Summer means sandals, which means sloughing away layers of hard skin built up through months of wearing sneakers and boots, and painting exposed toenails.
Experts including nail technicians, a pharmaceutical scientist and a podiatrist recommend moisturising and gently exfoliating at home, plus pedicure steps such as filing, trimming and painting, but warn against abrasive scrapers and strong acidic treatments.
Prepare
Podiatrist Charbel Dagher from Clear Step Podiatry warns against using off-the-shelf fixes to prep your feet, like corn pads – which burn the skin with acid, so have “the potential to do damage to your healthy skin” – and cheese grater-like heel scrapers.
“One false move and you’ve gone a bit too deep, and you might cut yourself, or you might go too raw, and suddenly you can’t walk on your feet for the next few days because you’ve tried to clear out too much callus,” Dagher says.
Erin Margrethe, a nail technician who offers clinical pedicures, says over-exfoliating with foot files “is the worst”.
“Often, you are just exacerbating the problem. When you traumatise the skin of the feet by removing too much callus or causing micro-injuries from ‘cheese graters’, your body goes into overdrive to heal and replace that skin, thus creating more hard skin.”
Dagher doesn’t rate treatments like the well-known Milky Foot, a foot peel which intentionally causes skin to flake off over the course of days. If you have irritable or sensitive skin, an open wound, or an infection, the treatment can “definitely progress it”.
“Even if it’s penetrating through too deep … you can open the skin and potentially leave an avenue for infections to come in.”
Polly Sin, executive director of Bio Health Plus, which manufactures Milky Foot, concurs that the product “is intended for healthy individuals, without open wounds, infections, or severely sensitive skin”. She says these instructions are clearly labelled on the packaging but “we agree that certain conditions – such as deep skin penetration or misuse – can pose risks, as with any exfoliating product”.
Margrethe notes some chemical exfoliants don’t list the strength of the acids. Too weak and you could see no results, too strong and you risk chemical burns. “Also, why would the thin skin of your instep or between your toes need the same level of exfoliation as your heels?”
Sin acknowledges concerns about the strength of acids in off-the-shelf products but says that Milky Foot’s concentration of acids have undergone rigorous third-party safety assessments, meet international safe cosmetic standards and have been “confirmed by the safety assessor at PHARMILAB in EU as safe and not irritating when used as directed”. She also says the product’s formula “is designed to exfoliate effectively without over-stripping delicate areas” and notes the inclusion of herbal extracts to soothe the skin after exfoliation.
If your feet need a little TLC, Dagher suggests seeing a podiatrist for a “medical pedicure”, a general treatment which involves a nail trim, plus the removal of anything “building up on the side of the nails” and calluses or corns. When a professional removes a corn or callus, they use a scalpel to cut back the thick layers, then a sandpaper disc called a mandrel, finishing with “a really good emollient” cream containing synthetic urea.
Such creams are “much better than a body cream” for hydration, because regular body creams don’t “penetrate through those hard layers of skin”.
Margrethe agrees, noting “the best products are the non-sexy ones” found at the chemist.
“Most people don’t moisturise because they hate having greasy slippery feet. Don’t apply so much and, if you do, massage it in and then wipe off the excess.”
Polish
Start with trimming and filing your nails. Dagher instructs: “Make sure you are cutting your nails straight, not digging down the sides, and make sure you’re cutting all the way to the edge, not leaving any sharp edges out that could result in an ingrown nail developing, and just making sure that you’re not cutting too deep into the nail.”
From there, wipe each nail with nail polish remover to prep them (polish applies best to dehydrated nails), and apply a base coat, then a thin layer of polish. Wait until it’s dry, then apply a second layer for an opaque finish.
Maria Vlezko runs So Nailicious, and suggests fun colours such as coral, lemon, turquoise, fuchsia, or shimmering blues or whites for summer. She recommends brands such as pharmacy brand Mavala – “better than some high end nail polish brands that cost five times more” – Essie, and OPI.
But don’t go too cheap on the polish: “I’d highly recommend avoiding purchasing some questionable $3 lacquers because you get what you pay for. There is a huge difference in ease of application, look and longevity.”
Her best tip for applying polish is “always have good hand support” to minimise shaky hands.
“I’m afraid to say this,” she says, but “please put your feet on a table. It’s much easier to apply nail polish on toenails this way.”
Nail art and stickers are trending “on toe nails too”, Vlezko says. “Summer is the best time for pedicure experiments.”
A top coat is an oft-overlooked step but will give your nails a “salon-like glossy look”. By sandwiching polish between a bonder and top coat, “your pedicure will survive” summer activities such as “ocean swims, bushwalking, running in sand, clubbing [and] camping”.
Maintain
Every expert stresses the importance of moisturising your feet regularly. Margrethe also suggests an Epsom salt foot soak, and a doctor’s visit if you have consistently dry, cracked or irritated feet: “Keep on top of your foot health and then you can do all the fun stuff.”
Dagher believes regular check-ins with a podiatrist are just as important as dental check-ups and says “make sure you’re wearing good socks, 100% natural fibres” to ward off fungus or excessive moisture.
Hannah English, a beauty creator and pharmaceutical scientist with a background in clinical research, notes many people “seem to let the shower water run over their legs and feet instead of actually washing them”, which can lead to infection.
Wearing thongs or sandals, or going barefoot, means skin is exposed to the sun. English says sunscreen is crucial, in addition to regular skin checks, since two in three Australians are diagnosed with skin cancer by the age of 70.
And once your polish chips, Vlezko says, “it’s time for a refresh”.
