Spa spy Save our soles

When your feet need more than nail polish, sign up for a Medical Pedicure

The treatment

A Medical Pedicure at the new Margaret Dabbs London in Glasgow, 45 minutes for £85, or £130 with director/principal podiatrist.

Why go?

If your feet are in need of some care that goes beyond a quick paint job. This therapy, a classic from “queen of feet” Margaret Dabbs, straddles the line between aesthetic pedicure and something more intense (ie they’ll deal with hard skin, corns and other minor concerns).

Our spy says

I want to apologise to this clinic’s podiatrist, Clark, about the state of my feet. There’s so much hard skin on my heels that I could probably walk on glass and not feel it, one of my nails boasts an infection picked up from a skanky youth hostel in San Francisco (I wish I’d got a better souvenir) and I am the owner of what turns out to be a corn. At least so far I have been spared verrucas, bunions and ingrown toenails. Small mercies.

However, he reassures me that he’s seen it all before, and worse, so I brace myself and tear off my sweaty socks.

Pulling on a pair of plastic gloves, he examines my tootsies in one of this smart salon’s treatment rooms – all white and chic, though with a reassuring whiff of antiseptic.

First off is the removal of years worth of overgrown cuticle, to prettify these Hobbity beasts. This isn’t too uncomfortable and, once it’s done, my nails are buffed with the edge of an industrial looking drill until they’re as shiny as wet pebbles.

Next, he neatly cuts the nails into a square shape and expertly grates off the dead skin on my heels using their fancy Crystal Nail File (£12). The corn, caused by pressure at the front of my foot, is removed with a scalpel, like picking the eye out of a potato.

Finally, my feet are moisturised with a scoop of this brand’s Intensive Treatment Foot Oil (£22), made from emu oil.

I make a joke about how many emus were pulped to create this product, thinking there must be an emu plant or something, but it turns out this is a by-product from their meat and extracted from the birds’ feathers. Doh.

I’m done, and regaled with some foot care advice and product recommendations (you can buy them upstairs). If you want your nails painted as an additional finish, add on an extra £15 for 15 minutes and choose from their range of very wearable and lovely shades.

The results

My feet are as smooth as silk, with shiny and neat nails. I almost wish it was sandal weather, so I didn’t have to swaddle them in socks and boots. n Margaret Dabbs London, 13 Bothwell Street, Glasgow (0141-221 1155, www. margaretdabbs.co.uk)