Happy sexy summer feet!

A little while ago I was in town with some of my girlfriends – and suddenly the heel of her high heels got caught in an air vent.
A foot with perfectly French-pedicured toes appeared and I was instantly thrilled how beautiful and groomed it looked: simply scrumptious!


Before writing a post about this year’s prettiest summer shoes, we logically have to make sure our feet are presentable in all those sandals and flip flops.

Rumor has it there are people who don’t like their feet very much ;).
I, however, love mine!
They carry me reliably to the nicest places every day, they allow me to dance and to jump high in the air, I can simply start running with them in the mornings (and chase after my kids when they were still little), thanks to them I can feel the wet grass or the warm sand at the seaside.

Dear me, all the wonderful things I have the privilege of experiencing thanks to my feet!
That’s why I love them especially and I am so grateful for them ;).  

I am a notorious barefoot walker (and a “in-spring-the-first-one-without-tights” and “in-fall-the-last-one-with-tights” walker), which is why my feet need an extra dose of love and care.

Today I will share my pedicure routine with you and will show you the best natural care products there are for the task.
There are such great products in the area of natural these days!

My tip:
consciously take time for your beautiful feet – and enjoy every single step along the way.
Don’t look at it as an annoying duty, but turn it into a wellness ritual.
Like me, you can nicely incorporate it into the time before bed – it will become a special treat with pretty candles, relaxing music and scented products.

(in case you were wondering: I didn’t cut my left big toe nail too short, but had a bad injury a few weeks back. The new nail is growing in now, but it is still relatively small;)).

Step 1.:

Footbath.

The perfect preparation for a pedicure is a footbath.

Pour comfortably warm water into a small basin, add a few tablespoons of olive oil and leave your feet in it for some 5-10 minutes (but not too long, so they don’t go all wrinkly).

Due to sun exposure the skin on top of the feet dries out – you can gently get rid of it with a peeling.

I use a luxurious natural body peeling for this with added oils and vitamin E.

It smells delicious, removes all dead skin particles and leaves you with velvety smooth skin.

After this you tackle the hard skin:

Anything rough or callused on heels, balls of the feet or toes needs to go.

I use a wide callus rasp you can get at a drugstore.

My body peeling is by Neom.

Step 2.:

Clip nails and apply lotion.

For my toe nails I never use anything but nail clippers – so I’m never even tempted to cut the nails to a round shape.

Important: always cut the tip of the nail straight and afterwards lightly shape by filing (but not the corners).

I don’t even remove cuticles on my toe nails, but, if anything, very gently push them back a little (this is done very easily, as they are quite soft after the footbath).

Next comes the best:

I apply a scented foot lotion and generously massage my feet while doing so.

The lotion’s ingredients, such as shea butter and essential oils, are all from certified organic sources.

My foot lotion is by LaBruket.

Step 3.:

Apply nail polish.

I love, love, love a French pedicure:

It always looks fresh, groomed and elegant.

Basically all pastel colors like nude, beige etc. are trendy this season, as well as lustrous gold-metallic hues, and plain white also looks scrumptious on the toes.

And here is my tip of the day:

I finally found a nail polish remover that does NOT smell unpleasant and does NOT dry out the nails.

(and believe me, I have thought about 100 times before: “why can they send people to the moon, but cannot develop removers that don’t smell like chemical warfare?”).

Those who know the pungent and aggressive smell (and quality!) of the usual removers, will love this natural product:

Eden’s remover is only lightly lemon-scented (and smells a bit of pine, according to Noelle), and removes the polish in a very gentle way thanks to lemon oil.

My fingernails are unfortunately quite brittle, and this remover truly works miracles – I am totally excited about it!

I then apply a base coat to my nails and draw a thin rim with the French pedicure pen by Essence.

It is available in drugstores.

Lastly two coats with one of the Kure nail polishes are applied: these polishes contain 85% natural ingredients, don’t smell unpleasant during application, have a high opacity and dry fast.

I don’t use anything else anymore!

To finish I apply a top coat – and done!

Nail polish remover by Eden fresh therapiery.

My nail polishes by Kure.

Step 4.:

Tanned legs.

Strictly speaking not part of the foot care routine anymore, but a little secret to have the prettiest sexy legs in shorts and skirts!

Celebrity makeup artist Prtty Peashuhn has developed a sort of "Photoshop in a pouch": her body lotion acts like an invisible pair of tights and is dubbed the “wonder cream” by the entire Hollywood celebrities.

The lotion is 100% vegan, gluten and paraben-free, free of perfume, it tightens and firms the skin and covers visually unattractive spots.

If wonders are actually worked, I have not been able to establish yet – what I can attest to, however:

The look is absolutely natural, like sun-tanned, the lotion can be applied effortlessly working up to the desired “tanned hue” and it makes the skin velvety smooth.

(Tanned legs appear automatically slimmer ;)).

And it smells unbelivably delicious!

I smooth the lotion on including the feet so that they, too, appear lightly tanned: this looks 10 times more beautiful in any open-toed shoe!

Maybe not a product for every day, but an absolute must-have for special occasions and opportunities.

(And a hundred times more gentle to the skin than lying in the sun).

By the way, I apply two colors (one a little lighter and one darker), making sure the result looks perfectly natural – you have to use a bit of trial and error.

My colors are:

dark (don’t be alarmed, it seems rather dark at first, but turns a nice light color when it’s smoothed on), and  deep dark (for the parts that are otherwise especially exposed to the sun).

My photoshop in a pouch is by Prtty Peashuhn.


Little hint: if you are unsure which color is the best to pick, you will be sent small trial containers for free.

Sources of supply for natural cosmetics:

Body peeling: Neom
Foot lotion: LaBruket
Nail polish remover: Eden
Nail polish: Kure
Skin Tight Bodylotion: Prtty Peashuhn

Everything via GreenGlam.

Show your feet some love this summer :)!
And thank God every day for them!


Love,
Joanna

p.s. If I could recommend only two products for you, it would be the nail polish remover and the body lotion: they are just super awesome.
And one more musical tip for your Happy Summer Feet ritual: 
Sun Models!