We have hit about 6 months in a pandemic, you deserve to treat yourself. Going out to the spa or nail salon is still a bit of a concern for most people, so we want you to be able to bring the nail salon home. Follow some of these tricks and secrets to the perfect pedicure, which you can do in your own house.
Make sure to be gentle with your feet. We are on them all day to get everything we need finished and we want to be careful with them. If you have any open cuts or ulcers on your feet, skip the foot bath until they are healed. If you know you have dry or sensitive skin, use smaller amounts of lotion or Epsom salt in the foot bath.
Get Prepared
Gather your tools! Grab a set of nail clippers, a nail file, nail polish remover and cotton balls. Run to the drugstore and find a new favorite color, Epsom salt, and whatever else catches your eye. The next hour or so is about you; if you want to light a candle and grab a glass of wine to reach ‘full relaxation mode’, go for it. Even add a facemask during your pedicure process to multitask in the best way possible.
Start Fresh
Just as a painter would use a clean canvas, you want to do the same with your nails. Take off any old nail polish with polish remover and cotton balls. Nail polish remover comes in non-acetone and acetone versions. Non-acetone is better for your nails, but it is easier to remove old polish with acetone remover. If you have glitter nail polish, or other polish that is being stubborn to take off, wrap a nail polish remover-soaked cotton pad or paper towel around your nail with aluminum foil for 3 minutes or so. The stubborn polish should slide right off.
Ran out of nail polish remover and don’t feel like running to the store? Try any type of rubbing alcohol-based product to get the old polish off. Hand sanitizer, hairspray, and perfumes are all products that can also remove nail polish. Spray or add one of those products to your nails and let it sit for 1-2 minutes. You are going to need a little more elbow grease to get it off this time but it will come off.
Foot Bath Time
If you don’t have a small foot bath, it is no problem. Fill the tub as high as you would like and sit on the edge! Fill the bath with warm water and your favorite bath soak. Many times, Epsom salt works great, especially for sore feet. As it is absorbed through the skin, magnesium in Epsom salt relieves tension and inflammation. Now is also a great time to pull out the essential oils I talked about a few weeks ago. Add a few drops to the bath and keep your feet in it for 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, however long you feel.
Want to moisturize your feet? Make a moisturizing foot soak with 1 cup of honey, 1 cup of coconut milk and a teaspoon of cinnamon powder. Dissolve the honey and coconut milk in a small bowl of boiling water before you add the mixture to the warm tub water. Let the water cool down a little bit and sprinkle the cinnamon on top of the water.
Post Bath Treatment
When you take your feet out of the bath, dry them with a towel, and now is the time to use a cuticle remover on your cuticles. The bath helps soften them and makes them easier to handle. Use nail clippers to trim your nails and a file to soften and shape them.
Be careful when cutting your nails. Make small cuts so you don’t accidentally cut to far down the nail bed and you are cutting them straight across. Cutting on an angle can increase the risk of painful, ingrown nails. Also, I know we just pulled out feet out of the bath, but we want to make sure they are nice and dry when you cut them, you want them to cut straight across and not bend or tear wrong.
Become the Masseuse
Okay yes, we would all rather have someone else giving us a little massage, but it’s the best part of the pedicure and cannot be skipped. Add a pump of your favorite moisturizer onto each foot. Get yourself ready for the big finish, actually painting your toes. Use a cotton pad to remove any extra oily residue or lotion on your toe nails and put on your toe separators. If you don’t have toe separators, twist a paper towel into a rope and weave it between your toes.
Start Painting
To make sure your pedicure really lasts, make sure to add a thin base coat. This coat works as a barrier between the natural oils from your nails and skin and the polish. If you want the colored polish to pop a bit more, try adding a white base coat. This helps cancel the natural tint of your nail and makes the color brighter.
That thin coat should not take long to dry, once it is dry start adding thin coats of your new colored polish. Once it is dry, add a second thin coat. If you are making a mess around your toes, try putting a bit less polish on the brush, it will be easier to control. Add as many coats as you wish, once the color gets how you want it, apply your top coat. This seals the polish and prevents it from chipping.
