At-home Mini Mani’s and Pedi’s

So you had your manicure and pedicure last week, but your hands and feet are already feeling dry and rough. How do you combat that without having to go multiple times a week and breaking the bank? Why not try supplementing your professional mani/pedi with regular mini mani’s and pedi’s at home?!

I love the way my hands and feet feel after having a professional work on them. But, I can’t afford the time or money to do it more often. So how did I fix that problem? I started giving myself mini-mani’s and pedi’s at home. It doesn’t take much. But if you do it right, your hands and feet (and wallet) will love you for it!

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • Paraffin treatment. This can be used for either hands or feet (or both). You can either use a hot paraffin wax treatment with the tub that you can buy in the store for about $25. But I personally use a cold praffin treatment. It’s effective, it doesn’t burn, and it there’s no risk of spilling the paraffin. Not sure about you, but I don’t want to have to replace my carpet 😉
  • Hand scrub. This is an important step. Most people use either the paraffin OR the hand scrub, but I suggest using both. The paraffin treatment softens the calluses, so the hands crub can then get off all the extra dead skin. It also helps your hands feel and look younger. Ever exfoliate your face? Same concept here.
  • Cuticle treatment : Very important if your cuticles are dry and cracked like mine, or if you just want them to look nice. You’ll want to make sure to use one that has essential oils in it. This means more moisture, but also makes it easier for the treatment to soak into the cuticles.
  • Hand creme. If you don’t follow up with a good hand creme, you’ll end up feeling dry again. One with Alpha Hydroxy can help keep your hands looking young.
  • Manicure gloves. You’ll want to infuse all that moisture you just applied to your hands, so make sure you don’t skip this step. The best way to prepare the gloves is to put them in a quart-sized or bigget baggie with a moist washcloth. Then pop them in the microwave until they’re hot. Each microwave is different, in mine it takes about 30 seconds. The first time, keep watching them and test them every 20 seconds until they’re warm enough. Don’t want to burn down the kitchen, that makes for a REALLY bad day.
  • Enzyme foot spray. After soaking my feet, my pedicurist uses a special spray that she lets sit for about 10 minutes before she starts working on my feet. When I inquired what it was, she simply said “enzyme spray”. If you’re like me and didn’t know what that is, here’s the skinny: basically, the enzymes soften the calluses and dry skin, making it easier to scrub off. It’s hard to find, but here’s a link to one that’s really effective.
  • Foot scrub. You’ll want to make sure you use a pumice or something similar with the foot scrub to get the calluses off. You can use your hands, but I assure you that your hands with wear down before your feet do. If your hand are already soft, you could possibly hurt them with the foot scrub, not good. Make sure you use enough of the foot scrub to make it effective, too little and there won’t be enough salt (or sugar) on your feet to make it worth it.
  • Foot salve/balm. Important for the same reason as the hand creme, and this will help soften whatever calluses and dry skin you can’t get off in one sitting. I use one with Arnica in it, soothes sore feet and make it feel like you’ve had the best foot massage (almost!).
  • Pedicure booties. You can prepare them the same way as the manicure gloves. You’ll want to add one more step though. Before you put them on, you’ll want to put on a gallon-sized plastic baggie on each foot. I know it sounds strange, but trust me, you’ll love the way your feet feel ater your done.

Hope this helps for those “in-between” times when you can’t get to the salon. If you want to find out how to get a pair of manicure gloves or pedicure booties free, let me know!

Christine

Please follow and like us:

Leave a Reply to louis vuitton Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I accept that my given data and my IP address is sent to a server in the USA only for the purpose of spam prevention through the Akismet program.More information on Akismet and GDPR.

2 thoughts on “At-home Mini Mani’s and Pedi’s”