How to Give Yourself an Awesome Pedicure at Home

Professional pedicures are as much therapy as they are a way to make your feet look like you didn't just emerge from spending three years barefoot in the forest, but if you're short on cash or pressed for time, you can give yourself a pedicure that'll fool passersby into thinking you spent the afternoon sipping iced, cucumber-infused water at the salon.

Although a home pedi isn't quite as fun or relaxing as what you'll get at the salon since you're all hunched over and doing all the work, you should at least try to make it a festive activity. So, gather all your supplies, and put some soothing tunes on the Wi-Fi. Pour yourself a nice tall glass of ice water, toss in an orange slice or a mint leaf or something, and get your pedi on!

Soak Your Pups. A 10-minute foot soak softens dead skin cells and calluses on your feet to help make it easier to exfoliate and remove calluses. It also feels like pure heaven.

Remove your old toenail polish and fill a tub with warm water. Add 20 drops of tea tree essential oil to disinfect, and pour in a couple of tablespoons of witch hazel to soothe, heal, and reduce inflammation. Toss in a few drops of peppermint oil to rejuvenate your feet.

Slide your feet into the water and let them soak for 10 minutes.

Trim & File the Nails. Use a heavy-duty toenail clipper to trim your nails straight across. Smooth and round the edges with a nail file to give them a pleasing shape and help prevent ingrown toenails.

Smooth Rough Calluses. With a lava rock or wet pumice stone, gently work away the calluses on your heels, toes, and the balls of your feet. Move the stone back and forth with light pressure to remove just the top layer of skin. Go too far, and you'll break through the skin, which will hurt like hell and leave your feet susceptible to painful infection. Nothing's more satisfying than removing calluses, but use restraint!

Exfoliate Away Dead Cells. Remove any remaining dead skin cells with a thick foot scrub containing sugar-sized crystals and hydrating ingredients like almond or jojoba oil. Pour a good-sized dollop of foot scrub into your hand, and massage it into your foot in gentle circular motions, working from the heel to the toes and including your ankles in the festivities. Spend a couple of minutes on each foot. Rinse them with warm water and gently pat them dry — don't rub! — with a soft, absorbent towel.

Moisturize and Massage. Slather on a moisturizing foot treatment containing Shea butter. Work it in using small circular motions. While you're at it, use your thumbs to gently massage the arches of your feet to relax them and improve circulation.

Buff the Nails. Wipe the surface of each of your toenails with the roughest side a buffing block to smooth away bumps and remove discoloration. If the tips of your toes are rough or peeling, gently smooth those, too. Use the smooth side of the block to buff your toenails to a high shine.

Coat 'em With Color. Dip a cotton ball in a non-acetone nail polish remover and wipe your nails with it to remove any residue from the oils, exfoliator, and moisturizer. Separate your toes with a foam separator, or weave a rolled-up paper towel between them.

Brush on a clear, sticky base coat, which will dry slightly tacky to help the polish adhere better. Be sure to brush a little base coat along the open edges of your nails to seal them.

Apply the colored polish to your nails (and their open edges) in three thin coats, allowing the first two coats to dry completely before applying the next. Brush on a top coat over the last color coat while the latter is still a little wet. This will help the top coat fully adhere to the color to prevent chipping.

When the top coat is dry, shine up the whole shebang with a few drops of cuticle oil. Gently massage the oil onto the nail and into the cuticles.

Show 'em Off. Put on a darling pair of scrappy sandals and head out into the world so that others may enjoy your gorgeously appointed and perfectly-pedicured puppies.

Have you ever given yourself an at-home-pedi? What are your fav tips?