Top 10 Products For A Home Pedicure

I soak, scrub, and file my feet a few times per week as part of my nightly relaxation routine.  I have tried every foot product I've ever crossed paths with, so I know which ones are great and which ones really stink.  (no pun intended)

Here they are--My Top 10 Home Pedicure Products... in no particular order:

1) Dr. Scholl's For Her Exfoliating Stone File: I use this product to remove rough, dead skin from both the heels and soles of my feet once or twice a week.  It is very powerful and easily sloughs off dead skin, but it is too powerful for daily use and must be followed up with a Swedish file to smooth out the rough divots in skin that this file leaves.  One of these items used once or twice a week will easily last for a month which isn't bad at just $3 a pop.

2) Dr. Scholl's For Her Swedish Foot File: This is a double-sided smoothing file that has both "coarse" and "fine" sides.  After roughly exfoliating dry and cracked heels with a curved stone file, I use first the coarse and then fine sides to smooth skin and prepare it for hydration with a foot cream.  This item has a short life and is only truly effective for 4-5 times before the exfoliating granules have worn off, but it is a powerful pedicure product and well worth the $3.

3) Epsom Salts: I buy epsom salts in two pound boxes in drug and grocery stores.  They are cheap (less than $2) and wonderful for softening water, relaxing feet, and even producing a lovely tingling sensation.  Don't waste your money on expensive brand-name "foot soaks".  Plain old epsom salts are all you need to refresh and relax tired feet.

4) Burt's Bees Coconut Moisturizing Foot Creme: I have a love/hate affair with this particular pedicure "creme" moisturizer.  While it is natural and environmentally-friendly, it is extremely greasy.  It can and will stain pants, socks, shoes, and even jewelry.  Still, it is one of the most effective hydrating pedicure products that I've ever used.  I am willing to deal with the greasiness and potential for stains because it is so incredibly effective in moisturizing and hydrading my feet.

5) LUSH Pied de Pepper Foot Cream: This stuff is made by LUSH, a company that focuses on using fresh, natural, and environmentally-responsible ingredients.  This foot moisturizer contains cinnamon, clove, ginger, and lemon in addition to the moisturizing components of cocoa butter and olive oil.  Yes, it hydrates tired feet, but I really love how the spicy notes add heat, tingle, rejuvenation, and even odor-elimination properties! It is expensive at about $20 per small 2 ounce tub, but I use it only occasionally as a little treat so it lasts me for several months.

6) Gold Bond Ultimate Healing Foot Cream: This incredible product is designed for dry, rough, and cracked heels and it certainly doesn't disappoint.  It is thick, rich, non-greasy, extremely hydrating, inexpensive, and easy to find in local grocery and drug stores.  In fact, this is probably one of the "best buys" in my opinion when it comes to foot care treatments.

7) Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap: This item is sold as a multi-purpose (like 100 purposes) soap that can be used for anything from a body wash to shampoo to laundry detergent to counter cleaner.  I only use it as a bath and foot soak.  You only need to add a few squirts of this all natural and vegan peppermint soap to add lots of moisture and a lovely cooling and tingling sensation to feet. Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap is an absolute must-have for this house.

8) Burt's Bees Honey and Bilberry Foot Creme: This is another wonderful rich and hydrating foot cream.  It smells sweet like honey and actually produces an actual protective layer after you really work it into the soles and heels of your feet.  This foot creme is pricey at about $10 per tube and you could run through the whole thing quickly if you used it every evening for a week.  I use this stuff once or twice a month, so a tube does last me for a bit longer than you'd think. 

9) Skindecent Sole Provider: Skindecent makes some incredible skin care products and their foot scrub is absolutely amazing, especially when you order it with the "mint" fragrance.  This is a very rich scrub that not only seriously exfoliates feet but also moisturizes them.  You have to order Skindecent products from Canada and they are freshly-made after your order, so you may have to wait up to a month to receive them.  Still, I think that an amazing product like this one is well worth the wait.

10) Origins Tea Tree Oil: I buy Target's brand of tea tree oil regularly and add some of it to my regular bath soak once a week or so because it is known to be an anti-fungal.  I don't have funky feet but I also don't want to deal with them in the future.  It stinks to high heaven (my husband says it smells like turpentine) and leaves the bottom of the tub slick after use, but it helps to keep my feet fresh so I'll keep using it in the future.  At only $4 per bottle, you really can't go wrong because a little goes a very long way.