Pampering

Give yourself or a friend an at-home pedicure and enjoy the wonderful relaxing effects! It's amazing how something so simple can lift your spirits so high! When your toes feel good, the rest of you feels amazing—it's a heart and sole thing.

Basic Pedicure Tools

1. Pumice stone or paddle buffer
2. Toe separators or cotton balls/roll
3. Emery board
4. Cuticle remover
5. Orangewood stick
6. Color nail polish
7. Base coat
8. Top coat
9. Nail polish remover
10. Quick dry spray
11. Nail clippers
12. Epsom salts or foot soak
13. Scented oils
14. Dishpan or foot soaking tub
15. PedEgg
16. Cotton balls or Q-Tips
17. Towels
18. Cuticle nippers, if desired
19. Lotion—peppermint is great!
20. Sandals or flip flops

Note: Whenever you are working on one foot, the other foot should be soaking in the warm water. If possible, allow a half hour for the nails to dry completely.

Basic Pedicure Instructions

1. Remove any old nail polish thoroughly.
2. Soak your feet in warm water for 10 to 15 minutes. Add Epsom salts or any other commercial foot soak.
3. Clip your toenails straight across using a toenail clipper or scissors. Clipping straight across will help prevent ingrown toenails.
4. File the toenails to smooth any rough edges.
5. Push back your cuticles. Use a cuticle moisturizer if they do not push back easily after soaking.
6. Massage your feet with a moisturizing lotion. Use an exfoliating lotion if the skin is dry and/or roughened. Use a loofah or pumice stone on roughened areas.
7. Separate your toes. Put cotton between your toes, or use a ready-made device for pedicures.
8. Wipe toenails with alcohol to remove any trace of motion before applying paint.
9. Apply a base coat and give it time to dry.
10. Apply polish, cleaning up any stray marks with a cotton swab dipped in polish remover. Add a second coat for deeper color.
11. Complete the pedicure with a top coat of clear polish.

Without proper care, it is difficult to maintain beautiful feet. They are one of the most neglected yet most used part of your body. To keep them in fit and proper condition, give yourself a pedicure at least once a month.

Summerizing Winter Feet

The weather is warming up, and now it's time to take off the snow boots, sneakers, and wool socks and slip your feet into a sexy, strappy pair of sandals. If the thought of showing off your feet is horrifying to you because your feet haven't seen daylight in 6 months, don't fear! Those cracks and  calluses will be a thing of your wintery past. And you don't have to spend $40 and up - Here's a 20 minute pedicure to get your feet back into  shape.

• Soak your feet in a warm sudsy tub (epson salts and a couple of drops of essential oil works great) for about 10 minutes and pat dry.
• Using a pumice stone or buffing paddle, remove any rough areas. Massage cuticle area with a little oil or moisturizer; gently push back cuticles.
• Apply an exfoliator like St. Ives apricot scrub to shins, ankles and feet. If you want to use a homemade scrub, try sugar and olive oil. Massage to remove all that dead winter skin. Rinse in foot tub. 
• Trim nails straight across. Don't go too short!
• If you have an extra 10 minutes, cover feet with heavy cream like Eucerin, Shea Butter, or Burt's Bees Foot Cream and wrap with plastic wrap. Apply a heating pad and wrap feet for a few minutes. Unwrap and wipe dry. Wipe nails and cuticles with rubbing alcohol to remove residue.
• Apply polish and wait until polish is set (dry to the touch) and then apply the top coat. Don't skip this step as it not only adds life to your pedicure, it will protect your nails as well.

Tip: To keep your nail polish lid from sticking, rub it with a little Vaseline or cutical oil.

Tips From the Pedicure Pros

Here is a compilation of pampering pedicure tips from friends!

• Coat feet with petroleum jelly or cow udder balm and wear a pair of cotton socks for a few hours or overnight. This will soften them up, especially the heel area.
• Mary Kay buffing cream works great; add the super overnight cream for super dry skin (looks like pink Vaseline), wash it off with the body gel, then rinse, pat dry, and apply lotion. It really works.
• Soak in warm water with Skin-So-Soft Bath Oil (Avon) for about 10 minutes. Use a pumice stone to take off rough skin on heels, etc. Dry with towel and moisturize with lotion. Trim nails, add nail polish, and your feet are sandal-ready.
• Paraffin wax pedicures make your feet extremely soft because your feet absorb the lanolin out of the wax. Worth every dime. Now you can get them to do it yourself at home!
• Try to take care of your feet year round. Foot soaks are nice if you have the time! While your feet are still damp, rub them with a clean, dry washcloth or towel. This will help remove any remaining dead skin and calluses.

Margarita Spa Pedicure

The feet are the most neglected part of the body, yet they do a really hard and important job! Here's a recipe for happy, pampered, sandal-ready feet. Be sure to massage and pay special attention to your feet, toes, ankles and calves as you do the steps.

Step 1:

Take off all old polish (if you use polish) If nails are yellowed due to bright polishes, go to the nail restore recipe. If not, skip on to the foot soak recipe.

Nail Restore:

• Hydrogen Peroxide
• Baking soda
• Lemon juice

Mix to form a paste, apply as a mask to each toenail. Let sit for a few minutes-then gently scrub with a nailbrush. Rinse, then trim toenails if needed.

Step 2:

Foot soaks are good for sore feet and to soften calluses. If there are any fungus problems with the feet or nails you can add tea tree oil, an anti-fungal to address those issues as well.

Foot Soak

• Epsom salts
• Peppermint essential oil
• Glycerin/vitamin E oil (optional)
• Tea tree, spearmint or eucalyptus oil (optional)

Put in a tub of warm water, soak feet for 10-15 minutes. Remove, pat dry and sprite feet with cool water mixed with any of the above essential oils if desired.

Step 3:

Now it's time to soften the feet even further. If you want to take a small detour at this point you can first use the pit of an avocado to massage the feet.

Margaritaville Foot Scrub:

• Any kind of salt (margarita salt if you have it handy)
• Lime juice or
• Lime essential Oil
• Shot of tequila

Mix until slushy, massage into feet, ankles and calves, rinse, then moisturize.

Step 4: Moisturize

Use a moisturizer custom scented with lime or bergamot essential oil, a vanilla or coconut moisturizer or a lavender/peppermint moisturizer. Don't forget to make yourself a margarita!

Hot Rocks Pedicure

• Large bowl or foot bath
• Handful of warm, round clean pebbles (about 15)
• Jumbo pot to heat the stones
• Nail file
• Foot buffer or pumice stone
• Great scented oil of your choice (find one at you local health store)
• Polishes: base coat, top coat, color
• Cuticle cream
• Heavy foot cream or petroleum jelly
• Orange sticks
• Toe polishing separators or rolled paper towels
• 2-3 fresh flowers, petals removed
• Pitcher filled with warm (not too hot) water
• 2 fluffy towels
• Relaxation CD
• Pot of herbal tea

Heat stones by bringing water to a boil around them. Heat for 3-4 minutes. Use tongs to remove from hot water and place in the bottom of the foot bath. Wrap one fluffy towel around your basin. Drizzle scented oil over the stones. Sprinkle petals in the bottom of the basin. Add 1 inch of warm water.

Buff rough skin and file nails before the urge to plunge overtakes you. Gently apply cuticle smoother into your cuticles. Place feet on warm stones. Coat feet and legs with heavy cream while massaging the bottoms of your feet with stones.

Pour the warm water from the pitcher into the bowl and plunge feet. Push back and remove cuticle cream. Use smaller rocks to apply pressure to heals and balls of foot. Have a cup of tea, turn on the CD, and relax for a long time!

Dry feet with towel and clean toenails with a light astringent. Polish with base coat, color and top coat for a lasting memory of your hot rocks experience!

ToeRings.com - Recipe for a Great Foot Scrub!

• 1 C sugar in the raw or turbinado sugar (available at your grocery store)
• 1/2 C olive oil
• 1 squirt baby bath or moisturizing liquid body soap

Mix ingredients together.

Soak feet in foot bath of warm water with a dash of foot soak; apply a handful of scrub to each foot. Massage lightly, paying close attention to heels, toes, top of feet, ankles and cuticles. Let it soak in for several minutes before rinsing. This scrub is also great on elbows, knees and hands. Sugar and olive oil have great moisturizing and rehydrating properties.