Quiet Moments: Pedicures at Home

 

            It’s been about fifteen years since a good friend of mine gifted me a pedicure at the salon she went to. She found out I’d never had one, and they were one of her favorite things in life. She wanted me to know the joy of experiencing one for myself, so for my birthday, she gave me a gift certificate.

            The lady who did my pedicure was wonderful. I loved her so much that I ended up going to her regularly for a couple of years for manicures, just as a treat for myself. I only left because she moved out of state, and I didn’t trust anyone else. Good things came out of that gift certificate – and leading the list was a sweet friendship with the lady I met that day.

            But I also learned I didn’t like pedicures.

            I just don’t like people messing with my feet. I’m ticklish, for one thing, so I always fear I’m going to kick some unsuspecting soul right in the nose. It would be pure reflex, of course, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less!

            Mostly, though, I’m just self-conscious about my feet. They work, and I’m grateful for it, but they aren’t showpieces. I don’t even like looking at them myself. I definitely don’t like other people looking at them. (I wear socks always unless I’m in the shower.)

            But just because I don’t enjoy having others look at or touch my feet doesn’t mean I shouldn’t give myself a little pedicure pampering at home. I don’t do it nearly as often as I should, but I do enjoy it when I make the time for it.

            Maybe you’re like me and don’t love people looking at your feet. Maybe pedicures are outside the budget. (I haven’t priced them lately, but if I had to pick how to spend my money, pedicures would be low on the list.) Maybe you don’t have time to go to the salon. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get to enjoy a little pampering at home.

            So today I thought I’d tell you how I do my pedicures, and maybe it will inspire you to do something similar for yourself!

SUPPLIES

Pedicure tub (Mine is a dish tub I bought over a decade ago at dollar general or some similar place. It’s the perfect size for two feet.)

Epsom salts (I use about ¼ cup of Epsom Salts for each pedicure, so one bag lasts me a while. I store mine in a glass jar and toss in mostly empty essential oil bottles. The last of the oils soaks into the salts and makes them smell pretty.)

Essential oils (I also add a couple of drops of Lavender, Tea Tree, and Peppermint oil to the hot water and Epsom Salts when I’m ready to do the pedicure. You could skip this step if you’re not an oils person or if you don’t have those on hand)

Beach towel and hand towel (I put the beach towel under the tub to protect the floor from any water that splashes out. It also spreads beyond the tub so I have a place to step when I pull my feet out of the tub. I use the hand towel to thoroughly dry my feet.)

Nail polish remover, nail polish, nail clippers, nail file, pumice stone (I feel like these are self-explanatory.)

Cocoa butter (You could use regular lotion if you prefer. When Ryan worked in physical therapy, he used cocoa butter on his patients if he did manual therapy on them. He really liked it, so we keep some at home now. My feet, when not tended to, get VERY dry, especially in the winter. Cocoa butter is my best defense against painful cracking. It works better for me than lotion.)

 

HOW IT WORKS

Set up the station. I choose my spot, which could be the couch or my desk chair, depending on when I am doing my pedicure, and spread out my beach towel on the floor. I make sure my hand towel, nail polish, clippers, nail file, pumice stone, cocoa butter, and something to apply the cocoa butter with are all handy beside me. I also take off my previous nail polish before I sit down.

Make the soaking bath. I sprinkle ¼ cup of Epsom Salts into the bottom of my dish tub and add water that is just slightly uncomfortably hot. It cools off quickly, so I start a little on the warmer side. I add a couple of drops of each of the essential oils and place the tub on the towel.

Soak. I make sure I soak my feet at least 15 minutes. I would go much longer if the water stayed hotter. (If you have a method for adding hot water to make the adventure last longer, go for it!)

Dry and Treat. After I’m done soaking, I pull my feet out one at a time and dry them off a bit with my hand towel. Then I use the pumice stone on the rough areas, rinsing and retreating as necessary. Then I dry my feet again.

Trim and Polish. After that, I trim my nails, file anything that needs shaped up, and polish my nails.

Apply Cocoa Butter. Once the polish dries, I apply the cocoa butter and put on socks to keep it all protected.

Clean Up. I clean out the tub so it’s ready for next time. The rest is self explanatory, I think.

 

I do keep the pumice stone in the shower, so ideally, I should be able to keep up with smoothing rough places during each shower, and I should apply the cocoa butter every day. In full disclosure, I’m not that great about keeping up with it, so pedicures tend to be fully involved adventures.

I should also add (though I hope you would just know this) that I'm obviously not a pedicure professional, so maybe some of my steps are out of order from how they do things in salon practice. But this has been my routine for several years, and it's been working well. Just sharing a few ideas, because even though I’m not a big “feet” person – my own included – I always love how much better I feel after taking time to do a pedicure at home! Summer’s coming (they say), so I would encourage you to make time, too!