Pretty Feet

Apparently since I wear heels a lot, I'm sort of an expert at feet. I've gotten quite a few emails asking me how I take care of my feet! Isn't that funny? I've replied to a couple, but decided to dedicate an entire blog post to taking care of the tootsies.

You might not think about them, unless they hurt, but your feet are super important!  They carry you around all day, put up with whatever shoes you wear, bear your weight across sand, grass or whatever and get very little love.  You need to take care of them!  Even in the winter, when they're encased in boots they need a little TLC.

During the spring and summer, weather permitting, I usually wear open toe shoes or slingbacks.  There's nothing worse than someone who has nasty chipped up nail polish in open toe shoes or gross cracked heels in slingbacks.  Ick.  If you're going to wear pretty shoes, have pretty feet!

Back in the day, when I made money, I would splurge on bi-monthly pedicures.  I loves me a good pedicure, but you don't have to spend a ton of money to have nice feet.

A wonderful, relaxing thing to do is soak your feet!  Ah, this is heavenly!  You don't need a fancy bubbly, massaging foot bath (though this is nice!), just a bowl or tub large enough to hold your feet and a few inches of water will work.  If you have a really large mixing bowl that will even work in a pinch.  Fill it with warm (not hot) water and toss in a handful of (grandmother recommended) Epsom Salt.  You can buy a HUGE box of Epsom salt for just a few dollars and it lasts forever.  Sometimes Indy will take a bath and instead of a bedtime story, I'll read to him while he's in the bath and pop my feet in his is warm bath water.  This is a win/win!  He gets a chapter or two from the book we're reading and I get a nice soak.  Sometimes (bless him) he'll even rub my feet while I read!  I am a lucky mom.  During the summer when you're hot and cranky, soaking your feet in a tub of cool water will make you feel better.  Your feet will thank you.

By far the most important things your feet need after a long day is rest and moisture.  Moisture, moisture, moisture!  The best tip for soft feet I ever learned came from my grandmother.  We have all kinds of creams and gels and scrubs now for feet, but grandmother's already knew what they were doing, and cheaply!  Want to know my favorite tip?  Of course you do or you wouldn't have read this far.  It's Vaseline or just petroleum jelly.  Uh, huh.  Those weird little yellowish jars with the blue lid hold the secret to pretty feet. 
My grandmother used to slather it on her feet every night and put on a pair of cotton socks before going to bed.  She did the same for her hands, with a pair of cotton gloves.  I can't do the gloves, but I remember my grandmother had the softest smoothest hands of any woman I've ever known.

If you've read my blog for a while, you know I can't sleep in socks.  I've mentioned it on more than one occasion.  I seriously feel like I'm suffocating if I wear socks to bed.  Isn't that weird?  Even in the dead of winter, when my feet are, according to James Bond, wicked little icicles that he can feel cold radiating from across the bed, I can't sleep in socks.  I do however care about my feet, so 2-3 times a week, I will slather my feet up really well with Vaseline and pull on a pair of cotton socks.  At some point during the night though, I take them off.  I don't know how or when I do it, but in the morning my socks are on the floor.  It's okay though because the Vaseline has soaked in and my feet are smooth and soft.  It is important to (gently) file off any rough skin you might have, but if you use the Vaseline, you won't have very much.  I've also found that the Vaseline left on my hands can be rubbed in really well and won't be greasy, giving me the added bonus of soft hands (no cotton gloves needed).  This has nothing to do with feet, but in the winter Vaseline is also wonderful to rub on your lips before you go to bed (before rubbing your feet of course).

During the winter I usually take a break from nail polish, but in the spring and summer, it's a must!  A good polish should last about 3-4 days and then you need to redo it.  I usually do 2 coats of color.  It doesn't take much time, but it's well worth the effort.  I hate seeing scraped up chipping nail polish.  If you can't keep it neat, don't wear it at all!

If you do this all winter, come spring, when our feet are ready to burst out of their sassy boots, you will have open toe/sling back ready skin and sexy toes you won't mind showing off.