How To Do A Pedicure At Home

Are your feet looking a little rough and in need of some tender loving care? Then a pedicure may be the perfect solution. And not just any pedicure but an all-natural at-home pedicure. Featuring relaxation and all-natural luxurious products that you won’t regret and will leave your feet feeling better.

What’s the purpose of a pedicure?

To soften your feet and relieve discomfort.
For relaxation.
For hygiene purposes.
For the health of the whole person but especially to support the health of the feet.

Let’s gather supplies:

Basin for soaking feet
Warm water
Epsom Salt
Soap
Pumice Stone
Toenail clippers
Foot lotion or cream
Towel
Exfoliating scrub

One of the best things about an at-home pedicure is that it can be done in the comfort of your own home, while dressed in whatever clothes you would like. And you can customize the whole process to what your feet need. Haile says it’s important to customize your pedicure. “Just like your face, your feet go through changes,” she says. “Maybe you’re looking to restore dehydrated skin that needs nourishment or re-energize your skin. That will determine what you need, such as tools, lotions, scrubs, etc.” (3)

Ways to customize your pedicure:

Dry cracked heels:

For dry cracked heels more time will need to be spent exfoliating the heals and our Terra Cotta Pumice stone would be the perfect tool for exfoliating.

You can find our Pumice stone at: https://dandelionnaturals.com/product/terra-cotta-foot-scrubber-pumice-stone-for-feet/

If you really want to speed up your exfoliating: “Before your next bath or shower, file your heels dry using a heel file and focusing on the roughest areas. Then, midway into your bath or shower, file them again when the skin is soft.” (4)

Also, a moisturizing cream or salve would be very supportive since there is a greater need for moisture. Our Happy Feet balm is a great option. It contains coconut oil which contains antimicrobial properties, and other supportive properties of moisture retention, and pain relieving properties. And it also contains peppermint oil which is: “both cooling and a pain reliever, so it’s made for hard-working feet. Whether you spend your day in high heels, work boots, or flip flops, your feet with thank you for this!” (8)

You can find our balm at: https://dandelionnaturals.com/product/happy-feet-balm/

Sore dry feet:
A massage with our Tallow balm will likely help the feet feel and look better.

You can find our balm at: https://dandelionnaturals.com/product/tallow-balm/
Try some of these massage techniques:
“Foot spread: Foot spreading may help the foot expand to its natural width. To use this foot massage technique: hold each side of the foot, pull each side of the foot outward and repeat this motion, allowing the foot to spread.

Heel squeeze: may help relieve tension at the back of the foot. To use this technique: hold the, top of the foot in one hand, hold the back of the heel in the other, repeatedly squeeze and release the back of the heel.

Thumb work: is another foot massage technique that a person can practice on the bottom of the foot. To use this technique: hold the foot with one hand on either side, place the fingers on the, top of the foot, place the thumbs under each foot, on the toe pad, use the thumbs to stroke, down each toe, using moderate pressure, move to the ball of the foot, repeating the downward, stroke motion with the thumbs, repeat this motion in the arch of the feet and the heel, continue for as long as it is enjoyable.” (1)

Athletes feet:
Essential oils and our All-purpose Salve are great options to try before reaching for an antifungal Clove which has been shown to have antifungal properties and tea tree oil alongside our all-purpose salve which is made with herbal infused oil.

You can find our salve at: https://dandelionnaturals.com/product/all-purpose-salve/

Relaxing luxury:
“You don’t need a store-bought scrub to get rid of dead skin. With a few kitchen essentials, you can have your very own exfoliating scrub in just minutes. Grab an oil like olive, jojoba, almond, or coconut, and choose an exfoliant like sugar coffee or oats. And voilà! You’ve got a DIY scrub in no time.” (2)

Here are some recipes that you can try:
Strawberry scrub:
“Strawberries also contain AHA exfoliating acid, so this makes for an effective but gentle armpit exfoliator to give your natural deodorant an extra boost. Adding a combination of ground oats is soothing, and coconut milk is a good place to start for hydration.”

1 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup ground or even whole oats
1/4 cup pureed strawberries (you can also smoosh using the back of a fork)
Directions: Mix all ingredients together in a bowl with a spoon. Yield: 8 ounces

Honey Oat scrub:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 Tbsp of dried sage leaves
1 Tbsp of honey
Directions: Mix all ingredients together with a spoon and put in an 8-ounce glass jar. Yield: 8 ounces

These scrubs are nourishing compared to chemical exfoliants because: “the harsher chemical exfoliants or acids should be avoided since they can cause burning or irritation when exfoliating your feet. It may be tempting to recreate those dead skin-lifting peels floating around on the internet, but they can do more harm than good. “Chemical exfoliants such as salicylic acid, glycolic acid, and enzymes may be too harsh on the skin” , Akhavan says.” (6)

You can use any of the above methods so that your pedicure is unique to you and your needs. So let’s begin.

Begin the Pedicure:

Start by preparing warm water with ½ cup of Epson salt added to it and pouring it into the basin that you plan to soak your feet in.
Soak your feet for 15-30 minutes. At the end, use soap to cleanse your feet.
Rinse your feet off and dry.
Apply an exfoliating scrub and gently massage your feet.
Rinse your feet off.
Use a Pumice stone to exfoliate any callused areas.
Rinse and dry your feet again.
Apply your favorite moisturizer to your feet, taking the time to massage and apply gentle pressure to your feet.

Preventing further issues:

Once you’ve taken the time to treat your calluses during your pedicure you can take some steps to prevent them from coming back. But first let’s look at why they were created in the first place. Medical News Today says: “When a person regularly exposes the skin to friction and pressure, they may develop a corn or callus, creating an area of hard skin. The way the skin toughens is a protective mechanism, but the skin can be painful if it hardens and cracks.
Hard skin will usually go away if a person identifies and removes the cause or uses protection, such as corn plasters or pads. If a person uses home remedies, they can speed up the process of softening the skin.” (7)

Ideas to support foot health include wearing properly sized shoes, not too tight or too loose, and wearing shoes that have a wide toe bed to allow our feet to maintain their natural shape. It may even be helpful to wear toe separators to help your feet maintain their natural shape. Trying some barefoot-style footwear may be supportive also. But why is your foot health important?
“Dry, cracked, and callused skin serves as a portal of entry for fungus and bacteria,” explains Anne Sharkey, DPM, a podiatrist based in Austin, Texas. Keeping skin clean, exfoliated, and moisturized ensures that our skin barrier is in the best shape possible to prevent these pathogens from entering our body.” Correa agrees, adding that when we’re diligent about our foot health we’re also more apt to catch minor issues before they morph into something greater. Think of changes to your nail beds or the soles of your feet. “More often than not, when we aren’t looking at our feet daily, small clues go unnoticed that alert you to other problems,” notes Correa. “[Foot care] is the missing link in preventative care and avoiding long-term and hard to deal with ailments. Your feet are your body’s foundation. The smallest change can throw off your way of life.”(9)

Calluses aren’t the only thing to consider concerning your foot health but the way that you cut your toenails can impact foot health. The NCBI states that: “Many people will have an ingrown toenail at some point in their lives. Using the right technique to cut your toenails can help prevent this problem, though.
It’s important to make sure that you cut your toenails straight across, leaving them long enough so that the corners lie loosely against the skin at the sides.
In other words, don’t trim your toenails too short, don’t round the edges, and also don’t try to cut the toenails into a pointy V-shape.” (10)

Don’t be afraid to throw away old shoes and get some new ones that will support your feet and thus your overall health. Also, take the time to perform a pedicure at least once a month to ensure that your feet are in their best health. Let us know if you use our non-toxic, nourishing Dandelion Naturals salves to help support your foot health, and leave us a review.

https://www.byrdie.com/how-to-give-yourself-a-professional-pedicure-346824 (3)

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/at-home-pedicure (2)

https://www.realsimple.com/beauty-fashion/skincare/hands-feet/nail-care/diy-pedicure-tips (4)

https://www.realsimple.com/foot-facial-7378135 (9)

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/diy-foot-scrub (5)

https://www.byrdie.com/diy-foot-peel-7095710 (6)

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323790#benefits (1)

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/how-to-get-rid-of-hard-skin#summary (7)

https://gardentherapy.ca/healing-foot-balm/ (8)