How Can You do a Pedicure at Home?

A pair of well-maintained feet contributes to the overall personality of any woman and it’s also one of the most important indicators of whether or not you look after yourself enough. However, with most of the women, foot care takes a back seat whenever it comes to any kind of beauty treatment.

Although it’s quite common for most women to spend a lot of time and money for taking care of their body and face, it’s very rare to pay attention to feet. But then, it’s one of our most important body parts, carrying the entire body weight, and hence, it’s of great importance to take care of your feet. While a pair of pedicured feet makes you look healthy and confident, it also helps keep diseases like cracked heels and crooked nails at a distance.

Pampering your feet makes you feel wonderfully relaxed and rejuvenated. If you have been neglecting your feet since long, it might have already resulted into cracked and dry feet that look really aged, and hence, it’s high time to start pampering your feet. All it takes a little care on a daily basis and you will get to see the amazing results within only a few days.

Be it summer, winter or rainy season, your feet need the attention all year long and it’s important to keep them free of dirt and dust. Although pedicure at salon turns out to be effective, these are also expensive and you need to devote a lot of time. That is why most women prefer performing pedicure at home and that too, with natural ingredients.

Let’s take a look at the key benefits of pedicure:

• Reduced chances of infections, caused due to long, uneven and dirty nails as all the bacteria and dirt are removed while performing pedicure.
• Pedicure helps clear bunions, fungal infections and corns well in advance.
• Proper exfoliation helps remove dead cells and prevents formation of bunions and corns. It also helps in the growth of new cells, which makes your feet look healthy.
• Since pedicure involves massaging, soaking and moisturizing the feet, it ensures your feet remains moisturized. This, in turn, helps minimize the chance of developing ingrown nails, cracks and blisters.
• A deep massage helps ensure proper blood circulation which helps reduce the pain in your calves and feet.

Now once you know the benefits of pedicure, let’s take a look at the list of the key ingredients –

• Nail polish remover
• Hot water tub
• Emery board
• Milk
• Nail clipper
• Pumice stone
• Cuticle pusher
• Cuticle softener
• Cotton pads
• Foot scrub
• Cuticle cream
• Foot cream
• Towel
• Nail brush
• Water
• Nail polish
• Big bowl

Steps for homemade pedicure

Working on your nails

1. First off, remove the existing nail polish using a nail paint remover and a ball of cotton.
2. Next, use a nail cutter to trim and cut your nails. Be sure to not cut the corners very deep as this often leads to ingrown nails. Try to cut across your nails straight or you can also give them a rounded shape, according to your preference.
3. Once the cutting is done, it’s time to file the nails and this is when you have to determine the exact shape – oval, pointed or square. While filing your nails, be sure to provide the required force to resize and reshape the nails. However, you should be gentle enough to not weaken the nails. Consider filing in a particular direction in order to get the desired shape.

Soaking the feet

It is one of the highly relaxing part of the entire process of pedicure. While soaking the feet in fragrant and warm water, you can comfortably relax after a hectic day. The steps for the same are as followed –

1. Take warm water into a tub and place your ankles in the same. If you like it simple and plain, consider adding shampoo and little bit rock salt in the water.
2. If you are planning something more relaxing, there are a few alternative methods to prepare the liquid. You can add half cup Epsom salt as this helps soothe and soften the inflammations. It helps eliminate the roughness and pain and at the same time, does the job of an exfoliator.
3. Consider adding lemon juice and a few drops of shampoo.
4. If you have some essential oils ready at hand, you can mix few drops of the same to the water. This will help calm down the nerves and ensure your maximum possible comfort for your feet.
5. Sit in a relaxed way and try soaking the feet in the water for around 15 to 20 minutes. If you love soothing music, remember to turn that on as the combination will serve as an effective stress buster.
6. Once done, pat dry the feet with a towel.

Scrubbing your feet

1. Once the feet are perfectly dry, take a little amount of cuticle cream and massage it around your toenails. Once your dead skin is soft with the cream, take a pumice stone and scrub your feet thoroughly. If you are not comfortable with pumice stone, take one foot file for doing the same. This helps remove the dead, dry and rough skin completely. Make sure you do this at frequent intervals, as this helps prevent the skin from becoming hard and causing infections and cracks. While doing this, be sure to give the desired pressure – not more or less than that.
2. Next, clear away the cuticle cream and press the cuticles with cuticle pusher that is angled. With the removal cream, get rid of the cuticles instead of cutting those. This process of cuticle removal helps in proper nail growth. Take a small amount of nail scrubber and scrub the nails. Once done, wipe the feet using a dry and clean towel.
3. After this, you need to flake off the feet properly using a scrubber. You can use face scrub/foot scrub for doing this. Make it a point to scrub specific areas like soles, heels and between the toes. Also scrub the ankles and sides of the feet.

In case you are running out of the scrub or would like to use a homemade one, here is how you can prepare one –

All you need to prepare a scrub are –

• 2 table spoon brown sugar
• 2 table spoon oatmeal powder
• 1 table spoon honey
• 1 table spoon olive oil
• 1 table spoon lemon juice

How to make the scrub –

• First mix the sugar and oatmeal together.
• Next, add a bit of lemon juice and honey to the mixture and mix properly.
• Finally, add the olive oil to the mixture and apply.

If you would like to prepare the cuticle cream on your own, you can do that as well –

Ingredients that you need –

• one table spoon coconut oil
• 3 table spoon almond oil or olive oil
• 1 table spoon essential oil or glycerine (according to your choice)

How to make the cuticle cream –

• First, heat the olive oil in a microwave or in one double boiler.
• After that, add coconut oil. Next, add glycerine or essential oil.
• Now once the cream is prepared, cool it and store it in a container.

Moisturizing your feet

Once your feet is free from all the dirt, moisturize them thoroughly for the maximum possible rejuvenation.

1. Consider using a thick moisturizer that will give your feet the best possible care.

2. Make it a point to massage your ankles, calf muscles and feet for around five to ten minutes. When you feel relaxed enough, apply nail polish of your choice.

3. If you are looking for a home-made massage cream, consider using a blend of olive oil and almond oil. Take one teaspoon of both the oil and add little essential oil to the mixture. This will surely work as a perfect foot massager.

4. While doing the massage, remember to be gentle and give pressure to the right points. Regular and proper massages help stimulate all your nerves and improve the blood circulation.

5. In case you have cracked heels, mix a certain amount of Vaseline and lemon juice. Then apply it to your heels, preferably before going to sleep. Consider wearing loose cotton socks or wrapping the feet using plastic and leave it overnight. You can apply this mixture twice or thrice a week to cure the cracks.

6. Be sure to clean as well as properly moisturize the feet regularly.

Glamming up the nails

The last stage of the pedicure process is glamming up your nails. When the detailed procedure of pedicure is complete, start glamming up the nails with any of your favorite shades. While it’s completely optional to wear nail polish, you can wear either normally or follow the French tips.

If you would like to wear a nail polish normally, follow these tips –

1. First, apply the base coat. Consider applying a transparent nail polish for making the base coat as it will make the nail color stay longer.

2. Next, take ample amount of nail color in the brush and apply it on your nails gently. Allow it to dry for a certain period of time. If you are using a ‘quick-dry’ variation, it will be dried within a few seconds only.

3. Once dried, apply a second coat and when that also gets dried out, apply the final coat. Thus, your nails will look more attractive.

If you would like to it in the French style, here are the tips to follow –

1. First off, apply the base coat which is transparent and allow it to dry completely.
2. Take white nail paint and apply it on the tip of nails. Let it stay for a few minutes and dry completely.
3. Once dried, apply the next coat of white nail polish as this will make the nails look less splotchy as well as absolutely stylish.
4. Once it is dried properly, paint one coat of nail polish on the nails. Be sure to keep the strokes as even and smooth as possible.

A few additional tips

• In case you can’t afford enough time to do scrubbing thoroughly on a daily basis, consider scrubbing your feet using a pumice stone, at least two times in a week. You can do this even while bathing so that the rough and dead skin gets cleared off completely.

• While wearing nail polish makes your nails look beautiful, remember to allow little breathing time for them also.

• If you observe any kind of infection or there is any blackening or cracks in your nails, consider consulting a doctor or a specialist immediately.

• If you have cracked heels, consider applying Vaseline before going to sleep, keep it overnight and wear a pair of socks, if possible.

• If your toenails are yellowish, consider clearing them with lemon juice. Soak your nails in lemon juice for around 10 minutes and then, wash off thoroughly with water.

• If you are looking for a perfect gloss and shine, you can apply some glitter over the paint.

• Don’t forget to massage your feet with olive oil or almond oil to keep yourself rejuvenated.

• If you want to keep the shine of the nails for longer, apply clear nail polish every alternate day.

These are some of the simple tips following which you can perform a thorough pedicure all by yourself, at the comfort of your home. Consider doing it once in a month to keep your feet healthy and beautiful.