Giving yourself a pedicure at home can be a great way to relax and indulge in some self-care. Instead of adding a salon pedicure appointment to your already-packed schedule, why not give yourself a DIY pedicure on your own time? With the right at home pedicure tools, you’ll get salon-quality results from the convenience of your own home.
Pedicure essentials
In order to get the best at home pedicure, you need the best pedicure tools. Of course, if you have issues like thick nails, ingrown toenails, fungus, or delamination, there are special tools for those—there are even special tools that are diabetic-safe!—but for now, let’s start with the basics. Your individual needs will dictate which tools you choose, so let’s consider some of the more common needs you’ll want your tools to take care of.
Clipping
First, you’ll need a solid toenail clipper. Cheap clippers crush the edge of your nail before they cut it, which isn’t great for nail health. A high-carbon stainless steel clipper gives you a clean cut with no crushing, it can last you a lifetime, and it’ll stay sharp for much longer than an inexpensive one.
Toenails are typically thicker than fingernails, which is why you need a special toenail clipper—make sure you choose a large clipper that opens wide enough to fit your toenails (if your toenails are very thick, you may need a nipper instead).
Filing
The next thing to add to your home pedicure kit is a nail file. A crystal glass file is much better than an emery board—those cheap emery boards need to be replaced constantly (not so cheap, over a lifetime), and they shred your nails, leaving you with ragged edges that snag and peel. Glass nail files, on the other hand, smooth and seal the edge of each nail—and they never wear out! After a few months of using a glass file, you’ll be amazed at the difference in the health of your nails.
While it’s fine to use a fingernail file on your toes (though it’s best to have dedicated pedicure tools that are separate from your manicure tools in order to avoid cross-contamination), another option is a waffle file, which is designed especially for toenails. It’s longer than a fingernail file, which means less bending and reaching. One side is etched with a finer texture designed for filing, while the other side has a slightly rougher texture that’s perfect for callous removal.
If you have stubborn callouses and/or cracked heels, you might need something a little more heavy-duty: a pedicure bar. Made of 5mm thick glass, it’s breakage-resistant and designed for getting rid of stubborn callouses without damaging the living tissue underneath and around them. For this to work as well as possible, you’ll want to soak your feet for a few minutes beforehand. If callouses are especially persistent, it may take more than one session. To stay on top of those difficult callouses and cracked heels, we recommend keeping a pedicure bar in the shower and using it every few days, then applying a moisturizing foot cream before bed. There are even special foot “masks” that you can leave on overnight for your softest feet ever.
Cuticle care
Just like fingernails, toenails also have cuticles which need to be pushed back. For this, you can use a glass cuticle stick or a metal cuticle pusher, just like you would for your fingernails (remember to keep a separate one for your toenails). One end of a glass cuticle stick is flat and the other is pointed, and both are etched with a rough texture that will never wear out. You can use the flat end to push cuticles back, and the pointed end to get into tiny, hard-to-reach corners. You can also use a metal cuticle pusher for this, if you prefer.
If you keep up a steady habit of pushing back your toenail cuticles, you won’t have to trim them. But if they’re overgrown, it’s best to trim them off with a combination scissor—the curved blade will help you trim them in one even cut with no jagged edges, which can be prone to infection.
Best at home pedicure kits
Compiling all the at home pedicure tools you’ll need can be overwhelming. To take the stress out of it, here are two of the best home pedicure kits you can buy.
This four-piece kit takes care of all your cuticle care and filing needs—all you have to do is add a clipper. It includes a pedicure bar for getting rid of callouses and cracked heels, a cuticle stick for pushing back cuticles and cleaning out hard-to-reach corners, and two kinds of files: a crystal glass file and a moon file, which makes filing your nails a breeze. Simply fit your nail into the groove on the concave edge and sweep it back and forth—all the shaping is done for you!
This deluxe set has everything your toenails could possibly need (and some things for your fingernails, too). In addition to fingernail and toenail clippers, it also contains a metal cuticle pusher, a crystal glass nail file, and a sturdy set of nail nippers that can handle very thick toenails. It also includes a bonus tweezer!
Whether you go with one of these kits or build your own set, the right tools will make at home pedicures your new favorite self-care ritual.
