Talk to me about pedicures (total beginner)

[bibbidybobbidyboo]

After years and years of battling with fungal nails, my feet are cured! Which means I'm looking forward to my first pretty sandal summer in a really long time. Once salons reopen I want to treat myself to a pedicure, but after years of being ashamed of my feet, the idea of having a beautician examine them up close is making me nervous. How much prep are you expected to do before a pedicure? Should I give my feet a pumice beforehand? What exactly do they do? (Other than paint your nails obviously).

Any tips whatsoever much appreciated, I know nothing.

Well, my pedicurist usually soaks my feet in a hot water bath, then uses a scrub/pumice to remove any hard skin, removes cuticles and files nails and lastly paints the nails. Also uses a nice moisturiser on feet and ankles.

You don’t need to do anything beforehand - just go with clean feet and flip flops - but if you have lots of hard skin you might get more out of the pedicure if you start using a good moisturiser and something like Newton’s chiropody sponge now. There’s a limit to how much improvement you can see in a single pedicure so if you can do some of the work now it would help.

Okay great!! This is exactly the kind of intel I was looking for, thank you!

Do you get gel nails done or just standard nail varnish?

You’re welcome! Also I should say you can get ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ pedicures - ie with/without soaking in a foot bath.

Here’s a link on the difference, and actually Treatwell is a good source of info about different treatments www.treatwell.co.uk/treatment-files/dry-vs-wet-pedicure-is-a-no-water-pedi-the-way-to-go/

I usually get gel as on my toes it lasts a good few weeks as the nails grow so slowly. So I can go a month between gel pedicures and there’s not much regrowth.

Also if you have lots of dry skin you should check out the footner socks!

Definitely go for a gel pedicure. It should last about five-six weeks before you need another one, and it stays perfect looking so well worth the extra money.

I personally almost always go for a lovely dark red - I think that’s the most classic and always goes with everything I wear. But that’s very personal and you might want something entirely different.

I just make sure my feet are clean, that my nails aren’t long, and that’s about it. Agreed, if you’ve got really thick, hardened skin you could do some intensive therapy with a good cream over the next few weeks.

I get my feet soaked, some kind of prep put on it that clears away dead skin etc, then she buffs it up all over and finally gives me a massage with lovely creams and oils. Sigh, I miss getting my nails done. 😔

Great tips thank you! Do you have a cream you recommend?

www.boots.com/health-pharmacy/medicines-treatments/footcare/hard-skin-removal/scholl-cracked-heel-repair-cream-active-repair-k-60ml-10056071

This one is very good. I used it some years back when I’d neglected my feet and they were in quite a bad state. I also bought one for my mum when she visited from Africa (you can imagine how dry her feet were...) and it did wonders for her too.