Important DIY Pedicure Mistakes To Avoid

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Get Your Best DIY Home Pedicure : 13 Important Pedi Mistakes To Avoid

Spring is almost here and then summer rapidly follows; these two seasons don’t just allow us to enjoy the warm sun and the outdoors. It’s also time to give yourself the best DIY home pedicure you can if you don’t want to go to a salon.  The time is rapidly approaching where we want to be able to wear strappy sandals, flip flops, cute flats and go barefoot as often as possible.  However, before we can flaunt them to the world, wouldn’t it be nice to give you feet a nice once over? If you are too mortified at the thought of getting a pedicure in a salon, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep your feet in order. 

A pedicure is important not only to women, but to men, as well. It is a great way to pamper yourself after a long and tiring day of standing and walking at work. Aside from making your feet look pretty, regular pedicures will also maintain the desirable length of your nails, control calluses, and keep your feet moisturized. Many people choose a less expensive – and more private – DIY home pedicure. 

An at-home pedicure is not as difficult or time consuming as you think. With a little effort and knowledge, you can quickly give your feet a silky and polished look. You just have to remember a few important things so you won’t harm your feet and cut your toes accidentally.

13 Things NOT to Do When Doing A DIY Home Pedicure

1. Not washing your tools before and after using them

Aside from being unhygienic, not washing and disinfecting your pedicure tools will expose you to harmful elements such as bacteria, fungi, and infections. Protect yourself while doing your DIY pedicure by making sure that every tool you will use is properly cleaned and sanitized. 

2. Trimming toenails too short and shaping them

You might feel a bit OC and proceed with cutting your toenails too short. But this is a big No-No as it causes ingrown. It may also cause paronychia or a nail infection caused by a nail growing inward and penetrating the skin. When a dirt or bacteria enters the penetrated skin, it could result to paronychia. When cutting your nail, make sure to cut it straight across based on the edge of your toes. 

3. Cutting cuticles

Another mistake that you should avoid is cutting your cuticles. Your cuticle is a live tissue that is designed to protect your nails from bacteria and infections. So rather than cutting your cuticles and exposing your nail from the harmful elements, why not use a cuticle oil to soften it and then push them back gently using a cuticle pusher. 

4. Applying a thick coat of nail polish

Once upon a time as we browsed a magazine, we saw this girl with a nail polish that looks so alive and so healthy; and instantly, we thought that it must have something to do with how we apply the nail polish. And so, we grab our polish and applied a thick layer of coat on our nails. Ugh! Just stop! You won’t get your desired look this way; instead, it will only make the polish more susceptible to chipping. Make sure to apply a base coat, top it up with lacquer, let it dry first before applying your nail polish, and finish it with a topcoat.

5. Not soaking your feet correctly

We all know that soaking our feet will soften the layers of dead skin cells, making them easier to exfoliate. However, there are still some of us who don’t know how to soak feet properly. Make sure to soak them in warm water for at least 10 minutes. You might also like to add Epsom salts or a skin softener in the water to get the best result. Be sure to scrub them after soaking with a foot brush and exfoliating scrub if desired.

6. Not moisturizing your feet

Your feet, like any other parts of your body, need enough hydration to make the healthy, smooth, and soft. Feet with dry skin will crack and look dull —  not a good look. Apply lotion with urea or lactic acid as these components can improve the texture of your skin and treat dryness. However, try not to put lotion between your toes since too much moisture in these areas will make a great spot for fungal growth. 

7. Not applying topcoat and cuticle oil

Topcoat and base coat acts as your nail’s sunblock that protects it against the harmful rays from the sun. Without these coats, your nail polish will turn yellowish over time and may even affect the health of your nails. Aside from that, topcoats and base coats will also protect the lively color of your nail polish and helps prevent it from chipping. 

8. Exfoliating with dry feet

Exfoliating while the skin is dry is another common mistake. Aside from being painful, doing this may scratch your skin and harm it. Wetting your feet a few minutes before exfoliating it will help make the exfoliation process faster and easier since the water will soften the dry skin on your feet. 

9. Painting over your cuticles

One common mistake that women often make when doing DIY pedicure is painting over the cuticles. This may not cause you any health problems, however, doing this can be a real eyesore. If you mistakenly painted your cuticles during your DIY pedicure session, grab a Q-tip wet with a nail polish remover to fix the issue. 

10. Keeping your nail polish in the bathroom

Since we mostly do our personal things inside the bathroom, we also have this notion to store our pedicure essentials in the bathroom. While it may seem to be the most logical place to store your personal things, your bathroom is not the right place for your nail polish. Your bathroom is a humid place caused by the hot and steamy air from your shower; this can separate the components of your nail polish, making it sticky and gelatinous. 

11. Shaking your nail polish bottle

This is probably the most common mistake we often make with our nail polish. Well, even the manicurist in the salon do this, right? Here’s a bit of pedicure trivia for you, shaking your nail polish bottle before using it is not advisable. The shaking will create air bubbles that will most likely reach your nails as you paint it. Instead of shaking, you can just roll the bottle with your hands to make sure that the contents are mixed well.

12. Using quick dry nail polish products

While it may be tempting to use quick dry nail polish for your pedicure because it dries quickly; there are also undesirable effects. The magic of these quick-dry products is from its high level of solvent content. This high level of solvents may not only dry your nail polish quickly, but it could also dry your nails and eventually damage them.

13. Not letting your polish dry

So, you have already applied your nail polish and you can’t wait to wear your sexy strappy sandals or your favorite flip flops. After applying lacquer, wait for a few minutes first and make sure that the gloss has fully set in before wearing your footwear. 

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