DIY Pedicure Tips

Ah, sandal season is here. It's time to get your feet looking pretty and polished. When I feel like pampering myself I leave it to the pros at my local nail salon, but visits to the salon are sometimes few and far between when work, school, and other activities keep me busy. If you have a jam packed schedule to, not to worry, with these quick steps you can get your feet smooth and primped in no time.

Step 1. Fill a tub/basin with warm water and add Earth Therapeutics Tea Tree Oil Foot soak to the water.  Infused with natural herbs this dead sea salt soak refreshes and cleans your feel to prepare them for the pedicure.

Step 2. Soften rough spots with a scrub. Try True Blue Spa Walnut Shell Foot Scrub by Bath and Body Works. Walnut shells smooth rough spots and leave feet soft and fresh while eucalyptus oil deodorizes.

Step 3. Attack callouses with a pumice stone. Wet an Earth Therapeutics Natural Pumice stone with a little water and body wash. In a side to side motion buff callouses on the heel and ball of your feet.

Step 4. Clip and file. Use stainless steel tools and carefully trim and file nails straight across. Trimming straight across with help avoid any ingrown nails which can become painful and problematic. Smooth the edges of the nails with a glass file. Ones to try, Tweezerman Nail Clippers and Revlon Beauty Crystal Nail File.

Step 5. Moisturize and Massage your tootsies in a circular motion. Knead your arches with the knuckle of your index finger. Move all the way up to your ankles and even calves.  Try, Burt's Bees Coconut Foot Creme. It contains coconut, olive oil, glycerin and extracts of rosemary leaf oil. It will help tame scaly skin and leave soft extra conditioned and sandal ready.

Step 6. Use a non acetone nail polish remover to swipe off any creme from the tops of your nails. Apply a basecoat to your nails. This will help fill in any ridges and give the polish something to adhere to.  Once the basecoat is dry apply two coats of polish for better coverage. Swipe the brush in a downward motion over the nail in the middle and on the sides. Once both coats are dry apply a topcoat to help seal in polish.  You can also apply a little cuticle oil around the edges of nails to help prevent smudges. 

Enjoy your pretty tootsies and get ready for the compliments.

Some fun shades to try...

OPI Holland Collection

Wayward lipsticks, cream shadows and concealers, we have a place for you

Just last weekend I was rooting around in my makeup drawers trying to decide what to toss and what to keep. I came across some great lip shades that I purchased a couple of months ago and had stored for safe keeping. The problem is that my safe keeping sometimes means I never find it again. Enter the solution to my problems, the Japonesque 14 well Pro Palette. Ta Da... I found this goody by a recommendation from a makeup artist in the UK. What a perfect way to place all my wayward lip glosses and lipsticks for safe keeping. I can arrange by color, look or type. This way if I travel I can grab this and have way more colors than I can haul individually. You can also use this to store cream eyeshadows, concealer and more. The possibilities are endless.

Japonesque 14 well Pro Palette dermstore.com $31.00

Dior Addict Ultra Gloss

Shiny, long lasting, luminous and non tacky. These are a few descriptors for my new favorite lip gloss. Though Dior gloss has been around for a while I finally was able to try it myself. I was pleasantly surprised by it's coverage and non tacky wear. There is nothing worse than getting your hair stuck in your gloss when the wind blows, no thank you. These beauties are not inexpensive as they run $28.00 each but they are nice quality glosses and will probably become a staple in your make up kit. I picked up two colors that work great with different looks. Beige tweed which works very well with peach, copper and gold, eye colors, like the Naked palette from Urban Decay and Pretty Rose which I use when I am doing a smokey grey eye or a purple shadow look. You can even use a touch of concealer to cancel out the color on your lips before you apply the pretty rose color when you are sporting nude lips. This will allow only the gloss shade to come through.

Pretty Rose-pale pink 452

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beige Tweed-pink beige shimmer 227