Janet J
Let us all accept it- regular pedicures are one of the least prioritized treatments ever. All of us may do regular manicures, but when it comes to pedicures, we keep them for special occasions when we need to look gorgeous. Most of the women do not give importance to foot care as they do to their hands.
But thanks to the current situation, visiting your favorite nail spa to give your rough feet a pedicure may not be the right choice. But, does this signify that you have to live with those uneven broken toenails, cracked heels, and chipped nail polish? Not at all, as here, we are discussing a few foot care remedies that can keep your feet as clean and smooth as satin. The best thing is that with these tips you can have a gentle pedicure at home without much fuss. So, let’s start.
Before we start, it is significant to look at the things you will require for doing a pedicure session at your home.
- Nail polish remover
- Nail clipper, buffer, and file
- Q-tips and cotton balls
- Cuticle pusher
- Foot file and pumice stone
- Foot lotion & body lotion
- Nail polish
- Base & top coat
Now that you have everything required for doing a pedicure at home, let us see how to do one in few simple steps:
A. Prep your nails- To make sure you get clean and professional-level foot care, it is important to prep your nails. For doing so, first, you should remove all the nail polish from the nails. Even if there is no nail polish, it is vital to get clean your nails using a nail polish remover to get rid of the accumulated dirt and other kinds of impurities. This helps the nail polish to stay for a longer time.
B. Soak them- After you have cleaned the toenails, now is the time to turn the hard skin around your nails soft. How can you do this? Simple. By soaking your feet. For this, you will need a tub with warm water. Put your feet in it and soak for nearly 15 minutes. To enhance this experience and get the best spa-like pedicure effect at home, you can even add ingredients like Epsom salt, essential oil, and vinegar. While you are soaking up your feet, you can read your favorite book or even call your friend or any of your family members.
C. Get rid of dead skin- The main objective behind soaking the feet is to make the skin around the feet soft so that when you scrub, the dead skin gets removed easily. After you take out your feet, pat your feet dry gently. The next step in foot care includes rubbing the pumice stone gently in a back and forth motion all over your feet, especially on the heels. This will help you to get rid of all the dirt and dead skin. An important thing that should be kept in mind while scrubbing your feet is you must scrub enough to get rid of the dead skin and not continue scrubbing till the feet feels raw.
D. Cut your nails- Now is the time to focus on your nails. A vital thing to keep in mind while doing your own pedicure at your home is that you must invest in high-quality nail tools like files, buffers, and clippers. So, using your nail clipper trim your nails as you want. Don’t focus on cutting them in a specific shape as that is something that needs to be done in the next step. The only thing you need to ensure is not to cut your nails too small as that may cause stinging because of the overexposed skin.
Shape your nails- Now, this is one of the most important steps in foot care. This is an important step because in this step you should decide the shape of your toenails. Choose whether you want the toenails to be square or round and then file the nails accordingly. While you file your nails, make sure you do it in a long swift and single motion rather than doing different strokes as that can damage the top part of the enamel, making the nails brittle. Once you file the nails to the desired shape, take a nail buffer and buff your whole nail bed gently, and get rid of the uneven edges. This will ensure a smooth nail polish application.
Use some cuticle oil- If you want strong and healthy nails, then this is something that should not be avoided. So, once you have trimmed, filed, and buffed the nails, push the cuticles gently by using a popsicle stick. If you do not have the right tools, then apply some cuticle oil on the skin around your nails to safeguard them and ensure a long-lasting pedicure.
Apply a layer of your favorite nail polish- Do you skip applying a base coat while doing a pedicure or manicure at home? If so, don’t do it again. Most of us believes that applying a base coat is not necessary, but they are actually important. This not only keeps the nail polish last longer, but acts as a barrier between the nail and the nail polish, which in turn keeps the nails healthy.
Paint your nails- This is the most interesting part in a foot care for most women. Once your base coat has totally dried off, apply a minimum of two coats of any nail polish which you like. Make sure you apply the second layer of nail polish after the first one has completely dried off. This will give a beautiful and professional finish to the nails.
Lastly, apply a top coat- Another significant step for a long-lasting pedicure is to apply a top coat without a miss. Once the nail polish has completely dried, apply a thin layer of topcoat to seal the things in place. And with this, your relaxing, spa-like foot care treatment comes to an end.
Try this foot care treatment at home and do let us know how was the experience? Did you find it relaxing? If you know any other DIY pedicure tips, please share with us in the comment section.