Pedicure panic: Get your feet ready for the dreaded summer foot reveal

Our feet have been hibernating in trainers and ankle boots all winter (and all spring!) but now it’s sandal time. Are your feet ready? If not, here are my favourite ways to prep for baring all in the pedi department…

(If you’re in any way foot phobic, this might not be the piece for you… Just an FYI.)

When summer rolls around, my feet bear a closer resemblance to hooves than human feet. While, I’ll be honest, I take great pride in having my feet looking good all year round, there still comes a point during winter where I just give up altogether and spend my pedicure fund on hot chocolates and wooly jumpers.

Home happy

There are plenty of people who can’t stand the thought of anyone going near their feet – my mother being one of them – and so home pedicure recommendations are what’s needed. Granted, it’ll probably never beat a human taking a skin scraper to your crustiest bits, but it’ll soften things up for sure.

It’s always handy to have a little nail kit at home for those times when you need to trim, pluck or file any unruly bits. My top tip? To avoid ingrown toenails, clip your nails straight across in a line and gently file the edges. Never clip right into the sidewalls, it’ll end in tears.

Boots Accessories Tool Kit, €13

A product I’ve used and mentioned once or twice before is the Seoulista Beauty foot mask. It’s a 30-minute treatment that softens everything up.

Seoulista Beauty Rosy Toes Instant Pedicure, €9.99

Another product for turning hooves into human feet that I’ve used and like – if only as a temporary solution, a wedding or the like – is Kiss ImPress press-on pedicure fake toenails. Sounds odd but they work and look super professional, especially if they cover any slightly damaged nails.

Kiss imPress Press-on Pedicure, €8.99

Professionally done

I have always opted to have my hooves feet cared for by the pros, not because I can afford it – I can’t, at all – but because I find nothing more enjoyable and indulgent than having a lovely foot massage. So when summer comes, I head down to my favourite pedi place, Mink in Ballsbridge (I go there because of the massage chairs and the impeccable, reliable service) and get a Mink Pedicure.

However, if you’re not someone who generally keeps on top of their feet in terms of pedicures, you might want to go for the hardcore but amazing Medi Pedi. It’s €100 for 75 minutes, and they really go to work. The full name for it is Medical Pedicure, and it helps to relieve the most cracked and calloused skin. It’s a safe way to reduce callouses without the use of any rasps or files – it essentially dissolves hard skin build-up. Your nails get seen to as well, of course. Note: It’s not suitable during pregnancy, so don’t book it for any mammys-to-be.