Get gorgeous feet at home
There’s something satisfying about walking out of a salon after a pedicure with smooth feet and perfectly painted toes. We asked nail artist Jenna Lynch for tips on getting fabulous feet at home.
1. Skip the soak
At home, Jenna recommends a dry pedicure. “It’s so much better for your skin as soaking can actually make
your skin drier.” She recommends a pumice stone or DIY scrub made with Epsom salt and olive oil, used in the shower to
keep heels super-soft.
DIY Epsom salt scrub
Manicare Pumice Stone,
$7.99
Sephora Collection 4-Step
Buffer, $10
5. Throw some shade
Paint on 3-4 coats of thin polish, using 2-3 strokes per coat. “Start with the brush a few millimetres away from the cuticle and once you have made contact with your nail, lightly push downward to fill the gap before stroking up toward the nail edge,” says Jenna. “This avoids flooding the cuticle with polish and it leaking everywhere.” Once colour and top coat are dry, finish with nourishing cuticle oil.
2. Sort your kit
For best results, you’ll need nail clippers, a nail file (“Use a 180 or 240 grit file for shaping the nail,” advises Jenna), a cuticle pusher or orange stick, cotton pads, acetone (to remove old polish and tidy up mess), Q-tips (to tidy up edges), a nail buffer and cuticle oil, as well as your base coat and polish.
3. Shape & buff
Once polish is removed, Jenna recommends a soft square shape (known as squoval). “Aim to shape the free edge parallel to your cuticle, then round out the edges
to soften the look and prevent them catching on things,” she says. To give polish longevity, lightly buff the nail to remove the shine. “This is what creates texture for the polish to stick to,”
explains Jenna.
4. Make it stick
Gently push skin back from the nail and try
a cuticle remover
(“I love the one from O.P.I,” says Jenna), which quickly and painlessly removes any dead skin. Then apply a base coat, which creates a barrier
between your nail’s natural oils and polish.