Soften Your Feet
Before starting your pedicure, you’ll want to pamper your feet. Fill a small tub with warm water, a bit of Epsom salt, and a few drops of your favorite essential oil. Keep your feet soaked in the tub for at least 15 minutes.
After you’ve soaked your feet, hop in the shower or sit outside of your tub and exfoliate, paying attention to the heels and soles. This will slough away dead skin cells, keeping your feet fresh, smooth, soft, and radiant. You can create your own exfoliating scrub with brown sugar and coconut oil. If your feet are extra rough, you may want to use a pumice stone.
Finally, you’ll want to wash your feet. This will remove any of the dead skin cells left over from exfoliating and will also remove any dirt.
Moisturize Those Toes
Once you’ve soaked, scrubbed, and cleansed your feet, you’ll want to restore the moisture. Scrubbing can strip away your body’s natural oils, so a moisturizing lotion or oil will help nourish your feet once more.
Tame Those Cuticles and Trim Those Nails
It may be surprising, but you should take care of the cuticles on your toes just as much as you should on your hands. Use a cuticle cream or oil to keep your toenail beds moisturized. This also makes them super soft so that they’re easier to push back prior to painting your toes.
Before painting, you should also trim and file your toenails. Don’t forget to file in one direction to avoid making your toenails brittle.
Start Painting
Once your cuticles are pushed back and your toes are looking lovely, you’ll want to start painting. Always use a base coat and a topcoat when painting your nails. A base coat protects your nail from staining and also ensures a smooth application. The top coat helps to seal in the polish so that it won’t chip as quickly.
After you’ve applied your base coat and it has dried completely, add two to three coats of your favorite shade of nail polish. Allow each coat to dry completely before painting on the next. After the final coat is completely dry, seal it all in with a top coat.
Clean up any messes with a cotton swab dipped in nail polish remover.
Voila! You have a beautiful, at-home pedicure with little effort and little cash!