The happiest girls always have the prettiest nails – Tammy Taylor
Every woman dreams of pretty hands and feet. And, why shouldn’t we, for our hands and feet be spotted quite often? There are two groups of women though.
Group one always looks like they just stepped out of a nail salon, and group two, who are unable to remove even a worn-off nail paint. Nothing can be unimpressive like chipped nails, dry hands, or cracked feet.
On the other side, clean hands and feet, even with simple coats of nail paint, can raise internal positiveness beyond the outer look. It is an indication of self-love.
The skin on our hands and feet is exposed to sun rays, dirt, pollution as much as our facial skin, and so, it demands attention equivalently.
As we saw in our Super Simple Skincare Routine article, how we can maintain a bright and healthy complexion with little effort here and there, similar results can be achieved, at home, for hands and feet if you don’t want to spend a fortune at the salons.
(P.S.- I am not a skincare expert. I’ve been following these tips for the last year and the outcomes are wonderful. You can talk to your skincare consultant before following these steps.)
Super Easy Manicure-Pedicure Tips for Beautiful Hands & Feet
To follow these steps you’ll have to get your pedicure essential tool kit ready. You can buy one or individualize using helpful items such as:
- Face Cloths
- Scrub/exfoliator
- Brightening pack
- Pumice stone
- Nail Brush
- Orange stick
- Nail trimmer
- Nail filer
- Cuticle pusher
- Cuticle oil/cream
- Basecoat
- Nail Paints
- Topcoat
- Body butter/lotion
Super Easy Manicure-Pedicure Tips for Beautiful Hands & Feet
Prep up
Remove previously applied nail polish, if any. Trim the nails as per the length and file them into the shape of your choice. There are some general nail-shapes like round, oval, square, almond, squoval and then there are also trendy ones like a stiletto, coffin, pointe shoe nails, etc., Here’s a detailed article from cosmopolitan.com about Your Definitive Guide to Every Type of Nail Shape
Image by Iva Balk from Pixabay
Soak
Lay a medium size towel on the floor. Place a bowl filled with warm water on it (the bowl should be large enough to place your hands/feet). Put some shower gel into the water and soak your hands or feet (in case of a pedicure) in it for a good 5-10 minutes.
As a natural variant – add 1/4 cup of milk and some rose petals to the water to prepare a foot soak. This will be a great cuticle softener and will moisturize dry skin.
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Scrub
For the manicure, apply the body scrub to both the arms and massage them using light pressure.
Use a body scrub to exfoliate legs and feet and a pumice stone for the foot sole. A pumice stone works best if lathered up with a moisturizing gel/soap for rubbing the hardened areas of skin in a circular motion. Be gentle and do not rub vigorously or you’ll make the skin sore.
Lightly scrub finger/toenails with a nailbrush. Dip the hands/feet in water to wash the scrub off. This is the right time to clean underneath the nails with an orange stick. Push the cuticles back and pat dry your arms/feet.
Image by Rune Enstad on Unsplash
Apply a pack
Apply an anti-tanning pack, a regular mud pack, a brightening pack, or a moisturizing one according to the skin type and season, all over the arms and feet for 10-12 minutes. And wash it off with clean water.
Massage
This is a very important step in the process. Massage a generous amount of nourishing cream into the skin. Massaging stimulates blood circulation which gives the skin a healthy glow.
Now, if you have extra time here, I’ll strongly suggest wrapping your arms/feet in a food wrapper film (cling film) for 5-10 minutes. This will help the nourishing cream to seal moisture in the outer layer of the skin making it soft and supple.
Image by Anastasiia Ostapovych on Unsplash
Nail Enamel
The final and best part is the nail polish application. Wipe off the nails of any oil from the massage cream. Apply a base coat and let it dry first. Next, apply two-three thin coats of nail polish in short breaks (2-3 minutes), allowing each layer to dry out well to avoid smudging.
Once dry, apply the topcoat for the nail polish to last longer. Dip the nails in ice water for a couple of minutes to speed up the drying process. You can learn nail art designs online if you love trendy nails.
Image by  www.picjumbo.com from Pixabay
Final Words
These manicure-pedicure steps should be followed once a month. In between, wax or shave for a neat appearance.
A face cloth with a little shower gel can be used for daily exfoliation. Change the nail paint weekly for a fresh and well-maintained look. On the flip side, make sure to give your nails a break from polish to give them some time to breathe. Nightly, using a rich moisturizer, almond, or coconut oil will be beneficial for deeper nourishment. Wear socks overnight for soft feet the following morning.
The hard work you go through during this process will be worthwhile when you see a rise in your confidence and when it looks beautiful.
Let me know in the comments section if I missed something. Are there any tips we can add to these manicure-pedicure steps? Thank you so much for reading
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