Style Tip of the Month – Pedicures
Style tip of the month? Look down! Summer is in full swing, and it doesn’t matter how cute your new sandals are if your toes aren’t well styled.
Welcome to your monthly style guide for women over fifty. Pam Lutrell, of Over 50 Feeling 40 and I are sharing our best style tips to bring you a month of head turning style.
I have never been a fan of spending money on pedicures; I’ve done my own for the last forty years. Here are my tips for keeping your feet looking great all summer long.
A pumice stone is your new best friend. As we age, our skin gets tougher and no amount of lotion will remove calluses. Keep a pumice in the shower and each morning give your heels and soles a good scrubbing. Once you’ve gotten rid of the callouses, it’s easy to keep feet smooth with a quick swipe.
If you have corns, get yourself some corn remover. Again, lotion will not help you here.
Moisturizer is mandatory. After each shower, be sure to extend the lotion right down to your toes. Use a heavier cream at night. Covering them with a thin pair of cotton socks overnight intensifies the benefit.
Never keep chipped polish on your toes. If you do go for manicures, bring your own nail polish so you can touch up chips between pedicures. If they are badly chipped, you’re way past due so simply remove it all. Clean, unpolished toenails are preferable to chipped polish any day of the week.
A note on color:
Dark polish draws attention to your toes, so if you are working to remove a corn or simply don’t like the look of your feet, use a neutral or pale polish. You still look polished without drawing attention to the shape of your toes.
I always love a classic red on toes. Today I’m wearing Essie’s Well Red.
What’s your favorite toe polish color?
Now let’s pop over to OverFiftyFeeling40 and see Pam’s Style Tip of the Month.
Your toes look great. I also give my toe nails a rest from color when shoes go back on nut in the summer I also give myself pedicures and favs of all time is OPI Strawberry Margarita and Cajun Shrimp. Don’t know what I will do if OPI ever discontinued these.
I hate when they discontinue colors I love. I’m still hunting for the perfect taupe eyeshadow that got cancelled 3 years ago!
I am loving the new Essie Gel top coat – really extends the life of a manicure or pedicure. My other trick is to do my feet at night and then use a wash cloth in the shower next morning to gently scrub off any polish that ended up on my skin. Works great!
My favorite pedicure tips are a new Essie gel top coat that works great and doesn’t require special equipment to remove, Really extends my manicure and pedicure.
The other tip is after all the coats are dry, usually the next morning, take a wet wash cloth and easily remove any little boo boos from skin next to your toes. It comes right off without damaging the nail color.
I do the boo boo removal the next day too,Deanne! I haven’t tried that Essie top coat and will look for it! Thanks for sharing.
I’ve worn gold polish on my toes every summer for several years. It’s become my trademark!
Jennifer,
May I ask where you purchased your taupe shoes? Are they comfy?
They’re from Nordstrom. A brand called Toms. Comfy and nice and wide 🙂
I too have been wearing polish for close to 30 years–before it became so popular and before there were nail salons on every corner.
I prefer neutral, even nearly nude shades on my hands but always go with something brighter or darker on my toes. Usually some ranging between a dark or bright mauve to a muted but not bright red.
Also follow the tip of ALWAYS taking my own polish so touch ups and doing over myself is an easy option and stretches a nice nail job into lasting long. As I too hate chipped or grown out nails.
What is your take on Gels? I have tried a few times and while I like the look and love that it lasts longer–feel the removal is hard on my nails and don’t like to do often.
I also enjoy the longevity of gels too, Jackie but also find them very hard on my nails. My fingernails have gotten very weak because of my thyroid struggles and I can’t keep any polish on them :(. It’s so frustrating.
I use to do my own toes but have been getting a regular pedi for the last year. I always seemed to either cut the toenail too far down . It is my treat every month. Your toes look great!
Thanks, Susan! My problem was they always cut my nails too short so I had ingrown problems.
Getting them “done” is a great treat!! I may try again.
First, let me say, I really look forward to your blog. On to toes. I started painting my toe nails in high school. I am now 62. Throughout the years I started getting pedicures every 3 weeks. I love a good pedicure. And I love OPI red for my color. I know, some people think (my daughters) I should change up my color occasionally, but, I don’t. Love your style. Thanks for sharing with us.
Thanks so much, Paula! I’m so glad you’re here.
Classic is classic for a reason. It’s always perfect and always chic!
I started painting my own toenails over 45 years ago and have never looked back!
This morning, while waiting to see if I’d be picked for jury duty, I noticed a woman our age who was also a part of the jury pool. She was well dressed, and I admired her toenail polish color until… I got a better look. The polish was chipped; she’d allowed her toenails to grow out a good half inch, and I could see the groady natural color of her nails. Yuk! Yes, let’s all promise to keep our feet and toenails in good shape. Brenda
That nasty grow out is so telling!
I can totally picture what you saw and never want it on my feet!
Monthly pedicures are a must! For the summer, I like blue, mint or lilac. Rich Girls, Poor Boys by OPI is my color of choice at the moment. Fun!
Those sound fun! I love cool toned colors in hot weather.
I love red toenails even though I am not a flashy gal at all. I have a homemade peppermint foot scrub that I keep in the shower and use on my feet daily—it keeps them looking great and smells divine as well. Thanks for the great tips!
Red toenails are so classic and fun. A peppermint scrub sounds refreshing. Care to share your recipe, Beth Ann?
My best new find is the Tweezerman Sole Mates. It’s a two-piece set that consists of a foot file and a smoother that looks sort of like a grater. I was a little leery of using it at first, but it works amazingly well, and my feet look better than they have in years.
I’ve used what looked like a grater before and it worked miracles!
I use Tweezerman tweezers and love them. I’ll check out this kit. Thanks for sharing, Janie! We all want to know about great products.
I found a shade of indigo blue that has a hint of purple. Nice with denim.
I love indigo. What’s the brand and name?
Now I have to go get another pedicure, because it’s there and I can’t remember the name.
I can’t be sure, but I think it was Indignantly Indigo by OPI (ISL17).
Thanks!! I’ll look for it. It sounds pretty.
I totally agree that pedicures are a must in the summer. I do my own now all year round. OPI’s Pompei Purple is my favourite but I just changed to a brighter pink – Berry Daring for the summer.
Those sound fun, Yvonne. I love OPI colors!
I like brighter in the summer too.
I’m sticking with neutral shades at the moment because I’ve had eczema flare up on my feet. I agree it’s important to keep the toenails well groomed but with all the dry skin I’m trying not to draw serious attention. My dermatologist recommended a good lotion but it’s a constant battle.
Still…it’s summer and that makes me happy!
b
I deal with terrible eczema on my forehead and scalp but haven’t on my feet, Barbara!
Something to look forward to? Oy!
Neutral polish is perfect and I love the look.
I cannot do my own pedicures…I wish that I could..believe me I have tried and tried but it always looks terrible! That is a great red on your toes…
I am booked in for a pedicure in a couple of weeks…I go once a month from May to September and then give my toes a rest from polish and just keep them buffed.
Buffed looks terrific! I’m flexible and cheap. Funny combo, but since I can reach my toes to polish them, I do. Plus, I have never liked others doing it. It may not look perfect but it works
My toes are a bright red now too. I’m loving Sparitual brand. My heels are often a problem – so dry and cracked. When I remember to use Stridex pads on them, followed by a creamy moisturizer, completed with cotton socks for a few hours – they come back around to being smooth and presentable.
What a brilliant idea!!! Stridex pads are a new solution for me. Thanks!
I never considered them. I also love Sparitual polish. It’s a healthy alternative to toxic polish.
The cracked heel cream from Bath and Body Works does a good job. I massage it on my feet daily after showering.
Great tip Joyce! I haven’t tried their cream and will check it out. I think the daily routine is so important.
Well cared for feet really make a difference! And you are so right, if you do daily maintenance the upkeep is so much easier!
It’s so much easier to maintain than catch up, Andrea. Have a great weekend!
Agreed! I love my pedicured toes. Favorite color? Hot pink. However, just to change it up, I have a light blue on my toenails right now. To keep my feet well moisturized, I slather on Eucerin Creme, then put on socks and go work out. When I get home and in the shower, I go over my feet with the pumice stone.
You’ve got this down to a science, Barbara. I love it! I also love blue polish on my toes.
I wear coral polish on my toes in the summer, and like you, always have done my own pedicures. Friends tell me I am missing out – oh well! My favorite brand this past year is Sophi… came across it on Instagram and am so glad. It has absolutely no smell, is water-based, yet lasts as long as regular polish.
Thanks, Ann! Water based polish appeals to me and I’ve not heard of that brand. I’ll check it out!
You’re welcome! I should mention application and removal are not quite as quick as regular polish, but if you follow the directions closely, I think you’ll be pleased.
A pumice is my new best friend. My heels were in such deplorable shape that what I had used previously just wasn’t cutting it. Good tip on color…common sense… You must have a very steady hand…your pedi looks perfect!
Good call Donna! Pumice stones are so helpful. My hand isn’t that steady, so I scrub the areas around my toes in the shower, which removes polish mishaps 🙂
Just got my regular pedicure last night! It makes such a difference to keep my feet fresh in the summer…and my toes are coral!
I love Coral! It’s a perfect, pretty neutral.