Manicure, pedicure, facial care… These are services that you can do in a beauty salon, but this quickly means a substantial budget.
Discover how to achieve a homemade pedicure for pretty soft feet!
Why do a pedicure?
The feet are an area of our body that we tend to overlook… And it’s a shame, between the weight they support and the fact of being locked in socks in winter, they need all our attention.
In addition, practicing a home pedicure is a particularly pleasant moment of self-care and well-being. Pedicured feet are maintained feet, less exposed to the risk of infection such as fungi and other fungal infections.
For healthy feet, we advise you to have a home pedicure once a month and to “sand” them with a pumice stone or a foot file every week after your shower or your bath.
Indeed, it is at this time that dead skin is the easiest to eliminate. This step bypasses the risk of cracking the skin, particularly at the heel.
Also Read: How to Take Care of Your Feet in Summer
Home pedicure: the necessary equipment
For a full home pedicure, you will need:
- a basin ;
- a nail file;
- a polishing block;
- a stick pushes back cuticles;
- a nail clipper;
- coarse salt;
- vegetable oil (olive, sweet almond, jojoba, coconut…);
- a base ;
- a quality varnish;
- a topcoat.
Pedicure at home: the steps
Step 1: Soak
We start our homemade pedicure with a salt foot bath. Anti-inflammatory and relaxing, the foot bath softens the skin and nails and will thus facilitate your pedicure.
Coarse salt helps eliminate possible pain, stimulates blood circulation, and even improves your immune system!
- Fill your basin with lukewarm to hot water (but not hot, be careful);
- Pour a good handful of coarse salt into the water;
- Immerse your feet in it for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on how dry your skin is.
Step 2: Scrub and sand
Once the skin on your feet has softened, remove the basin and dry your feet by dabbing them with a clean, dry towel. Now is the time to remove the dead skin:
- With a foot file or pumice stone, remove as much dead skin as possible from the heels and sides of your feet, just below the toes. It is generally in these areas that the horn, see corns, forms;
- Then exfoliate the entire area of the foot: the sole, the toes, the instep, the heels, the ankles… Using one of the recipes below:
- Purifying scrub: mix 6 tablespoons of baking soda with 2 tablespoons of water;
- Remineralizing scrub: mix 2 tablespoons of fine Guérande salt and 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil;
- Gourmet scrub: mix 2 tablespoons of brown sugar with 2 tablespoons of coconut oil.
- Massage in small circles, without pressing too much;
- Rinse your feet and pat them dry.
Step 3: Moisturize deeply
The exfoliation rids your feet of their dead skin and thus reveals a brand new skin, more fragile than the corn you had on your feet. This is why the hydration step is essential!
Apply the vegetable oil of your choice on your feet, going up to the ankles, and massage gently. Feel free to apply a good amount to act as a powerful moisturizing mask.
Then, wrap your feet in a chunky pair of socks while you leisurely watch an episode of your favorite show!
Step 4: File and polish
After about thirty minutes, you can remove your socks. Massage the rest of the vegetable oil into your feet and enjoy this pleasant moment.
Then we move on to the nails. Start by cutting them if necessary or filing them. Then, using a polishing block, smooth the surface of your toenails to ensure better hold of your nail polish.
Step 5: Push back the cuticles
Place a drop of vegetable oil or emollient cream on each of your cuticles and massage. Wait a few minutes before pushing back your cuticles using a cuticle pusher stick.
Be aware that it is not advisable to cut them! Indeed, the cuticles are there to protect your nail, pushing them back regularly is more than enough for an effective pedicure or manicure.
Step 6: Apply a base
Using a base before applying your polish will protect your nails from the not always clean substances that make up nail polish.
In addition, it will prolong your pedicure by delaying the peeling of the varnish. So apply a base coat on each of your nails and let it dry completely.
Step 7: Apply the varnish
Once the base is dry, you can apply the nail polish of your choice! A thin layer first, taking care to avoid touching the edges of the nail for a clean pedicure, then a second thicker layer (when the first is completely dry).
Step 8: Don’t forget the top coat
Your two coats of varnish are now completely dry, all you have to do is apply a coat of top coat for a shiny and long-lasting pedicure. Indeed, the top coat allows your varnish to resist much longer!
Photo: Pexels/ Marcus Aurelius
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