I know other parts of the country are still in the throes of winter but just in case you think you might get a chance to wear sandals soon, I thought I would throw together a few tips to get your feet and toes looking pedi perfect!

Step 1–File Dry Skin

My favorite way to do an at home pedi is to start with dry feet, place a towel under your feet to catch the mess, and gently file away dry skin. This is my favorite foot file. It’s super cheap so you can replace it often, which is great unless you are diligent about cleaning and sanitizing your foot files on a regular basis. Gentle is the key word here. Don’t file off to much skin at once or you will end up with huge calluses. And don’t cut yourself with the file. I like to do this part on the couch before I get in the shower…

Step 2–Wash Feet and Exfoliate

After you have gently removed the dry skin with the file, either get in the bath or shower and wash your feet well and then use a sugar or salt scrub to exfoliate your feet. Scrub your toes good and try to get off any extra loose skin. My very favorite foot scrub EVER is OPI Pedicure scrubs. They have alpha hydroxy acids in them to help remove even more dry skin and the scrub is extremely fine so it doesn’t cut your skin like some chunky scrubs can. The Pineapple Papaya smells AMAZING!!!!

Step 3–Push Back Cuticles, Trim and Shape Toenails, Apply Foot Cream

After you’ve gotten out of the shower (or you can wash your feet in a bowl of hot water) dry your skin. Next, push back your cuticles with a cuticle pusher. If you have excessive cuticles, you can nip them, but please be very careful with nippers! Don’t rip the skin off. Press the skin, nip, and lift after you can feel the skin has been nipped.

After you’ve taken care of your cuticles, clip and file and shape your toe nails how you like them. File in from the outside edges to the center of your nail bed to avoid hang nails. Buff your nail beds down once they are shaped how you like them.

Now that you’ve got all your skin and nails exfoliated and cleaned up, apply a thick foot cream and put a pair of socks on for an hour or so to lock in the moisture.

Step 4–Pick a Polish!

If you would like to polish your tootsies, clean all the cream off your nail beds with alcohol or polish remover first off. Really good. The better you remove any oils from the nail bed, the longer your polish will last. Depending on your polish (you don’t need base coat with CND Vinylux) apply a base coat, 2-3 thin color coats, and a top coat. After the top coat if semi-dry, apply a few drops of cuticle oil around the nail bed.

Congrats! Your feet should look and feel amazing! Do this 2-3 times a month to keep up on dry heels and cuticles!

Thanks for reading! Go enter my OPI Brazil Collection giveaway on Facebook and Instagram if you’d like!

Tootles–Anna