You might be surprised to know that there are many sub-cultures out there devoted to feet. Some people love feet. And I mean love feet. They love feet so much that they caress them, have pictures of them, lick them, suck on them, have s…. well I’ll stop there. It’s something I don’t get. I hate when people touch my feet and I hate touching other people’s feet. Feet are nasty, dirty and smelly.
But I’m starting to think my view of feet may be because I’ve been traumatized by seeing so many bad feet. I’ve seen people with feet looking like they were running in flour. Some people have feet so dry and cracked they look like flaky Haitian Patties. The weather is getting nice, and I see the cute sandals on sale. I’m thinking, “here we go again…bad feet are getting ready to come out”. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Feet can be nice, even sexy. I’m going to do my part to help you bring sexy back to your feet.
Some people use the excuse that they don’t have time or money to get pedicures. But you can have a decent do-it-yourself pedicure for pretty cheap. Last week I talked about toenail and foot fungus. I hope you went out and got your vinegar if you needed it. This week I’m giving some pointers on softening and finishing your feet.
Soak
One of the best things you can do for your feet is a foot soak. Even if you just soak your feet in warm or hot water, your feet will thank you. Not only are you softening the rough skin and callouses on your feet, you’re also soothing and relaxing your feet. It’s a great way to wind down at the end of the day. You can soak while you’re watching a movie or your favorite TV show. Last week I talked about soaking in vinegar for athlete’s foot. You can also use hydrogen peroxide.
To soften your feet you can add some oils to your foot soak. Great oils are peppermint oil and olive oil. You can also add lemon juice to your foot soak for some extra umph. For the most part you can just sit there with your feet in the foot bath for at least 15 minutes. If you want to take it to the next level, massage your feet in the foot bath not only to soothe your feet, but also to allow the oils to penetrate your skin. You can also just get a prepared foot soak and just add it to the water.
Smooth
Once you’re done soaking your feet you should scrub them. You can also do this in the shower if you don’t want to soak. You can use a pumice stone to scrub off the dead skin from your feet. This is your best bet if you have a lot of dead skin to get rid of. You can also use a foot scrub that you’ve made yourself or one you purchase from the store. You can make a foot scrub from salt or brown sugar.
If you have a lot of calloused or tough skin, you’ll probably want to do this every day until your feet have reached the smoothness you desire. You don’t have to do it all in one day. I actually wouldn’t recommend it. Just take a little off ever day until you reach softness. Then you can just do it once a week to maintain the softness.
Soften
Even after you’ve scrubbed a lot of dead skin off, your feet may still be a little rough. To soften your skin you can put a pomade on your feet to penetrate your tough skin. There are many options of pomades you can put on your feet. The cheapest is probably petroleum jelly. You can also use olive oil or vegetable oil. Some people like using a vapor rub such as Vick’s because it has petroleum jelly but also the cooling feeling that soothes feet at the same time. You can also just buy any pre-made foot pomade or rub of your choice.
Once you’ve chosen your foot rub, rub a generous amount onto your feet and make sure you don’t miss any parts of your feet. Don’t be cheap! Really make sure you put enough on. Then put on a pair of cotton socks. You probably want to pick and old pair of socks you don’t really wear as much since it might be a little messy. Your bet bet is to leave the socks on all night. Do this every day for a week. Then do it once a week for maintenance.
Beautify
Once your feet are nice and soft and smooth, it’s time to get creative. If you don’t want to, you can just put some lotion on and call it a day. I’d use lotion that’s especially made for feet, but you can just use body lotion. You just have to pay attention to how your feet respond to whatever you’re using. But if you’re like me, you want to paint those toes some pretty colors. I recommend getting good quality nail polish that won’t chip so that you don’t have to redo it every day.
Most people won’t need to everything I’ve outlined above. You can pick and choose what you want to do. But if you need to do it all, please do for the sake of your community. It doesn’t take that much time. The bottom line is that your feet are arguably the hardest working part of your body. Stop neglecting them. Treat them well and pamper them from time to time. If you take care of them, they’ll take care of you.
Until next time, cheers to a better you.