How to Get the Perfect Summer Pedicure

Don't hide your toes in the sand. From: lensENVY on Flickr

Hello ladies! With Memorial Day behind us, and June fast approaching, summer is beginning in earnest.  Which means I have to shove my A/C unit back into my bedroom window before my apartment once again turns into a hotbox (NYC-specific, first world problems). It also means that we'll all be wearing a lot of open-toed shoes. For the gathered lady, the perfect pedicure is a must-have summer accessory, and below I've assembled a few tips on how to get it.

1. Take care of those rough soles. Basically, you need to find the thick patches of skin, select the rough surface of your choice and apply friction. Experiment to find which rough surface works best for your feet. I like everything from natural pumice stone to those cheap sand-papery foot files you can pick up at the drugstore. For extreme cases, I’ve heard drywall screens can be very effective, although, you may not want to tell anyone why you have them.Flickr
2. Exfoliate for touch-ably soft feet, top and bottom. I’m not particularly fond of scrubs for my soles, but they can improve the look and feel of the thinner skin on your feet. Concentrate on the tops, arches, ankles and toes to make sure your entire foot is soft and smooth.
3. Moisturize every day (and every night). Feet dry out very quickly. Don’t skip your feet when you’re moisturizing after a shower. At night, slather your feet with Flexitol, followed by a heavy moisturizer and put on socks before you crawl into bed. I sometimes put plastic wrap around my feet before the socks, if I’m getting really serious. Quick tip: If you have carpet, try not to spend too much time running around on it barefoot. The fibers in the carpet do an excellent job of absorbing all of the moisture out of your feet, so invest in a nice pair of slippers for around the house.
4. Take care of your cuticles. The cuticles our toes tend to get neglected, which is unfortunate since they can be the first sign of a pedi in distress. So, the next time you’re lavishly moisturizing your feet, pay special attention to your cuticles. It keeps them soft and supple, which prevents the fraying that can make them so unsightly. If, like me, you aren’t a fan of having your cuticles trimmed, a good cuticle oil is especially important, as well-maintained cuticles look kempt without being cut. If you do trim, I wouldn’t recommend doing it yourself unless you really know what you’re doing. Some things (like wielding sharp cutting implements near your skin) are better left to the professionals.
5. Tweeze those toe hairs! Yes, I went there. It’s OK—many women have to deal with those two random toe hairs sprouting on their big toes. It may not be extremely noticeable, but we are striving for perfection here! Plucking stray hairs takes next to no time and you’ll be grateful the next time you have another person wanting to get up close and personal with your feet.
6. Keep your toenails short. Seriously. I feel like I’m stating the obvious here, but it’s worth emphasizing anyway—no matter how long you like to wear the nails on your fingers (that’s another post entirely), the nails on your toes look best when kept short. Long toenails look like neglected toenails. Even when freshly polished, if your nails are creeping over the end of your toes, it won’t look like you’ve had a fresh pedicure at all.                                                             Pretty Boho Trio by butter LONDON
7. No matter what color you select, choose a quality nail laquer. This doesn’t mean you need to blow $12+ on a single nail color (I'm looking at you, butter LONDON!), but unless you’re swimming regularly, your pedicure should last at least three weeks. If you see chipping much sooner, it’s probably time to try out a new product line. Also, invest in quality base and top coats and never skip these steps. They’ll lengthen your pedicure and the base coat will prevent nail staining. Yellow nails are not cute, and are a definite barrier to wearing sheer, sexy nudes.
8. Maintenance. This is probably the most important step in keeping your pedi perfect all summer long. Regularly buffing (every other day), moisturizing (twice a day), filing and polishing (every 3-4 weeks) are vital. It is very easy for a shiny new pedicure to become unkempt. Think about it, if you walk out of the house without putting any lotion on your feet, they're going to look crusty, even if you had a pedicure the day before. And it doesn’t matter how cute your polish is if your nails are grown out. Trust me, build a little extra time into your routine each day and your feet will always look pretty.