Sandal-Ready Feet

Summer’s coming up fast, so it’s time to get your feet ready for sandal season. Here’s your step-by-step guide to at-home pedicures.

1. Remove all old polish and clip your toenails straight across, then lightly file to smooth the edges.

2. While you’re in the shower, exfoliate your feet with a scrub, making sure you pay attention to the tops of your feet and in between toes too. Use a pumice stone or foot file (you can find them in any drugstore or bath and beauty shop) on thicker areas like your heels. Don’t overdo it though — if you have extremely thick calluses, it will take a few sessions before you get rid of most of it. If you scrub too hard, you can irritate your skin.

3. Apply a thick layer of moisturizing lotion, and massage it in, paying attention to the heels and pads of your feet. Put on a pair of socks and relax for about 30 minutes.

4. Remove the socks and apply a cuticle cream or a drop of olive oil to your cuticles, and massage it in. Gently push — don’t pull, cut or tear — cuticles back with an orange stick.

5. Remove any cream or oil from nails with polish remover, otherwise your polish won’t adhere properly.

6. Apply a base coat, then two thin coats of polish, letting each layer dry before adding the next. Finish with a top coat. Try to avoid wearing close-toed shoes for at least a few hours.

7. Reapply your top coat every couple of days to prolong your pedicure. If you’re on the beach, reapply it every day, since sand and saltwater can wear off polish quickly.

Suggested Products

Scrubs

Freeman Bare Foot Pumice Scrub ($3.79, drugstore.com)
Totally Nutty Walnut Shell Foot Scrub ($3.99, drugstore.com)
Yves Rocher Lavande Polishing Foot Scrub ($6, yves-rocher.com)
True Blue Spa Toe The Line ($15, bathandbodyworks.com)
H2O Pumice Foot Scrub ($15, h2oplus.com)

Moisturizers

Alpha Hydrox Foot Creme ($7.99, drugstore.com)
Avon Foot Works Therapeutic Cracked Heel Relief Cream ($4.99, avon.com)
Lush Pieds de Pepper ($11.75, lush.com)
True Blue Spa I Love Shea Foot Cream ($15, bathandbodyworks.com)
Dr. Scholl’s Pedicure Essentials Ultra Overnight Foot Cream ($6.29, drugstore.com)

Tips & Tricks

• Give yourself a pedicure every two weeks, especially during the summer months.
• Maintain your tootsies by using a scrub when you shower and moisturizing before bed.
• Don’t use one of those foot razors — they’ll do more damage than good. Stick to a foot file or pumice stone for thick calluses and exercise a bit of patience. Your feet will thank you.
• Spritz The Body Shop’s Refreshing Foot Spray ($8, thebodyshop.com) on tired, sweaty, swollen or smelly feet. It’s an excellent pick-me-up, combats odor and it’s travel-friendly, so you can keep it in your purse.
• Pale or nude shades of polish will wear longer, since they don’t show chips or fading as quickly as darker colors. If you insist on brighter hues, rosy pinks, coral and lilac are the hot colors this season.