Step-by-Step Guide to the Perfect At-Home Pedicure
Step 1: Prepare Your Feet
You will soak your feet in shallow warm water, which softens the dead skin so that it can be sloughed off in the next step. To further elevate the level of pampering, consider adding a couple of drops of your favorite essential oil. Use lavender to relax, orange to uplift, peppermint or tea tree to refresh feet that have been trapped in sweaty sneakers all day. To soothe sore muscles add a cup of Epsom salts if footsies feel achy. They will dissolve instantly, and give you foot massage-like benefits!
Step 2: Exfoliate and Moisturize
Your tootsies will be dry and ready for a nice, exfoliating scrub. If dry skin has you here, take a grater foot scrub, a pumice stone, a foot file, or a foot scraper. However, take care not to also take away too much skin with this instrument as this may encourage infection. A nail brush to clean underneath your toenails and also scrub the surfaces of your nails. Smoothen your feet and then apply some good lotion or oil and rub it nicely so that it gets soaked in.
Step 3: Prepare Toenails
You then need to perfect your toenails before applying the colour. Start by pushing down the cuticle beds with a cuticle stick. Secondly, this will provide you with a larger area to paint and is also ideal for making toenails to appear both neat and tidy. Unlike cutting, pushing the cuticles down is a much safer method as cutting often leads to excessive cutting, which exposes the nail bed to infections. Use a nail buffer to buff down any ridges on the nails, as it is easier to apply nail polish on smooth surface. Cut your toenails square, with no rounded edges. That is why a rounded edge tends to grow horizontally too and becomes an ingrown toenail — ewwww. Using a nail clipper or scissors gives you a straight-across, clean line in no time.
Step 4: Paint Toenails
Finally, the most enjoyable step — painting your nails! Rich corals and neons are stunning on dark but deep reds and blues enhance light skin tones. The sparkle sits well on all, of course! Regardless of the shade, you should always use a universal base coat to prevent stains on the nail. Don’t forget a good top coat to avoid chipping, especially during summer months when our toes are often in the spotlight! Nail polish remover pens are great for fixing slip-ups, but one trick is to soak your tootsies in warm water after the polish has dried (the excess polish will peel away from your skin but stay put on your nails) — instant pedicure pro!
Step 5: Relax!
Now that your feet are ready to go out and earn a million dollars, apply a little cuticle oil, rub in a little more foot cream, toss on a pair of cotton socks and chill! Binge on your film, read a book, meditate, or get to work on a nail treatment so that your hands can also be dressed to impress as much as your feet!
