3 Quick and Easy Ways to Get Your Feet Summer Ready
Summer and sandals go hand in hand, but having spent months cooped up in winter footwear, our feet are riddled with cracked heels, puffy ankles, and yellow toenails. To give them TLC, try:
Heel-Healing Mask
Mix 1/4 cup of olive oil and 1 Tbsp. of honey. Rub onto heels and cover with a warm, damp towel for 10 minutes. Rinse, then use a pumice stone, like Earth Therapeutics Natural Sierra Pumice Stick ($5, Ulta), to gently slough off dry skin.
“Olive oil’s hydrating fatty acids moisturize and repair the layers of dry skin, and anti-inflammatory honey soothes painful cracks,” says Diane Brown, aesthetician at Spa Pechanga in Temecula, California. Do it twice a week and you’ll have soft, crack-free heels in two weeks!
Cankle-Slimming Massage
Rub a mix of 2 drops of chamomile essential oil, like Aura Cacia Roman Chamomile Oil ($7.11, Vitacost), and 1 tsp. of coconut oil onto feet and ankles. Knead each foot with your thumbs, starting at the ankle, moving down along the top of feet to toes, then the soles. Do for 3 minutes per foot twice a week.
How it works: Massage increases circulation to flush ankle-swelling fluids, and chamomile oil’s azulene shrinks fluid-filled blood vessels for slimmer ankles in two weeks!
Nail-Whitening Soak
A low-cost save for yellow-tinged toenails: denture cleaner. It’s sodium bicarbonate and citric acid word together to strip and lift away yellow surface stains on nail beds. Plus, the cleaner also contains antibacterial agents that help kill nail fungus.
To do: Drop 3 denture tablets, like Polident Antibacterial Denture Cleanser ($5.88, Walmart), into a basin filled with warm water. Soak feet for 15 minutes, then scrub nails with a clean toothbrush. Repeat three times a week for brighter nails in three weeks.
A version of this article originally appeared in our print magazine, First for Women.
