As we apply varied beauty treatments for the restoration and enhancement of the beauty of our face, we often forget to meet the treatment to one of the most essential parts of our body, our feet. After days of exhaustion and non-stop slogs, your precious very much deserve some pamper and soothing touch for their care and protection. For all the prim and pampering, pedicure is indeed the best beauty and health treatments for the feet.
Pedicure not only does the task of making your feet good, but also does some of the most important functions, which are otherwise forgotten by us. These are cutting and trimming of your toenails, cleansing the dirt accumulated beneath the nails, smoothing and nice massaging of the skin around the feet. Isn’t all that essential to keep your feet strong, healthy and most importantly happy!
What is a pedicure?
A pedicure is essentially a beauty treatment meant for the beauty restoration of your feet. Feet which often slog for the office and domestic chores day in and out for days and months undergo damages like skin wrinkling, accumulation of dirt under the toenails, cracking and chipping of the nails. This beauty treatment is essentially given for proper grooming, relaxing and soothing of the feet. The procedure and the benefits are the same as availed in the manicure for the hands. Although, the clinics have today come with huge variety in the pedicure, the basic procedure for most of them remains the same. The basic steps included in the procedure are thorough cleaning of the feet, filing and shaping of the toenails, a good massage and scrub and finally applying the nail paint to the toenails.
Kinds of pedicure
Regular pedicure
The best pedicure among the crowd of newly invented pedicures is undoubtedly the regular pedicure. The procedure follows a straightforward approach towards grooming the feet. The first step is the normal soaking of the feet in lukewarm water filled with mild soap and moisturizer. The pedicurist, removes the feet one by one and scrubs each one of them with a pumice stone to remove the accumulated dirt. The movement of the pumice stone back and forth essentially removes the layer of dead skin around the feet. He cleans and dries the feet and next, clips, cuts and files the toenails into shape. A moisturizing cream is applied to massage the legs and feet. At last, nail paint is applied to the toenails.
Stone pedicure
Stone pedicure is the premiere choice for those who want to relieve muscle sores, pains and aches in the feet, especially the calves and ankle. The additional procedure in this process is the rubbing of the feet, especially the painful areas with hot stones. Rubbing of the stones essentially loosens up the skin tissues and muscles. The rest of the procedure of scrubbing and moisturizing is the same as followed in the regular pedicure.
Spa pedicure
Spa pedicure, as the name suggests, is an upgraded form of regular pedicure. The additional steps involved in the procedure are paraffin wax, salt scrub, mud mask and deep cleansing. In details, the feet are immersed into paraffin wax for 15 minutes and allowed to cool before being peeled off. A mud mask, similar in components used for the face is applied over the smoothened out skin after wax. The mask essentially smoothens out the skin and removes accumulation of dirt. Salt scrub is used for the effective exfoliation of the skin.
French pedicure
The French pedicure is basically similar to the regular pedicure, but yields excellent results when completed. The only difference, in fact, lies in the last step when the nail paint is applied on the toenails. The basic coat of light pink or nude shaded nail paint is first applied on the nails. Then at the tip, strip of white nail paint is applied.
Salt pedicure
The pedicure is carried out by the scrub of at least 20 – 30 pieces of salted rocks found in the river bed. The pedicure basically employs the means of salt and rock to scrub the skin, instead of an exfoliating or scrubbing cream. In the first step, as usual, the feet are soaked into warm water for 15-20 minutes. The feet and legs are then cleaned with salted rocks for the removal of accumulated dirt.
Fish pedicure
Last but not the least is the fish pedicure which is gaining immense popularity day by day for its miraculous effects. In the procedure, tiny fishes are used to nibble away the accumulation of dirt and dead skin cells from your precious feet. The pedicure is known for its amazing feel good factor. As per doctors, fish pedicure has been found to bring about excellent relief from medical conditions like eczema and psoriasis.
Benefits of pedicure
- The health benefits are simply much more than what appears as a mere beauty treatment.
- The procedure is a potent means of exfoliation which essentially helps getting rid of the dead skin cells without causing any harm to the skin.
- The gentle massage with stones, especially the pumice stone, relieves tension in the muscles and reduces adamant muscle pain around the calves and ankles .
- The procedure further improves blood circulation which essentially keeps away most of damages and medical conditions away.
- Foot massaging certain areas may send the signals to the rest of the body and may consequently relieve the subsequent muscle tensions. This action further helps in bettering the health of the overall body.
- In many pedicures, the relieving effect may be simply more than just physical. As per experts, many scents and perfumes used in the process proves beneficial for rectifying circulation problems, improves the mood and enhances memory. For example, the scent of vanilla relaxes the nerves, the smell of sugar literally excites the body and the scent of lime when sniffed invigorates the brain.
Keeping in mind all the above benefits, it should now not really hurt to spend some extra money to bear pretty toes and a healthy body.
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