HEALTH & BEAUTY
From Issue #10
Pamper Your Feet
Chicken Soup For the Soles?
by Hilary Rowland
When you think of pampering yourself do your feet come in a step behind? Many people underestimate or simply forget the importance of taking care of their feet.
Foot maintenance is important all year-round. Luckily, with the wide range of products and home remedies available, foot care is easy. Just follow the steps below and in only 20 minutes a week you’ll have feet you never want to cover up.
Seven Steps for Super Smooth Soles:
Soak: Place your feet in a plastic bowl of warm water with a few drops of chamomile (softening) and lavender (healing) essential oil blended into the water. After 10 minutes of soaking, remove and lightly dry your feet.
- Soften: Apply cuticle softener, wait a minute then gently push back the cuticles using a rubber “hoof” stick or an orangewood stick wrapped in absorbent cotton. Don’t push your cuticles back so far that they reveal the little moon as you may damage the nail bed.
- Smooth: Grab a Pumice Stone or any foot scrubber, soak it in water for a minute, then rub the dead skin off of your soles to make them soft and smooth.
- Pamper: Massage your feet with an exfoliating paste then apply a rich moisturizing cream or oil (don’t forget your toes) to exfoliate, moisturize, relax and help flexibility.
- Prep: If you are going to apply polish, gently wipe all oil or cream residue off the nails, roll up a paper towel and weave it through your toes to separate them.
- Polish: Apply polish from the bottom of the nail s to the tips, starting in the center. Don’t let the polish get on your cuticles or skin as it is extremely drying and will make your cuticles look rough.
- Finish: After applying polish, take a Q-tip dipped in nail polish remover (get the gentlest kind you can find) and remove polish from spots where it doesn’t belong, like the sides of your toes and on your fingers.
Follow this relaxing routine once a week for proper foot maintenance. Every other week you should skip the polish to let your nails breath and to avoid having your nails turn yellow.
Some of our favourite foot helpers are:
Tweezerman’s Pedro Callus Stone $30
Coconut Foot Cream by Burt’s Bees $9
The Body Shop’s Deodorant Lemongrass Foot Soak $16
Essential Oils: available at any health food store.
