How To Get Pretty Summer Feet

Isn't the weather absolutely glorious? Are you summer ready? I have seriously neglected my feet and even if we are in the first week August it's never too late to get those feet ready for bare feet season. If I am being completely honest I have always been incredibly envious of women with lovely feet. As they walk by with their super smooth, french tipped toenails I am trying to hide my chipped and dry feet. So it's time to get my feet summer ready and make them smooth, soft and beautiful thanks to a selection of great products on the market.

For those feet that need a little care pop them in for a soak with a few drops of tea tree oil grab a book or catch up on one of your favourites on Netflix. Then rub you feet with a clean, soft towel and make sure that you don't overlook the spaces between your toes, where dirt and dry skin can linger. For anything troublesome that goes beyond the odd bit of hard skin or unloved cuticles, head to for a professional pedicure. Your feet will feel revitalised and fresh in no time. Treat yourself to a soak a couple of times a week to keep them nourished and super soft during the summer months. 

Now is the time to get into the habit of exfoliating your feet. As my feet are super dry and can crack a daily foot file is an essential in my everyday routine. The best thing for this in my personal opinion is to remove any hard or dry bits off skin by using a hard skin remover before your bath or shower. The Body Shop Vitamin C Glow Revealing Liquid Peel is a great alternative to traditional face scrubs. It is more gentle as it doesn’t contain any abrasive particles or enzymes. It gently peels away dull and tired skin to unveil healthy looking and happily glowing skin. If it does amazing things for my face, surely it can do the same for my feet. Honestly, it did feel odd at first but the peel left my feet feeling super smooth and smelling amazing. I have been using this as a hard skin remover for just over a year and won't use anything else. 

Once my feet are dry I also like to use an electronic pedicure file which works wonders on my dry heels feet. If you aim to buff your feet twice a month to help prevent the hard skin building up, you won’t have to panic come next summer. A generous dollop of foot Intensive Foot Balm which has a proprietary blend of eight moisturising extracts, exfoliating acids and a deodorising ingredient to transform feet. It’s particularly effective on cracked heels.

It’s a lovely light, non-greasy formula that absorbs really quickly. It has a lovely herbal scent but in no way overpowering and a little certainly goes a long way. My feet are so dry and a little cracked and I have been using this just over month and it's made a difference. I love using this balm at night and pop my socks over them, by morning they are so smooth and soft. 

For the day I have been enjoying using this Nourishing Daily Therapy which contains a blend of rejuvenating coconut, olus and tamanu oils, that hydrates, soothes, and protect the skin against infection. You apply a light mist all over your feet making sure you pay attention to your heels and dry areas, then you simply massage into the skin. Even though it is a lightweight oil I did find that it took a little longer to absorb into my skin than the foot balm. 

Your toes need cuticle work, too. So a good conditioning nail treatment is something that you should do with your toenails. This Nail Treatment contains sodium thiosulphate to help combat hardness, antimicrobial Dermosoft® decalact again to enhance appearance, and a blend of castor, grapeseed and sunflower oil to condition and improve brittleness. A healthy nail bed is the key to healthy, happy nails that feel strong and look great. If you have wider feet, or are fond of rather narrow shoes, invest in one of these slightly strange-looking jelly toe separators. Pop them in for twenty minutes every evening to relieve the pressure between your toes. The treatment is designed to soften hard, thick or brittle nails, reduce thickness and make them easier to cut, strengthen them and help prevent ingrowing toenails. However, even though my nails are pretty healthy anyway I don't think I will be able to tell you the benefits of the nail treatments on unhealthy toenails. However, if you're anything like me you like to add a bright red or hot pink polish to their toenails during the summer. My favourite shades are Opi Nail Lacquer in Hotter Than You Pink, or this Flock You Duo from Nail Inc.  

I have been using this little routine for my feet for a little while and I will have to say that it has made a dramatic impact on the look of my feet. My two favourite products by far and the ones that I wouldn't be without now are The Body Shop's Vitimin C Glow Liquid Peel and the Dr Ander's Intensive Foot Balm. 

When it comes to finding great products for my feet it has been a bit of a trial and error but seeing as most of these products have been created and designed by a podiatrist, it makes complete sense as they know a bit about feet. Dr Judith Anders is a podiatrist of over 20 years standing and has spent her working life being fascinated and inspired by how incredible our feet are and how they function. Our feet work so hard for us every day, but foot problems are common and not all feet are perfect. Dr Anders has set up an online community, Feel Your Feet, aimed at sharing stories to raise awareness of foot health and reduce preventable foot problems and #feelyourfeet. I never realised the utmost importance of looking after your feet, but now I shall be making sure that changes.