PRETTY PEDICURES FOR PRINCESS TOES!

Pedicures are a treat to pretty up and pamper your feet. A pedicure is a cosmetic treatment of the feet and toenails, similar to a manicure for the hands and fingernails. Pedicures are done for cosmetic, therapeutic and medical purposes and can help prevent nail diseases and nail disorders. They are popular throughout the world, especially among women.

Pedicures include care not only for toenails, but also for the feet, and skin care is often provided up to the knee, including granular exfoliation, moisturizing and massage.

Pedicure and polish your toenails to pleasing perfection!

Pedicure Fun Fact: The word ‘pedicure’ is derived from the Latin words “pedis”, which means “of the foot”, and “cura”, which means “care.” People have been pedicuring their nails for more than 4,000 years. In Southern Babylonia, noblemen used solid gold tools to give themselves manicures and pedicures. The use of fingernail polish can be traced back even further.

Originating in China in 3000 BC, nail color indicated one’s social status, according to a Ming Dynasty manuscript; royal fingernails were painted red and black. Ancient Egyptians have been manicuring all the way back to 2300 BC.

Let’s get matching pedicures…paint your toenails fancy with me!

How to Give Yourself a Do It Yourself (DIY) Pedicure:

1. Buff your feet when dry, not wet, and use a foot file on the heels, balls of the feet and the edges of the toes.
2. Fill a large bowl with warm water and a reviving foot soak solution. Soak the feet for approximately 10 minutes.
3. Massage your feet with a foot scrub to get rid of dead skin, then rinse.
4. Dry your feet and push back the cuticles of your toes with a Qtip or cuticle cream.
5. Cut, file and shape your toenails to your desired length and shape.
6. Massage your clean feet with a rich foot lotion.
7. If you wish to paint your toenails, wipe away any excess foot lotion and apply a clear base coat of nail polish to your toes.
8. Polish the nails with the color(s) of your choice. Add jewels, stones, etc. if preferable.
9. Apply a top coat of clear nail polish to add shine and shimmer to your toenails, and to prevent the nail polish from chipping.

Wahlah! Fancy, fabulous, fashionable feet. Ah, what a treat!

Tools and Nail Cosmetics Needed for a Successful Pedicure:

1. Acetone
2. Cotton Balls
3. Cuticle Cream
4. Cuticle Pusher
5. Foot Bath
6. Lotion
7. Nail File
8. Nail Polish
9. Toenail Clippers
10. Toe Spacers
11. Towels
12. Pumice Stone
13. Pedicure Spa
14. Paper Towels
15. Polish Base Coat
16. Cuticle Cream
17. Cuticle Remover
18. Nail Polish
19. Nail Dryer
20. Nail Polish Remover
21. Decals, Stones, Gems, Decorations

Pretty pedicures for princess toes!

Pedicure in the spa salon in the garden

Popular Types of Pedicures:

1. Regular Pedicure: Foot soaking, foot scrubbing, nail clipping, etc.
2. Spa Pedicure: Paraffin dip, masks, mud or seaweed treatment.
3. Paraffin Pedicure: Parrafin wax.
4. Stone Pedicure: A foot massage with essential oils.
5. French Pedicure: White polish on the nail tips with a sheer pink color on the base.
6. Chocolate Pedicure: Chocolate foot soak, chocolate foot mask, chocolate moisturizing lotions.
7. Margarita Pedicure: Salt scrub, soaking water with fresh limes, a lime based massage oil, moisturizer (and sipping margaritas if preferred)!

So many types of pedicures…only ten toes. Should I paint each nail the same color, or mix and match in shoes where my fashionable toes show?

Pedicures are pretty! The pedicure industry began to grow in 2000. There were approximately 50,000 nail salons located throughout the United States at that time; today there are approximately 2000,000 nail salons in the U.S.

Pedicure Fun Fact: Pedicures take 45 minutes to an hour or so to complete. Not too much time for an outcome that gives you stunning, fun, pleasing, festive feet! Sweet!

“Would you like to spend a girls’ day out getting a manicure and pedicure?”

“That sounds simply divine and will ramp up my mood for sure.”

“I think I’ll get matching decals placed on my left and right big toe.”

“Flowers or rhinestones or beads would look lovely and put on a fabulous show.”

“I’ll paint my toenails and fingernails raven red and make the decals white.”

“Ah, your toes will look magnificent. A fashionable and lovely sight!”

Pedicures: Paint your toes up right!

Nancy’s next book in her award winning murder mystery series, Deadly Decisions – A Natalie North Novel, available now in online and retail bookstores.

Nancy Mangano is an American fashion journalist and author of the Natalie North murder mystery book series, A Passion for Prying and Murder Can Be Messy. Visit Nancy on her author website http://www.nancymangano.com, Twitter @https://twitter.com/nancymangano, her fashion magazine Strutting in Style! at http://www.struttinginstyle.com, and her Facebook fan page Nancy Mangano https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nancy-Mangano/362187023895846