: it’s necessary to protect sensitive areas.
Apply Nail Polish
Stylish feet always wear nail polish.
Allow an hour for feet to dry before applying: moisture and fat cause nail polish to split.
Begin with a base coat to smooth nails and prevent nail discoloration.
Nail polish is applied to toe nails in the same way as it is to finger nails. But because color accentuates size, it’s best to leave a millimeter or two free at either side on the big toe: it makes the nail appear smaller.
Toe nails go through a lot of wear and tear, so they need a super tough topcoat.
Iron out errors with a nail polish corrector pen.
Between Pedicures
Moisturize
Feet require as much care as any other part of the body, but they usually get a lot less. The result is dryness and painful crevices on hard skin areas.
Regular use of foot scrubs with urea and soothing oils soften skin and inhibit callouses.
Moisturize feet daily and, whenever possible, wear cotton socks after applying. Otherwise, use talc before slipping into shoes.
Refresh
Hot temperatures cause fatigue and swelling of the feet. This is remedied in seconds with a cooling foot gel or spray: always be sure to keep some at the office, because this is where swelling mostly occurs.
For feet that sweat, always use foot deodorant. Menthol works best.
Find out here how to do a manicure at home for perfect hands.
