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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if you remember the days when we didn't have to get our feet summer ready

235 replies

RevokeRemainpastcaringreally · 12/05/2019 16:13

It got warm, we slipped on our Jesus sandals (sometimes with our tights on) and greeted summer.
Maybe we'd paint our toe nails but there was no pressure to file away at our feet, put on some heel cream, buy a Footner.
We weren't shamed by our yellowing heels - they were just part of our wonderful feet that performed the miraculous feat (😊) of carrying us around decade after decade.

OP posts:
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5
manicmij · 14/05/2019 19:29

Wasn't a reasonable part of last summer good, at least if you didn't miss it whilst holidaying abroad. Never bothered about feet and still don't. Slap some varnish on fir first outing and that's it for the season . Just include in the moisturising after a shower. Can also remember when no one wore eyeliner all year, never mind the summer.

expatinspain · 14/05/2019 19:37

My mum and my gran both used pumice (spelling?) stones, so it’s clearly not a recent thing.

I file my feet and put cream on them, because if you don’t and walk around in flip flops or sandals in hot weather, your feet get dry and cracked. I don’t see the issue.

chandylier · 14/05/2019 20:21

I didn’t do anything to my feet until I was about 35, they were perfectly fine.
Now if I leave them more than a month they are revolting

Vivianebrezilletbrooks · 14/05/2019 20:54

Summer ready what? I'm not summer ready anything, I'm definitely not a summer person.

I've never done anything with my feet!

Yet another money making ploy by the fashion and beauty industries I guess.

I wear boots during the summer and on occasion heels but with tights.

I don't like sandals anymore. I don't see the point in buying shoes you'll only wear for a few days a year.

SoyDora · 14/05/2019 20:58

A few days a year? I wear mine from around May to September!

KittyB52 · 14/05/2019 21:31

I hate touching my feet or having them touched, and have a bad back, fibromyalgia, plantar fasciitis, and am overweight and unfit. This winning combo means my feet are somewhat neglected and the small amount of nail trimming I do feels like a workout session. Grin

I am currently torn between wanting to get my feet sorted by a podiatrist and then having my aching feet massaged, and recoiling at the thought of them being touched. I might just ‘treat’ myself to rolling my feet with a frozen water bottle. Such fun. Hmm

TigerTooth · 14/05/2019 21:53

Oh, I do so LOVE a pedicure😊

FelicisNox · 14/05/2019 21:54

I give myself regular pedicures, not simply for vanity but because we SHOULD look after our feet.

I could explain it but really it should be self explanatory (and I'm feeling lazy).

VioletCharlotte · 14/05/2019 21:57

One of the best tips I got from MN was to use a Newton sponge to get dead skin off feet. They're brilliant and only cost a couple of quid.

Beautga · 14/05/2019 22:12

Mine are summer ready part of summer love my red nail varnish

To ask if you remember the days when we didn't have to get our feet summer ready
MitziK · 14/05/2019 22:21

DP's great - I mentioned that I was having trouble affording a pedicure (can't afford a podiatrist either since our trust stopped funding them), but couldn't do them myself due to hip/back/neck pain from arthritis and crap eyesight, and he immediately said he'd do it. I now get something as good as a salon pedicure, complete with nail painting, once a month - or more if I ask for it. I didn't have bad feet to begin with, but it was a huge improvement in how they felt.

It took a while to convince him that men need similar, as he's got quite severe psoriasis affecting his feet, was embarrassed by them and his parents made him keep them covered up all the time/never did anything beyond telling him to cut his nails before he wore holes in his socks, but after a couple of foot massages through his socks where I could feel and hear the crispy skin catching on the fabric, he was suddenly far more enthusiastic about the idea, even though he was still a bit shy about it.

He still has some dryness and nail issues, but they look a million times better - and it always entertains me to hear the little 'oooffing' sounds he makes when I'm massing the really aching bits.

Ravenesque · 14/05/2019 23:31

I don't really look at other people's feet. I guess I'd notice utter monster feet but other than that it's up to people to do what they want with their feet. I'm a bit in love with my feet so my toe.nails are mostly polished and I scrape and buff and whatnot them every week. I hate the feeling of hard skin but I'm totally precious about that sort of thing, feet, hands, elbows, I can't bear them not to be smooth. As I've got older I've got more precious or the feeling of roughness irritates my skin more. I don't like wearing synthetic fibres either. Basically I'm a povo princess off of the princess and the pea.

HPLikecraft · 15/05/2019 00:18

What? We “have to get our feet summer ready” do we? (According to the title of this thread. Sod that.
Never done anything like it in my life, and I don’t have hard skin, fungus, bunions or whatever.

The only thing I do is shave my big toes occasionally.

Alicemtaylor2000 · 15/05/2019 03:04

It’s just plain good manners to look after your feet male or female - nobody wants to see manky feet

Complainingagain · 15/05/2019 06:33

I just use nail varnish, nothing else 🤷

sanityisamyth · 15/05/2019 06:42

I'm 36 and never had a pedicure. Is this bad?!

shiveringtimber · 15/05/2019 07:23

Ooh, yes! Had my first pedicure of the season yesterday with DD. Bliss. I love being pampered.

I never had to do anything more for my feet than cut my toenails until I turned 40 and then the decline began. Dry skin, calluses, cracked heels... I don't mind; having pedicures is a treat I look forward to.

greengoose · 15/05/2019 07:30

Hmm. Summer ready feet in my family means when you’ve gone bare foot enough to toughen the soles for running over gravel on the beach without screaming. Are we doing it all wrong??

LakieLady · 15/05/2019 07:36

My heels get cracked and painful if I don't take care of them, so I give them a quick going over with a foot file every morning and moisturise.

In the summer, I have a monthly pedicure as well.

stucknoue · 15/05/2019 07:40

Many people don't do any of that! Ok I had a pedicure 2 weeks ago, but it's my luxury.

ginghamtablecloths · 15/05/2019 10:17

Yes, I didn't then and I don't now. A bit of a rub with a pumice stone is quite sufficient. But then I can't bear sandals.

However, I know two women who paint their toe-nails elaborately but who bite their fingernails very badly. Could this be to divert attention?

Alsohuman · 15/05/2019 10:22

It’s probably because they can’t get their toes in their mouths.

toomuchtooold · 15/05/2019 10:52

Well, thanks to this thread (and my curiosity and subsequent morbid fascination with what a foot peel involved) I'm now sitting with my feet encased in two plastic bags full of what smells like isopropanol. I just want to see what happens to be honest.

Lovely13 · 15/05/2019 20:42

I’ve just done a home pedicure. Feet are thanking me. Feel lighter in foot. They do such hard work, they deserve a bit of care. Also, cracked heels can be an easy route for infection, happened to relative. Ended up in hospital with cellulitis.

Popc0rn · 16/05/2019 00:51

My feet are probably the most groomed part of me Grin. I spend a lot of time on my feet and they often ache, so taking care of them is more to do with keeping them feeling good rather than looking good. I'm not allowed to wear nail polish on my hands for work, so I make the most of being able to paint my toes. Never had a professional pedicure, seems so expensive for something I can do myself!