Put your best foot forward

Foot care, perhaps not the most exciting part of a beauty routine, but oh so important. If you think about how much we put our legs and feet through every day; we squeeze our feet into fabulous and narrow shoes, walk in towering high heels, stand up for long periods of time - that's a lot of pressure and weight, so no wonder that they get fatigued or the skin hardens to help act as a shock absorber. For some reason it seems more fun to take care of your feet during the summer since they're always more on display, but it's also important not to forget about them in the wintertime - keeping the skin nice, smooth and moisturised so when it's time to show them off again in strappy gorgeous heels at the seasons parties - you're well prepared.

Having a professional manicure or pedicure is very pleasant and relaxing but to be honest I do the same at home at least once a week, so it made sense to invest in some kind of tool to help with the buffing part. I must confess that I have a healthy respect for most types of electrical beautifying equipment, and for me using heated rollers is taking a giant step into the wonders of modern beauty care, but after much looking around I decided to get the Scholl Express Pedi, which is a tool to help smooth and soften skin quickly and effortlessly. It reminds me a little of an electrical shaver, but it has a buffing roller that you can easily replace when it starts to wear down. I use this after a long bath, when the skin of my feet is nice and softened, and after a couple of minutes of buffing they are left so smooth and any unevenness or hard areas has been gently removed. I was skeptical about it in the beginning and worried that it would be very rough or painful on the skin, but I was completely wrong. You'll get a gentle but effective buffing and it's great to use once or twice a week to keep your feet nice and soft.

After exfoliating, I like to use a nice and reach cream that softens even more any dry or rough spots, and Avon does a really lovely and affordable foot care range. A product that I've used for a long time is the Avon Heel Softening Cream which is a wonderful buttery and thick formula that  will help to soften the most stubborn of dry patches. It has a fresh and minty scent and the texture feels surprisingly luxurious to massage into the heels. I actually use this on my elbows as well as a treatment every now and then, and it make them very soft and supple.

Having given the heels some TLC, it's time to apply a generous layer of a foot lotion over the rest of the feet. There are a lot of foot lotions available, but a lot of them seem to contain lavender. Lavender in itself is a lovely scent, but it can be quite strong which is why the Burt's Bees Peppermint Foot Lotion is perfect for me. It's a gorgeous aromatic lotion dominated by the scent of peppermint oil and menthol, making it very invigorating and refreshing with almost that icy cool feeling you get from menthol. The peppermint helps to relax tired feet, but it also contains coconut oils to nourish, soften and hydrate any dry patches and beeswax to seal in moisture for a deeply moisturising sensation that lasts. 

To finish off my mini pedicure I'll spray on some of the Avon Watermelon Cooling Spray, which is a product that does exactly what it says on the bottle. It's nothing fancy and nothing complicated - it's a wonderful soothing and cooling spray that you can use at any point; either in the morning, during the day, in the evening, after a pedi - whenever you feel like it. As you may know with Avon they change their product range fairly regularly, so if you can't get hold of the Watermelon scent, there will be others, equally nice to use, but in a different scent. This is particularly lovely to use when you're in a hot climate, or if you've been out trekking, or wearing gorgeous but uncomfortable heels to relax and refresh your feet. After that, it's snuggle time with a warm and cozy pair of socks preferably worn overnight, to help the moisture cream really sink into the skin. In the morning you'll wake up with nice and soft skin, feeling refreshed as if you'd had a professional pedi - well close enough...