Perhaps the salons where you live are closed or you are still feeling too shy about walking into a salon and expressing your need for a feminine pedicure.
Let’s go through the steps to a DIY pedicure and why the health of your feet is so important.
Clip And Shape Toenails
When clipping your toenails, keep in mind what is a healthy length versus the length that you desire.
Keep your toenails at a length that makes you happy though never too short. That can sometimes feel like a tricky balance. When your toenails are too long you risk rubbing holes in your hose against the insides of your shoes.
This fear of ruined hose often leads girls to make the common mistake of cutting their toenails too short. It is better to cut your toenails more regularly than too short. Ideally, nails should be cut every second week to a length that leaves just a little bit of white at the tip and cut them straight across.
During the summer you can grow your toenails longer so that you can flaunt your cute nail polish during sandals season.
As I mentioned, cut your toenails straight across, then file them for any contouring/shaping.
When shaping your nails the golden rule is to only file in one direction. Seesawing back and forth can cause cracks in the natural nail. These cracks can cause the types of snags that ruin your hose or, worse, painfully crack up into the fleshy part of your nail.
Soak Your Feet In A Nice Warm Foot Basin
Your foot basin can be anything that is deep enough to hold water while your feet are inside. It can be something as simple as a deep plastic washbowl that you have around the house. Just remember not to fill it too full or it will overflow when you put your feet in and make a mess.
One thing that I have done plenty of times in the past is to sit on the edge of the bath and soak my feet in the bathtub. Whatever I use as a basin, I always add some Epsom salt as helps to relax the muscles in my feet and ankles.
This is the most relaxing step of the whole process. So use the opportunity and allow yourself to just chill while your feet soak, soften up, and relax.
Push Back And Clean Your Cuticles
Your toenail cuticles deserve at least the same care and attention as your fingernails, potentially even more so. Our cuticles are extremely delicate and without the proper care, they can be the starting point of fungal infections, especially within the closed space of our shoes.
Buff Your Toenails Smooth
In the same way, as you do for a manicure, you should buff your toenails smooth. I will give them a new luster and also make painting the nails more consistent.
Don’t buff them so extensively that you thin out and weaken your nail. Just enough to gain smooth consistency and shine.
Use A Pumice Stone To Smooth And Remove Dry/Dead Skin Off The Bottom Of Your Feet
If left unchecked, a build-up of dry/dead skin can be your feet’ worst enemy. It can alter the way your feet look and feel.
Pumice stones and scrubs are a vitally important part of your foot care routine. A pumice stone removes dry and dead skin, while also softening any calluses or corns that you may have on your feet, relieving you of future foot pain.
Dry Your Feet Before You Moisturize
Having well-moisturized feet is a heavenly feeling. Lightly pat your feet dry with a towel before using moisturizer. You want the skin on your feet to be just slightly damp and supple to absorb your moisturizer but not dripping wet.
Now You Can Finally Polish Your Toes
Before you grab your favorite polish and start painting there is one tiny step you need to do to help your polish last longer.
Use a paper towel to clean any oil, lotion, or other residues off the nail plate of each nail. Polish will grab any oil on your nail plate, and it may chip off much easier. Some pedicure guides suggest wiping the nail plate off with alcohol to remove any excess oils. I used to do that but stopped when I noticed my toenails starting to get brittle.
Once your nail plates are thoroughly dry you can apply your base coat of polish. This important step will help your polish last longer.
You may be tempted to use bright colors that make your painted toes really stand out. If you are new to doing a DIY pedicure this might not be your best choice to start with. When you use bright/striking colors any mistakes or uneven paintwork will be highly visible.
As a newbie, your best bet will be to choose a forgiving natural or sheer shade that is not so easily visible. That way any mistakes you make will be less visible. Painting your nails with perfectly even paintwork takes practice and the only way to get good at it is to paint your toes often. Don’t be hard on yourself when you make mistakes as it is the way you learn how to paint your toes well.
The best way to get a professional-looking finish is to paint starting at the top of the nail and gently glide the brush, first down one side of the nail bed getting as close as possible, but without actually touching, the cuticle line. Then do the same on the other side of the nail.
Once you have done the two sides, fill in the middle of the nail. Finish off by taking an under-saturated polish brush and paint the paint-free edge of your nail. This is so that you can seal the exposed edge of your toenail. You only need a tiny amount of paint to do this and if your brush has too much polish it can easily drip down onto your toes. This last part helps prevent polish chipping off as your toes touch the inside of your shoes.
The shade of your nail polish will change as you add more layers. So continue to add layers till you have the shade of polish that you want.
Once you have painted on enough coats of nail polish to get the shade you desire, you can finish with a top coat to protect the color against scratches and chipping.
I remember as a teenager during summertime I never used to add a topcoat to my toenail color. I loved experimenting with different colors to see what would work for me. I would use the first tiny chip of nail polish as an excuse to clean that color off and start again with a different color. That would be nearly every day while on family holidays during summer because walking barefoot on beach sand is really abrasive on toenail polish.
Let Your Toenails Dry Thoroughly To Prevent Smudges
The last thing you want is to smudge your new handiwork by being too impatient. The typical drying time for nail polish is 15 to 20 minutes. However, remember that the more coats of polish you’ve applied, the longer you should wait to dry. The dry time starts when you have finished your final layer of polish.
More than once I’ve sat with a hair dryer on my toes trying to get my nail polish to dry faster.
Wear Comfortable Shoes To Maintain Your DIY Pedicure
Once your nail polish is dry, give your feet and toenails some after-care while moving around the house. Keep a nice pair of fuzzy socks and/or slippers handy.
Painted toes are the perfect excuse to wear sandals when heading out. An alternative to sandals for a casual look around the house or pool is a pair of beach thongs. There is less chance of chipping your nail polish and it allows you to show off your DIY feminine handiwork.
Now that you know all about how to give yourself a pedicure and paint your toenails, be sure to check out my post on how to clean the nail polish off your toenails when you want to repaint them in the same, or a new color. It includes a clever hack that makes it possible to clean polish off your toenails without ruining the polish on your fingernails.
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