It’s Friday night and your plans have been canceled—you don’t mind though, because it’s been a long and stressful week. The whole evening stretches before you, full of possibilities, and you finally have some you time to spend however you want. It’s time to recharge and take care of yourself. What better way to do that than to make it a spa night, including a long, luxurious, at home pedicure?
If you’ve only ever gotten salon pedicures, you might be wondering how to do a pedicure at home. It’s easier than you may think—and at home pedicure steps can include personalized routines that are tailored to your specific needs. You can spend as long as you want on each step, and you can even make it a couples activity—taking care of your partner’s feet, and letting them take care of yours, can be a satisfying way to build intimacy in a relationship.
So turn on the bath, add your favorite bath salts, and get out your pedicure kit; at home pedicures are about to become one of your new favorite self-care rituals.
Pedicure steps at home
Now that the bathtub is full, it’s up to you whether you want to take a whole bath or just soak your feet (though starting with a hot bath is one thing that makes a DIY pedicure at home even better than a salon pedicure). Light some candles, play some relaxing music, pour a glass or mug of your favorite Friday night beverage, and set the mood—make it a total sensory experience.
Callous maintenance
Once your feet have been soaking for a bit, use some nail polish remover and cotton balls to remove any polish on your toenails—that’s much easier to do after your toes have soaked in hot water. A good hot water soak also makes it a lot easier to take care of any callouses, rough spots, or cracked heels, so now is the perfect time to do that. A waffle file is the perfect tool for this because it’s a bit longer than a regular glass nail file and therefore requires less bending and reaching. Waffle files also have a finer, nail-filing texture on one side and a rougher, callous-smoothing texture on the other, so it’s perfect for pedicures. Or if you have especially stubborn callouses, a pedicure bar might be the better tool. If that’s the case, we recommend keeping a pedicure bar in the shower so you can work on callouses frequently—consistency is key.
Toenail trimming
After you get out of the tub and you’re all dried off, it’s time to trim your toenails. If you like to use a clipper, that’s fine, but nippers or scissors can also be a good option if you have trouble reaching—nippers and scissors can both reach an extra few inches, and for many, that makes all the difference. So if you find yourself straining to use toenail clippers, consider a good pair of combination scissors. That way, you can also use them to trim overgrown cuticles, if that’s something you need to do. Or if your toenails are particularly thick, nippers may be your perfect solution.
Filing
Now that your toenails are trimmed, it’s time to file them. Make sure to use a crystal glass nail file—emery boards will shred your nails, leaving them ragged and prone to peeling and infection. Glass nail files, on the other hand, actually seal the edges of your nails, which keeps them much healthier in the long term. We recommend having separate files for your fingers and toes in order to avoid cross contamination. You can even use a moon file for this—just fit your nail into the groove along the concave edge of the file and sweep it back and forth across your nail like a bow across the strings of a cello. The curved file will create an effortlessly perfect nail shape with slightly rounded corners. Whatever kind of glass file you choose, use it to smooth out any pointy or jagged edges.
Cuticle care
Just like fingernails, toenails have cuticles that need to be pushed back so as not to interfere with a neat polish job. If you’re using a glass cuticle stick, use the flat end to push cuticles back toward your foot and the pointed end to neaten hard-to-reach corners.
Although trimming your cuticles isn’t generally recommended, if your cuticles are very overgrown, you may need to trim them after you push them back. A combination scissor is the best tool for this job—the curved blade makes it easy to trim close to the curved nail bed without the jagged little snips you’d get from a cuticle nipper. Once your cuticles are pushed back and trimmed (only if absolutely necessary), put a little cuticle oil on each toe to keep them from getting dry and cracked.
Massage
The best part of any salon pedicure is the foot and calf massage, and just because you’re giving yourself a diy pedicure at home, that doesn’t mean you have to forego it. If you’re making it a spa night with your partner, this is the time to give their feet and legs some love. If you do theirs first, they’ll learn from your example how to do yours. There are lots of foot massage guides online, but you can keep it simple and start by warming up a generous amount of moisturizing body lotion between your palms, then rub your thumbs up and down the top of the foot. On the sole of the foot, use both thumbs to make circular motions that run in opposite directions on the arch, just under the ball of the foot. Make sure to use firm pressure—touching too softly can tickle! Cup the heel in one hand while you use the other to massage the ankle, getting into the Achilles tendon and working your way up the calf. Take your time, adding more lotion as needed.
And if you’re doing this solo, you’ve got this! Sitting on the edge of your bed or couch, cross one ankle over the opposite knee and follow these same steps. You can give yourself just as luxurious a foot massage as anyone else could—better, in fact, since you know exactly what feels good and how long to spend on each part.
Polish
This part is, of course, optional. But if you want to finish off your at home pedicure with a polish job, take a hot washcloth and wipe the cuticle oil and body lotion off your toes (you can leave it on the rest of your feet and legs). Put spacers in between your toes (a long strip of toilet paper woven in between your toes actually works great for this) and carefully apply base coat, then polish, then top coat. Pro tip: dip the pointed end of your glass cuticle stick in nail polish remover and use it to clean up any polish mistakes.
And that’s it! You’re finished! You’re free to spend the rest of the evening relaxing and admiring your at home pedicure, or maybe now you’re so relaxed you’re ready to fall into bed. Now that you know how to do pedicure at home, it’s sure to become an indispensable part of your self-care routine.
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