5 Ways To Get Your Feet Beach-ready This Summer

With summer just around the corner, it’s time to get our feet looking gorgeous and healthy so that we can feel good about getting them out in our flip-flops. With some simple treatments and the right products your feet will be ready for sea, sand and surf. These 5 essential foot-care tips from leading podiatrist at Holistic Health, Tracy Byrne.

Avoid dry, cracked heels: Before hitting the beach and letting the sand exfoliate our toes, get rid of the winter dryness ahead of your holiday! Spending the winter months in socks and boots can cause hard skin to build-up and if not treated can develop into callus and even cracked and bleeding heels, leaving our feet unprepared for spring. Removing hard and dry skin helps keeps your feet looking and feeling great and it’s something you can easily do from the comfort of your own home before you go on holiday. Footner Exfoliating Socks (myfootner.co.uk) require just one easy 60-minute application and make use of the skin’s natural processes to rid your feet from dead skin. Within 3-5 days, dry skin will start to shed from your feet to reveal baby-soft skin beneath!

Moisturise: You may have a favourite body lotion or moisturiser that you use already after the bath or shower, but sometimes the tougher, dry skin on our feet needs some special attention. The best creams to combat dryness and slough away dead skin cells on our feet are much richer and heavier than the creams and lotions we’d typically use on the rest of our body. If your applying moisturiser in the morning, remember to include a product with SPF in your routine as many of us forget that our feet will also be out and exposed to UV rays during summer. Try to remember that your feet are under more pressure than the rest of you so looking after them is as important (if not more so!) than other parts of your body.

Choose a breathable nail polish: Whether you opt for an at-home pedicure or treat yourself to the salon treatment, nail polish and artificial nails can be very dehydrating for nails and prolonged use can put you at a higher risk of developing a nail fungus. If you will be donning open-toed shoes in summer, treat your nails kindly; try a breathable nail polish such as Nailner Breathable Nail Polish in Rosy Red which is designed to allow oxygen to pass through the polish and down to the nail so it helps to keep your nails healthy.

Buy sandals that fit: A summer holiday is the perfect excuse to purchase a brand new pair of sandals, but far too many of us make the mistake of buying ones that don’t fit us correctly. When choosing summer shoes, try to find soles that offer plenty of arch support; otherwise, you could sustain an injury. If flip-flops are your summer shoe of choice, try to limit wear to a few hours a day and avoid wearing during any strenuous physical activity.

Be sweet to your feet with a massage: Giving yourself a foot massage can be a perfect way to relax, improve circulation and relieve pressures before going away. If you’ve got an early flight to catch, massaging your feet for 5 to 10 minutes before going to bed can help you get a good night’s sleep so you feel ready to enjoy your holiday. For added luxury, use some warm coconut oil or massage oil to soften skin. To start grab your foot with both hands and gently press thumbs into any points of soreness or muscular aches in a circular motion. Try spreading, a technique that involves grabbing each side of the foot and gently pulling outwards to the side, working from the arches to the ball of the foot and then massaging each toe.