How to get happy feet for summer, plus the latest beauty must-haves
Celebrate naturally pretty feet with an expert pedicure that’ll keep you on your toes
Ever find yourself checking your reflection in a shop window after a new hairdo or unable to stop stroking your face after an amazing facial? I am experiencing this at the moment, but it’s directed towards a part of my body I have never really had any loving feelings towards before – my feet.
I haven’t got a fancy new pair of sandals, and there isn’t a scrap of nail polish on my nails, an occurrence that hasn’t happened since about 1998. Instead, I have just had one of Margaret Dabbs’ famous medical pedicures (£85; Margaret Dabbs clinics nationwide) and the result is what can only be described as baby feet – clean, soft, perfectly smooth and bare nailed.
A Margaret Dabbs medi-pedi combines the pampering elements of a regular salon pedicure with the clinical procedures and professional expertise of a qualified podiatrist. As well as the usual prettifying practices – filing nails, pushing back cuticles, sloughing away rough skin – it also addresses medical concerns such as corns, bunions, ingrown toenails and gait issues, all in one luxurious treatment. It’s done on dry feet, as this is more effective, and uses a surgical knife to remove the build-up of hard skin, something only podiatrists are qualified to do (if someone at your local nail salon comes at your feet with a blade, grab your shoes and run). Any discolouration from constant polish-wearing is efficiently buffed off, leaving behind shiny nude nails. Varnish can be applied at the end but it seems a shame to cover them up when they
look so good naturally. I’d recommend this
MOT for your feet to anyone, however much you may hate your feet (remember, the podiatrist will always have seen something worse). Until my next appointment I’ll be trying to prolong the effects with these top tools and products.
I’ve learned that toenails should always be trimmed in a straight line to avoid them getting painfully ingrown at the corners. This Tweezerman Stainless Steel Toenail Clipper (£6; amazon.co.uk) has straight edges and makes short work of gnarly nails.
Once every last lingering scrap of polish has been removed, look out for any signs of fungal infection (sorry if you are eating breakfast) such as discolouration, thickness or the nail coming away from the toe. This can be treated with Excilor Ultra Nail Fungus Treatment (£29.99; Boots), which needs to be removed and a new coat applied every 24 hours. If you dislike the white finish it gives, this can be painted over with regular nail polish.
The expert-quality Margaret Dabbs Professional Foot File (£24; margaretdabbs. co.uk) is very similar to the one used during the treatment. It has an abrasive pad made of crushed crystals, plus two replacements, to sand down build-ups of hard or rough skin and it has a long, sturdy handle for the less bendy among us. Remember, use on dry feet for best results.
For a skin-smoothing treatment that takes more time but less effort, try SVR
Xérial Foot Peel (£17; lookfantasic.com)
– plastic, Csi-style socks lined with exfoliating ingredients. Wear them for an hour and expect nothing much to happen – at first. Then, about five days later, experience a morbid fascination as the skin peels off your feet (again, my apologies to any foot phobics).
Ameliorate Intensive Foot Treatment
(£15; ameliorate-skincare.com) is a far less dramatic method of softening your feet and combines a rich cream with low levels of lactic acid to gently smooth the skin.
If sore, cracked heels are your main concern, nothing beats Flexitol Heel Balm
(£5.69; Boots). Rich in the moisture-locking ingredient urea, it has a thick, glycerine-like feel that will soothe and repair painfully dry feet. Perfume entrepreneur Jo Malone swears by it before holidays, while the former Made In Chelsea star Millie Mackintosh also applies it to any dry areas of the body before fake tanning.
If this all sounds rather clinical and you yearn for a slightly more spa-like experience, try The Body Shop Peppermint Reviving Pumice Foot Scrub (£7.50; thebodyshop.com) followed by Soaper Duper Pure Peppermint Foot Cream (£7.50; Boots). Both have a zingy, minty scent that will pep up tired feet and leave toes tingly fresh.