DIY manicure & pedicure

[wishingiwaslucky47]

Hi there,

My feet and hands are in need of TLC, my cuticle on my feet (especially my feet) and my hard are terrible, my feet and hands are dry, the skin around my finger nails is sore because they are so dry and I keep picking them (yuk).

I’m Wanting my hands and feet to be in good condition for when I go on holiday in July so I can get a manicure and pedicure, but I’m just wondering if anyone has any advice on how to give yourself a DIY manicure and pedicure?

Well I would say I'm the last person to give advice, and hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be along soon but until they do ...

L'Occitane foot cream is amazing and will get the gnarliest of feet soft in a week or two if used twice a day.

My hands are rubbish too (so would also be interested in tips that aren't too laborious) but a friend told me that if you slap on nail varnish at night, when you have a shower in the morning you can pick off the bits that have gone on the skin. And it works. It makes you look like you know what you are doing!

I would suggest plenty of hand cream, use gloves when washing up, cleaning etc, use a nail oil daily and stop picking. Good luck

Shape nails, soak hands, push back cuticles with an orange stick, clip any hangnails with nippers (or you can use the edge of a nail clipper in a pinch), apply hand cream, remove cream from nails with nail brush/soap/water (or you can use nv remover if you prefer), apply base coat, two coats colour and fast-drying top coat.

For feet, add a going-over with something abrasive (eg pedicure paddle, pumice) over any hard bits after the soaking stage.

I'd do the feet up to the creaming stage and then do the hands up to that stage, then remove cream and varnish toes fully before removing cream from and applying varnish to fingernails (if you do fingernails first you'll mess them up doing toes iyswim). Have some sandals ready and either put them on and varnish toes in sandals (put a bit of kitchen towel underneath toes to keep sandals varnish-free) or leave enough time for toes to dry before putting sandals on.

Make sure you varnish at least an hour before bed unless you have a really good quick topcoat. I find the Barry M one to be excellent and very cheap.

Stop picking, I find slathering on hand cream on both feet and hands before bed and popping socks on both hands and feet and sleeping with them on really helps, and then gently push your cuticles back every few days, don't do a huge amount all at once and don't ever ever trim them, I like to use a metal hoof stick to scrape (blunt end) all the scurf off your nail and the rounded end to much back the cuticle. www.amazon.co.uk/Prestige-Professional-Manicure-ended-Stainless/dp/B00X2ZIUIY/ref=lp_2909218031_1_21_s_it?s=beauty&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1525298408&sr=1-21

F

Anyone tried heel stripping? I saw an advert for it at local salon but never tried it. Heel cream doesn’t seem to make much of a difference for me.