Bustin' a Stitch: DIY Pedi

As a wife and mother of 6 fabulous kids sometimes I can't make it to the preferred salon but as a former manicurist I have no excuse for walking around with jacked up hands and toes! ;).And if you are like me saving a few bucks can go along way.

Here is what you'll need:

Before - nasty toes

Soak your toes :)

Clip your toenails! I prefer short nails but you may want to just do a little file down if you already have the perfect length then skip this step. But ladies nothing is more distasteful than over grown toenails! Keep them maintained! :)

Add cuticle remover to each toe and re-soak your feet.

If you have a pair of cuticle nippers and are talented and have a steady hand you might want to clean up around the sides of toenail giving your pedi and clean look. (These can be dangerous so be careful not to stab yourself :)

Now take a cuticle pusher to remove the overgrown cuticle (do not use the nippers here..danger..danger :)

Buff your toenails to even out the nail.

Now, file and shape each toe.

Ladies, if you don't have a Ped Egg go down to Walgreens and grab yourself a one. These are wonderful on the heals and only 9.99!!

Note: Ladies please, please handle your heals... Your sandals will go on strike if you don't!

Next, scrub your toes and feet well. Now is the perfect time to recruite your significant other or even one of your kids to massage your aching feet... Did it work....? Yea it didn't work for me either! :) One of the benefits of going to the salon... I guess!

See... pretty manicured toes but we aren't done yet.....

Next, polish. I decided go with a dark (regular) red polish (of course you can use any color your sweet heart desires) and use a gel (shellac) top coat. For me, this has made my polish shine and last longer. However you can use a regular top coat as well.

NOTE: Removal of gel can be a pain. Just take acetone polish remover and hold a well soaked cotton ball on each toe for a minute. You can also use foil to wrap the cotton ball around each toe. If you don't have time for that I'd use regular top coat. :)

I use regular base-coat, regular polish then as I said Ill use either a regular top coat or do as I and use a shellac top coat. Only light them puppies up after each application of the top coat -- I usually do two coats.

Now, soak another cotton ball with alcohol (not polish remover) and wipe down each toe! This will remove the sticky layer of the top coat and seal the top coat as well.