How To Do A Pedicure
By Alice
Stacy
If you are accustomed to wearing nail polish, remove this first.
If your remover is alcohol or acetone free, it may not be as
effective on darker colors. Also, some people prefer to use gauze
pads as opposed to cotton balls to avoid any fuzz leftover on the
nails. But if your ball is wet enough and wiped well, this
shouldn't be a problem.
Next, cut your nails, using a proper toenail cutter and not a
fingernail clipper. The toe clippers are made specifically for the
nature and shape of foot nails. Cut straight across, leaving
one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch, depending on the shape of
your toe. Nails can then be filed down with the rough side of an
emery board, the corners shaped, and the smooth side of the board
used to buff the edges.
Use a bowl, or dishpan from the Dollar Store as a footbath. Soak
your feet in warm water for 15 minutes. For a more relaxing
session, add some aromatherapy oils or crystals to the water. The
soaking will help soften skin that you will be working with
next.
Use a cuticle softener around the edges of each nail, and then
an orangewood stick to gently push back any skin extending over the
nail. Go only to the edge of the nail and no further. If you have a
piece of loose skin, there are cuticle clippers that will remove
it.
The ball and heels of your feet is where the toughest and
roughest skin is. Use a scrub meant for removing dry skin, and put
it on a pumice stone or foot scrubber. Rub firmly in order to get
the softened dead skin off, but don't go so far that you irritate
the foot.
Now indulge yourself by moisturizing while you massage your
feet. There are creams made specifically for foot skin, which will
condition it better. Rub and massage it into all areas of the foot,
especially the thicker skin portions, and then continue up the
ankle to the lower calf. You might also like to use a drop of
cuticle oil, massaged in to keep them soft and pliable.
Allow your feet to dry thoroughly before putting on any kind of
footwear, or re-painting the nails with polish.
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