Make your toes sandal-worthy
By JENNIFER VOGELSONG
For Smart
Chances are after being cooped up in socks for the winter and cooler spring months, your freedom-craving tootsies aren’t looking as snazzy as they could for their summer fling. But not everyone has the time or money to splurge on a professional pedicure. Palme Martin, owner of Top Coat Nail Salon in York Township, offers these tips for do-it-yourselfers:
• To help prevent ingrown toenails, cut nails straight across and not too short. Then, use an emery board to file across the edges of the nails to smooth them.
• Rub a foot file along the bottom and sides of the foot to remove calluses. Never use a razor to get rid of calluses.
• Rub an exfoliating scrub or sloughing lotion on the feet to remove additional layers of dead skin.
• Use toenail separators between toes. Don’t use cotton balls because the fuzz that comes off can stick to polish and ruin the pedicure.
• To avoid staining your nails, apply a clear base coat. Then coat each nail with the chosen color of polish. Don’t be concerned about getting every speck of nail or making the polish cover evenly during the first coat. Let the first coat dry completely before you apply the second or the layers will streak and get lumpy. Apply a second coat of color polish and be sure to evenly cover the entire nail surface.
• If you get color polish on your skin, twist a tiny bit of cotton around the end of an Orangewood stick and dip it in nail polish remover. Rub it over the polish you want to remove from the skin.
• Wear thong sandals or flip flops for the first half-hour after painting your toenails
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