How to do a pedicure at home
Get your feet party-ready for strappy sandals this Christmas
Step one is to remove any old lacquer. The best way to do this without staining the skin, is to soak a thin pad with varnish remover and press it onto the nail,' says Bryony Cocksedge, educator at OPI. 'Hold it there for about 30 seconds, pressing with your thumb and letting the pad absorb the old varnish. Without lifting your thumb from the pad, swipe it up and off the nail and your varnish should removed in one fell swoop.’
Next you should neatly shape nails. ‘File the nail straight across the top to reduce the length and then round off the corners to prevent ingrown toenails. For nails that are split or peeling, wet the file with water before shaping’, says Bryony.
Now turn your attention to your feet. ‘A good foot file is ideal for the job but a rough pumice will also do the trick. Don’t go too far and stop filing if it starts to feel uncomfortable. Never let anyone other than a podiatrist put a blade or grater to your callouses,’ says Sally Hansen nail expert Jessica Hoffman.
Rid your feet of dry skin with a quick soak. ‘I always recommend a salt soak with the Dead Sea Spa Magik's Bath Salts for at least 10 minutes,' says Jessica. 'It not only makes it easier to remove dry skin, but makes toenails softer and more flexible to cut.'
Once feet have been soaked and patted dry, it’s time to give them a scrub. ‘A good foot scrub should be gentle on the tops of feet but tough enough to give the underside a hard scrub to get rid of any last traces of rough skin,’ says Bryony.
If you have deep cracks on your heels, Jessica recommends sloughing off dry skin with a foot file and then applying a thick coating of a glycerin-based balm twice a day.
She also uses Sally Hansen’s Vitamin E Cuticle Oil to treat cuticles and toenails. ‘It will prolong the life of an older pedicure and, somewhere in between a polish and glossy buff, looks clean and neat on super short nails,’ she says.
Moisturising your feet regularly is essential, but Bryony says, 'avoid getting lotion on the toenails themselves as this may cause lacquer to peel or chip quickly. Massage the lotion in slowly using a firm motion from ankle to knee and slightly less pressure from knee to ankle to aid lymphatic flow'.
Before you start the painting process, Bryony recommends inserting toe separators (or fashioning your own out of a twisted piece of kitchen roll) and applying a base coat to all 10 nails. ‘I find sitting on chair with my foot on pile of magazines is the ideal painting position,’ she says. ‘Always apply two coats of varnish to get a good coverage (the second evens out the colour so slightly more should be used) and finish off with a top coat.’
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