Get Your Feet Summer Ready!

Today we're talking feet, yes I can hear the groans and grumbles from over here. But you'll be thanking me when your feet look smooth and sandal ready. I normally like to do the routine I'm going to talk you through once or twice a week all year round, yes it's a chore, yes it gives me no enjoyment in the slightest however I've found by using effective products I can cut the time spent scrubbing/papering and still have pretty feet (well as pretty as it's getting!)

First things first, you don't need a special foot cream or foot scrub. Have body butter? I thought so. Have a body scrub? Yup you do, so there's no excuse not to start your foot care routine today. If you invest in anything make it your foot file. Throughout the years I've tried a variety of foot files, wooden, metal grater style files and I've even ventured into pumice stones. Nothing beats a good old wooden file, cheap, cheerful and just gets the job done. The one I use is by The Body Shop I generally get 6-7 months use out of both sides before it gets a little worn down.

So, take your foot file of choice and…well you know the rest. Remember to pay particular attention to heels and the balls of your feet to ensure they're extra smooth afterwards. Remember to work the file in one direction at all times, you can actually cause damage to skin if you use the file in different directions (similar to nail files!) Once you've well and truly filed the crap out of those tootsies you'll need a scrub. You can use a body scrub (as I mention above) or you can buy a scrub specifically designed for feet. The best I've tried has to be this one from The Body Shop. The Peppermint Pumice scrub is super cooling, clings to the feet so you can really scrub the product in and it's super abrasive. If you skip the foot file stage and just use this scrub you'll still notice the biggest difference as it always leaves my feet super soft. I've repurchased this countless times as quite honestly it does everything I'd ever want in a foot scrub (and more.)

After all that scrubbing it's time to put the moisture back, for this step I use The Body Shop Honey & Beeswax Hand & Foot butter (sensing a theme here TBS do good foot stuff.) My oh my where has this been my whole life, this is the perfect 'keep it by your bedside' product, in the pot this looks super rich and even on application I did worry things would get greasy but this melts into the skin, and doesn't leave a slippy/greasy feeling on the hands or feet. I can see this pot lasting for a long time time as you literally need a tiny amount per use. I will however say I'm not a fan of the glass packaging. I've often caught my finger (ouch) it just feels bulky and unnecessary.

So you think it's over, not quite. Like those hands a full on pedi means sorting your nails too (sorry guys.) Start with nail clippers, I like to keep mine short and neat as bright summery polishes apply nicer. Next file, yes…like your nails you're going to want some sort of shape.

After you've achieved your desired shape you'll want to apply some sort of cuticle remover, I use the Sally Hansen one as it just gets the job done. On application this tingles slightly, but it does a really good job of loosening the skin around your cuticle, making the dreaded pushy back stage a tiny bit more bearable. When opting for a cuticle pusher go for wooden as they generally do less damage. As you can see I've not followed my own advice here.

Finish up with a clear polish, and go in with a bright pop of colour. For toenails I think the brighter the better when it comes to polish!

How do you get your feet summer ready? Favourite foot products?