How To Get Your Feet Fit For Sandal Season
Hands up if you’ve barely given your toenails a cursory polish over the last few months, let alone dusted off anything close to a foot cream or scrub. Take note, you need to shower your feet with as much love as the rest of your face and body - just as you wouldn't skip your daily face moisturiser...
Hard, dry, cracked and flaking feet? No thanks. Here’s how to step up your footcare game fast and turn your feet into summer-ready tootsies.
1. Buff Away The Rough Stuff
First things first, get working on dry or hard patches of skin. You simply cannot work with hard, dead skin. It's got to go to get back to new, healthier skin.
What you'll need: A foot file. We prefer the sandpaper ones, rather than those that look like cheese graters; they’re kinder to your skin and less likely to cause injury.
How? Work on dry, never wet skin and go slowly, applying just a couple of gentle forwards and backwards motions over the balls, heels and sides of your feet.
2. Soak It All In
If it’s not bath or shower-time, soak your feet in a large bowl of lukewarm water for five minutes to soften the skin. This will help loosen remaining dead skin and allow your skin absorb the rest of your foot regime much more effectively.
Top Tip: Add a little HIGHBORN Natural Shampoo and Conditioner for a deep clean and moisturising soak.
You can even vary your foot soaks with two or three drops of essential oil to help calm irritation, ease muscles or treat things like athlete’s foot. We love lavender for its therapeutic and relaxing properties, but peppermint, tea tree, chamomile and cypress oils are also great choices. Try a couple of drops of Organic Age-Defying Facial Oil!
Did you know? Soaking your feet in warm water can do wonders for your mood, your energy levels, sleeping habits and any aches and pains that affect you — in your feet and beyond!
3. Say Adieu To Dead Skin Cells
Now your skin’s nicely softened, it’s time to exfoliate to boost cell turnover and slough away dulling dead skin cells and flaky patches.
What you'll need: A good dollop of our 100% Natural Luminosity Scrub.
How? Rub the scrub all over your feet while your skin is still damp. Concentrate on those gnarly areas that have become thickened, rough or slightly hardened, but make sure you scrub all over for a couple of minutes before rinsing thoroughly and patting your skin with a clean towel.
TOP TIP: As you dry your toes, press the towel down into your cuticles. This will help keep them neat, tidy and pushed back.
4. Carefully Cream Up...
We say carefully because you do not want to be adding moisturiser between your toes due to fungal susceptibility. The area between your toes is an ideal environment to hold in moisture, and when kept moist and warm after a cream is applied, bacteria and fungus can begin to grow. So 'no' to the toe please.
What you'll need: Our 100% Natural Luminosity Body Butter is ideal here because it contains everything dry skin loves – shea butter, olive oil, avocado oil, the works.
How? Warm a small amount (a little goes a long way!) between your hands then massage it all over your feet while still damp until fully absorbed (avoiding between your toes).
TAKE NOTE: The best time to pamper your feet is at night. This will stop you from sliding around in your shoes after moisturising the soles of your feet.
5. Sock It To Them
Last, but not least, here's a little known 'trick' to help activate the ingredients in your body butter and lock in moisture while you sleep…
How? Simply pop on a pair of clean cotton bed socks after moisturising!
Trust us, in the morning you’ll be amazed at the difference in both the look and the feel of your feet.
Top Tip: Why not top it all off by painting your nails this year’s Pantone colour of the year, 'periwinkle', a gorgeous, blue-lilac pastel and perfect for summer toes. A HIGHBORN nail varnish? Now there's an idea!
Not only will our fabulous foot regime leave your feet looking and feeling better than ever, regular foot soaking is proven to have so many added health benefits too!
So as you hang up your trainers and boots and dust off you strappy shoes, make sure your feet are set to welcome the summer season.
Enjoy!