How to put your best foot forward

If you’ve never given your feet any thought, consider this: The average person takes 8,000 to 10,000 steps a day, logging 75,000 miles by age 50.

What’s more, most of us:

• Walk 115,000 miles (more than four times around the earth) over a lifetime.
• Wear shoes that fit poorly or somehow compromise our stride.

Whether in stilettos or flip flops, our feet take a beating. Treat your feet with a home pedicure, so they’ll be in good shape to carry you where you want to go. Pedicure (from pedis, meaning “of the foot,” and cura, meaning “care” in Latin) is an easy way to make your feet look and feel better, while giving a healthy skip to your step.

Though it may feel like a modern indulgence, pedicures date back 5,000 years to ancient China, where nail color revealed your place in the pecking order; black and red nails were said to indicate royalty.

True, Cleopatra and Queen Nefertiti predated today’s insta-spa massage chairs. Still, reports have it that their attendants took good care of their legs and feet, painting their regal toes a royal ruby.

A pedicure (from the Latin words pedis, meaning “of the foot,” and cura, meaning “care”) is an easy way to give a healthy skip to your step.

You, too, can enjoy the benefits of a home pedicure. Simply follow these 8 steps:

1. Remove old nail polish with nail polish remover and a cotton ball or tissue.
2. Cut your nails with a clipper, and shape and smooth the edges with an emery board.
3. To soften toughened skin, soak your feet in a tub of warm water and Epsom salts, or better yet, Thymes Essentials Foot Soak. You may add a quarter cup of milk to the solution, drawing on lactic acid's ability to loosen dead skin.
4. Trim your cuticles with a quality cutter, taking care not to cut the skin.
5. Scrub your feet with a pumice stone and exfoliant, such as Thymes Essentials Foot Scrub. Use a foot file to work on your heels and other thickened parts, making sure not to rub them raw.
6. Massage and moisturize your feet to promote circulation and make your skin supple. Thymes Essentials AHA Foot Cream is an excellent choice, using alpha-hydroxy acid fruit complex to exfoliate gently while natural emollients—deodorizing vegetable protein extract, healing tea tree oil and moisturizing shea butter—condition the skin.
7. If desired, finish your pedicure like the queens of ancient Egypt—with a sweep of new polish in whatever hue appeals to you.

Now, kick up your feet for about 30 minutes to let the polish set. When you’re ready to go, you’ll be amazed how light on your feet you feel!

Integrate the restorative benefits of Thymes Essentials, complete with a refreshing Foot Soak, Foot Scrub and AHA Foot Cream, into your next home pedicure. Cleopatra and Nefertiti would no doubt approve!