Home Pedicure for Pretty Feet

It's almost that time again, ladies. Spring will be upon us momentarily and we need to get our feet sandal pretty once again.

With an unstable, unpredictable economy upon us we need to cut corners and save where we can. Many of us cannot afford that trip to the nail salon for a $25 pedicure. If you take your time, you can give yourself a home pedicure and get the same results. You may spend $20 or $30 purchasing all the ingredients for your home pedicure (or less if you're a die-hard 'on-sale' queen like me), but they will last you at least 7 months. $30 for seven months of pedicure treatments is cheap when you add up $25 (minimum) per salon visit every two or three weeks. Do the math.

Here's my step-by-step home pedicure treatment.

Air plus Foot Crème Sugar Scrub Twin Pack $9.99 at Target

HealthiFeet Foot Cream $9.99 at Target for Diabetics

Exfoliating foot scrub for $1.99 at Wal-mart
Cuticle stick - $.99 at Sally's Beauty Supply or Wal-mart

Mr. Pumice extra coarse pumi-bar $2.00 at Sally's Beauty Supply

Bar of Ivory Soap or Regular bar of soap - Wal-mart

Nail brush - $.99 at Wal-mart

Peppermint oil at your local herbal life store

Lavender Oil for $11.99 through Amazon.com

Vitamin E oil - for $6.99 (medium size bottle) at Walgreen or Wal-mart ($2.99)

Air plus for Her Aloe-Infused Socks 3-pr. $14.99 at Target or one pair for $2.99 at K-mart or Wal-mart.

Remove all polish.

Apply cuticle remover or softener to your cuticles. Wait a few minutes then push your cuticles back. Don't push then too far back, just a little.

Fill a foot basin (or use a foot spa if you have one) with very warm water and a few drops of chamomile or lavender essential oil and soak your feet for about 20-30 minutes.

Remove your feet and pat dry.

Massage foot exfoliate onto your feet and take your pumice stone and scrub in a circular motion for 2 minutes on each foot. Rinse and feel the bottom of your feet to see if they're soft. If you still feel rough spot, keep scrubbing.

Once feet are smooth return to water and wash thoroughly with bar of soap and give nails a good scrub with your nail brush.

Change water and add fresh warm water. Soak and give a good once over to make sure your skin is soft. Add a drop of essential oil and soak for 10 minutes. Remove your feet and dry.

If you're like me and nervous about clipping your own toenails, skip the nail clipping and let the salon do it. I get them to clip mine for $4.00 and I don't have to worry about ingrown toenails. If you've ever had one, you know how extremely painful they can be.

I massage foot lotion along with Vitamin E oil onto my feet really heavy and then slip on my Air plus infused socks and relax with a glass of Merlot or a cup of chamomile tea and call it a night.

The next day, my feet are smooth with a healthy shiny glow. After Performing my own French manicure which costs a total of $4.97 ($1.99 for the white paint, $.99 for the strips and $1.99 for the clear coat nail polish) and adding a little cuticle oil for that glossy look, my feet are ready for my Gold Strappy Rhinestone Sandals with 3-inch heels ($26.99 on sale).

If I soft scrub my feet every two days after my pedicure, I won't need another pedicure for two - three weeks.

Happy pedicures to each and all!