Pedicures are an absolute scam?

[purrrge]

I've suffered from cracked heels for all my adult life, previously no amount of creams etc would solve it. I used to go for pedicures, wherein my feet would be soaked in water for a length of time, and then depending on the place filed, scrubbed or even razored to remove hard skin. I assumed this was how you were supposed to solve this problem, short of seeing a podiatrist, and duly trotted off every few months to have one of these pedicures. Each time apologising for my dry feet.

This year, at the grand old age of 42 and thanks to an informative thread on here I finally discovered that in fact you should be filing your feet DRY. £6 glass foot file later, and my feet are sorted and better condition than at any point in my adult life.

Why are we forking out £60 in some areas for spa pedicures, which make the condition of your feet worse rather than better and in some cases cause actual damage to the skin.

I'm not debating that nicely polished and tended for toe nails are worth the money, and generally a third party professional seems to get a much better result than I can manage. So a file and polish is not a scam.

Sigh. Loved Italy. I'd live there again in a heartbeat.

https://myfootner.co.uk/about-footner/

Heard lots of good stuff about this!

I'm sorry but I can't believe you didn't know to file your feet dry. Yes as pp have said, pedicures are a beauty treatment. See a chiropodist for anything else.

My chiropodist does a medical pedicure which combines the two.

Beauty therapists are not medically trained. If you have very dry skin on your heels you should see a foot health practitioner or podiatrist who can treat the callus and advise which cream you need to use.

Have to say, after several years of fantastic, thorough pedicures while living in the US, where feet were treated not just superficially tidied up, I find pedicures in the UK to be a waste of time and money. Sounds like Italy is sim8lar to the US.

A monthly visit to the chiropodist or podiatrist is better value, and I paint my own toe nails.

How have they made them worse?

Make sure you drink plenty of water. Being well hydrated is the cure. Not filing. Lotions & potions! The filing can help get rid of what's there. but hydrate to stop it happening again

I have ticklish feet and don’t enjoy pedicures and also they’re so expensive! I know people that get them monthly..

Hear, hear.

I love a pedicure and any filing has always been on dry feet. The overuse of ‘scam’ is starting to get very irritating.

Can also recommend the £1 foot peel packets you can buy in Savers. Make sure it's the foot peel boots rather than just the moisturising one.
They do make the skin peel off your feet after about 7-10 days and probably takes another two weeks in total for all of the skin to peel off- so plan around holidays/ big occasions. But I've found they make a big difference to my feet and definitely recommend them.

I use a microplane foot file on dry feet, then CCS foot cream every night. Works great

A lot of people on here have posted on other threads about soaking feet then filing or using a file in the shower

Imagine going into the nail salon and there’s a thick layer of foot skin dust on everything and everyone, as well as the air being thick with it.

Pedicures are worthwhile in my experience (not that I ever get them - but they do look nicer than doing it myself). Manicures with regular polish aren't.

I’ve got a glass file, they’re brilliant.

They aren’t a scam, they are a beauty treatment. They are for making your toes look nice and your skin feel soft.

They sure as shit aren’t healthcare. If you were under the misapprehension it was for the health of your feet, that’s on you.

For cracked heels, an aloe Vera plant is your friend. Cut off a centimetre, split, swipe over your heels and place cut bit in the fridge for tomorrow. It takes a few days to go through a bit of aloe and then you cut a bit more.

It can sort out your heels wonderfully though it may take a few weeks. Don’t use aloe if you are sensitive to salicylates.

You need CCS cream in your life. I saw it was recommended on here so gave it a go and it is the BEST cracked heel cream!

Some years ago I decided to use up all the small hand creams that come in little gift boxes on my feet. Instead of the night, I put a quick dollop on my feet in the mornings, socks on and off I went about my day. Pretty soon I had lovely feet, the dry, scaly heels had disappeared. Very simple. For me it is much easier to maintain than trying to do it at night as my feet get very hot in socks under the duvet.

I agree about the european foot care. So much superior for what you get here. Beauty ones are useless apart from a nice polish and the dry filing at the podiatrist’s is an awful sensation 😬.

Not so long ago there was a thread here by an Italian who had had her first foot treatment here in the UK. I’m pretty sure it was a podiatrist visit. She was aghast . Not surprisingly got pasting from everyone (who clearly had never had the European experience).

The soaks probably make the process a lot nicer for the person doing it.

Just looking for a glass foot file on Amazon and looked at the Scholl one and they recommend soaking feet first….. although I do think doing it dry is better.

A pedicure is a beauty treatment to paint your nails and massage your legs. If you want dry skin and cracked heels sorted, see a chiropodist or a podiatrist. Totally different.

I used a footpeel every few months, works really well although feet do look a bit gross while the peel is happening for a couple of weeks.