With a little care and pampering, anyone can have beautiful feet.
When the weather warms and sandal season begins, slipping pretty feet into fabulous new shoes will start your spring off right. What if your feet have suffered during the winter months and come out a little worse for wear? Don't worry. Read on to find out how to turn even the driest, most cracked dogs back into beautiful feet.
Cold Weather Is Harsh
To figure out why the cooler months can wreak such havoc on your feet, consider this: during the fall and winter, most of us close our feet up in socks, shoes and boots. If we work all day, our feet are encased and not getting any air. Turning on the heat, while keeping us warm inside, takes moisture from the air and our skin. Your feet are living in a dry environment and in turn can become dry themselves.
Steps to Beautiful Feet
If your heels are dry and cracked and you have a lot of rough skin around your toes, you can bring your feet back to life with some simple steps.
- A bath - You can either immerse your whole body in a relaxing, warm bath full of treats such as bubbles and oils, or you can focus just on your feet. The point is to get your feet wet and impart some much-needed moisture back into them. Let your feet soak in a soothing bath infused with treatments like:
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- Soaking teas
- Rose petals
- Essential oils like lavender, almond oil or peppermint
- A scrub - After soaking your feet for at least 20 minutes, you can either scrub them wet or after they're dry. For a wet scrub, use a pumice stone on rough areas, but don't rub your skin raw. You may need to repeat this procedure over the course of several treatments if your feet are particularly dry. For a dry scrub, The Body Shop's Pumice Foot Scrub is a great-smelling product that will rub away your dry skin. Apply dry scrubs after soaking your feet and gently drying on a fluffy towel. You can also make your own scrub at home with ingredients you may already have around the house. Or, if you're lucky enough to live by the beach, go for a walk. Sand is a natural exfoliant, so walking barefoot on the beach will not only beautify your feet, but is also a good workout.
- A moisturizer - Dry skin needs moisture to recover, so a thick cream or lotion is essential for maintaining beautiful feet. After your feet are rinsed and dried, apply a moisturizer all over them, making sure to work it into rough areas like the heels.
Pedicure
Once your feet are well-moisturized and soft, a little nail polish can brighten them up even more. Pedicures are a wonderful way for women to pamper themselves, whether they go for a professional treatment or do it themselves at home.
Do-It-Yourself Pedicure
If you like taking care of your beauty needs yourself, you may enjoy giving yourself a pedicure. Some tools you'll need are:
- Toenail clippers
- Emery board
- Toe separators
- Nail polish (base coat and top coats are optional)
- Q-tips
- Nail polish remover
Pedicure Steps
- Clip your toenails so that they're straight across. Don't clip them too short because that increases your risk of nipping your skin.
- File the edges smooth with the emery board.
- Use toe separators between your toes so that your polish doesn't become smudged by your toes rubbing against each other.
- Apply nail polish. You can use a base coat, but it's not always essential. Apply two coats of nail polish and a top coat.
- Use Q-tips dipped in nail polish remover to clean up any messy areas.
- Allow polish to thoroughly dry and voilà! You are now the proud owner of beautiful feet.
Maintenance
One foot bath or pedicure will not maintain your pretty feet. Like all of the skin on your body, your feet need regular attention to stay soft. It doesn't require a huge time commitment; a few minutes spent moisturizing your feet per day, as well as once-a-week soaks, will ensure you have beautiful feet all year long.
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