Beauty on a Budget - the perfect DIY Pedi.

I may well have been a bit premature wearing a pair of sandals yesterday, as today, after a sunny start, we have had yet more rain this afternoon.

The appearance of sunshine and a rise in temperature on Sunday meant I had to unexpectedly factor in a quick pedicure and nail paint before my feet were completely sandal ready and being as money is tight for so many people, Salon treatments can often fall by the wayside, so I thought that as I am fully qualified in many beauty treatments after re-training when my youngest child was a toddler, it would be helpful to share some knowledge with you, enabling you to save some pennies and get a reasonably good job done at home in a new addition to the blog called "Beauty on a Budget", which hopefully some of you will find useful.  This feature will cover purse friendly products that are highly recommended as well as giving you a bit of DIY insight.

Now if I had a £1 for every time a customer told me that they had a foot spa but never use it because it is either a) in the loft or b) in the garage, then I would honestly be carrying a 2.55 by now, but you gotta love a foot spa and it is a lovely and relaxing way to give your tootsie's a good soaking, and even more so if yours has a massage button so this is how your process should begin.  If you don't have any foot soak, bubble bath will do but don't use much as the bubbles can really froth up! Use a bowl if you don't have a foot spa.

If you have a foot scrub then give your feet a really good rub with this before soaking.  You can use a body scrub or some granulated sugar mixed with vegetable or olive oil which works just as well.

Soak until the water is getting tepid then dry your feet thoroughly and if your toenails need cutting, now is the time to do it.  Always make sure not to cut them too short as this can lead to ingrowing toenails when you get older.

Use a foot file on any areas of hard skin.  Use the pumice side first then the side that looks like a grater. I use a Boots battery operated pedicure system but have heard really good reports about the Pedi Egg.

For a luxury pedicure now is the time you would either apply a foot mask or put the feet into heated foot mits but for a Salon maintenance pedicure, this procedure is omitted so don't worry too much about rushing out and buying them. This post is about saving money and doing a good job with products and items you may already have.

Whilst the foot mask is on, I start the cuticle work but if doing your own feet at home and don't have a cuticle removing cream, just gently push your cuticles back. Never cut off any skin that isn't loose or hanging.

Toenails can get a bit mucky around the edges and underneath the nail plate and the best thing I find for gently cleaning around the edges is to take an orange stick and wrap a tiny bit of cotton wool around the end, then dip it into your nail polish remover. Be gentle and don't dig around. Change the cotton wool frequently and wipe over the entire nail plate as well.

If you have a cuticle oil, use it now, if you don't you can use any oil from the kitchen, rapeseed, olive, sunflower, its all about nourishing and any oil will do the trick, just massage around the cuticle area.

Soft nails aren't easy to file, but by now they should be dry enough for you to file off any rough edges from cutting earlier or maybe yours just need a file. Don't forget to file in one direction at a time only, never backwards and forwards.

Apply a foot or body lotion. If your heels are really dry apply some sort of cream every night and wear socks to bed.

You will need to wipe the nails over with nail polish remover before painting. Use a base, 2 coats of polish and always a top coat.  The base coat stops the nail polish from staining your nails.

Lots of people say how rubbish they are at painting nails and that they get it everywhere. I really don't think this is a massive problem as once they are dry, you can clean up any surrounding areas of skin that may have nail colour on them. I never use a cotton bud as I find it is actually too big, so yet again, the orange stick and cotton wool is invaluable. Just dip the end in your nail polish remover and gently remove any excess product.

Nail Polish - April by Chanel £17.50 from Boots. Sandals (old) - Russell and Bromley, now back in their box AGAIN.

Feet Treats on a budget, all available from Look Fantastic.

Bringing Spa quality treatments home with gorgeous Feet Treats from Space NK.

Did you do an emergency pedi when the sun came out?