Nail salons and other beauty therapy institutions are closed during the lockdown, but doing a pedicure yourself just might give you the same pampered feeling as a professional pedicure would.
Prep your nails
Using nail polish remover, remove the old nail polish with a cotton ball or pad.
Then, clip your nails using a nail clipper, but make sure you cut across straight.
Don’t cut corners to deep, or you will end up with painful ingrown nails.
Use a nail file to shape the nail to the desired shape.
Do the filing with enough force to reshape the nail, but be gentle enough not to weaken them.
Resist doing the back and forth motion across the tip of the nail, as it will weaken them.
Instead, file in a single direction to get the desired shape.
READ: Keep your nails in tip-top shape
Soak your feet
Use a container big enough to fit both feet.
Fill it with hot soapy water. You can add some Epsom salts for a dose of magnesium.
Lay a towel down on the floor, put the basin on top, and make sure the rest of your supplies are within reach.
Sit in a chair in front of the basin and soak for five minutes.
This cleanses, relaxes, and softens up the cuticle and rough skin.
Scrub your feet
Once your feet are dry, massage a little cuticle cream on the base of your toenails.
While the cream softens the dead skin, scrub your skin using a pumice stone. You can also use a foot file instead of a pumice stone.
This will remove the rough, dry, and dead skin. If you do not remove this from time to time, the skin will harden, causing cracks and infection.
Once this is done, remove the cuticle cream, and push your cuticles with an angled cuticle pusher. Cuticles are the soft skin at the bottom of your nail where the fingernail cartilage and skin meet.
With the help of the cuticle remover cream, remove the cuticles.
Never cut your cuticles. This removal of the cuticle helps your nail grow and promotes healthy nails. Make sure you are gentle.
Scrub your nails using a nail scrubber. Quickly wipe your feet with a towel.
Now, use a scrub to exfoliate your feet. You could use a foot scrub or a face scrub for this.
Scrub your heels, soles, and don’t forget the areas between your toes, and the sides of your feet. Scrub your ankles too.
READ: Home remedies for your skin
Moisturise your feet
Your feet are now fresh and clean, but you need to moisturise them for that ultimate feeling of rejuvenation.
Any heavy moisturiser should do. You can massage your feet, ankles and calf muscles for about 10 minutes.
Once you are happy, you can apply a fresh coat of nail polish on your feet.
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