Show off your hands! Step-by-step instructions for a complete at home manicure. Your hands will thank you.

1. Clean your nails with non-acetone nail polish remover, using cotton balls. File your nails from corner to corner, being sure to go straight across, not back and forth, to prevent nails from peeling or slitting. File the sides at a 45-degree angle. Look for soft files and avoid emery boards.
   
2. Soak your nails in warm soapy water for a few minutes. Now dry your hands and put cuticle remover on cuticles and let soak. Your cuticle should dissolve.
   
3. Push cuticle back very gently with an orange wood stick wrapped in thin cotton. If you have a hang nail (loose skin around your nail), trim it with nippers.
   
4. Apply hand lotion, and massage around the nail and cuticle area. Doing this prevents to cuticle from becoming dried out and helps promote nail growth.
   
5. Remove any oil from your nails by putting them back in the soapy water and brushing with a nail brush. Or you can use your facial astringent applied with cotton balls to remove oil.

Quick hand and Nail Tips

For flaky skin mix one cup of boiling water with half a cup of bran and let cool. Immerse hands into mixture and massage into hands. Rinse with warm water and follow with a hand moisturizer. Help for nails that won’t grow – mix one packet unflavoured gelatin with one tablespoon almond oil. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Massage into nails daily to help grow them long and strong.

For rough cuticles wet fingertips with water and dip them into cornmeal. Massage and rinse with tepid water. Buff nails with a nail brush while rinsing to make sure you remove all the cornmeal. Dry thoroughly and apply hand cream.

For brittle nails, once a week, apply almond oil to nails and hands, cover with socks or gloves and wear them overnight.

For discoloured fingernails, dissolve a tablet of denture cleanser in warm water and soak fingers until the stains disappear.

Whiten your nails by mixing one tablespoon hydrogen peroxide with three tablespoons baking soda. Apply to nails (underneath and over tops) with a cotton swab. Leave on for three to five minutes then rise with warm water. Apply hand lotion.

To strengthen and shine nails, combine two teaspoons of salt, two teaspoons castor oil, and one teaspoon wheat germ oil and mix thoroughly. Pour into a bottle. Shake before using. To use, rub a small amount into your nails. Leave on three to five minutes and tissue off. Follow up with more plain castor oil, if desired

For a revitalizing hand wrap, coat hands with lotion. Slip into roomy plastic gloves, then into warm gloves. Leave on 30 minutes. Remove plastic and warm gloves, then tissue off excess lotion.

For chapped hands put a pair of cotton gloves in the dryer to warm. Massage olive oil into hands, nails and cuticles. Slip on warm gloves. You might want someone to help you! Leave on for 20 minutes or overnight.

Steps to a Perfect Pedicure

Your feet have to last you a lifetime, don’t neglect them. Here are some tips to keep your feet in shape. Healthy feet are very important.

• Remove any dirt and grime and examine feet for any nail or foot disorders.
  
• Soak feet for five to ten minutes in a warm, vibrating foot bath that has an aromatic, disinfectant solution of one tablespoon of baking soda and ten drops of your favourite essential oil.
  
• Remove dead skin with an exfoliating cream. Callused skin should be treated with a moisturizing product, and then gently buffed with an exfoliating tool. It should never be cut or shaved off.
  
• Hydrate cuticles with cuticle cream, then pushed back from the nail plate with an orange wood stick.
• Trim toenails and file, with corners gently rounded to prevent them from growing into the corners of the surrounding tissue.
  
• The highlight of any pedicure is the soothing foot and leg massage (to the knee) that relaxes tired muscles and promotes circulation.

Milk Bath For Your Feet

Warm three cups whole milk. In another bowl, mix 1/2 cup coarse salt and 1/3 cup olive oil. Soak feet in milk for ten minutes, then rinse. Scrub feet with salt-oil mixture. Rinse and apply a moisturizer and thick socks (heated in the dryer) to seal in the softness.

Exfoliate Your Feet

Use a loofah sponge to exfoliate tops, sides and bottom of your feet. Remember to

scrub all of your toes too. After drying with a fluffy towel, apply your favourite moisturizer generously and then put on a thick (heated from the dryer) pair of socks on for a pampered feeling. Try these four steps to deodorizing and softening treatments.

Deodorizing Foot Bath

• 1/2 cup white vinegar

• 5-6 tbsp Epsom salts

• 1 gallon warm water

Soak the feet for ten minutes.

Banana Foot Cream

Dry feet will become smooth and soft overnight if you mix:

• 1/2 banana

• 1 tbsp. honey

• Juice from 1/2 a lemon

• 1 tbsp. natural margarine

Smear on feet and wear thick socks to bed. Wash off in the morning.

Deodorizing Foot Powder

• 1 tbsp. of baking powder

• 2-10 drops of your favourite essential oil

Mix baking powder and oil in a plastic bag, shake well. Allow to dry. Break up any clumps that may have formed. Dust feet regularly with the powder and add a teaspoon in the shoes overnight.

Invigorating foot bath. Soak your feet in warm soapy water that has a teaspoon of peppermint extract added to it. Gently scrub your feet and use a pumice stone to smooth calluses and rough skin.

Prevent corns and calluses. Wear good, comfortable footwear that leaves plenty of room for your toes to wiggle. Walk around in the shoes in the store for five minutes before deciding to buy. If they are going to hurt your feet, you will know in the first five minutes. Take note of any pinching and if they rub in a particle spot, don’t buy them!

Improve circulation. Elevate your feet at least 15 minutes a day to help improve circulation.

Toenails. Trim toenails with toenail clipper in a straight or slightly curved shape. Use a file to round the corners. Smooth down any rough edges with a fine file.

Exercise for your feet. Remove your slippers and sit in a chair. Now press your toes down hard on the floor as if making knuckles with your toes. But do not let them curl under. Relax and repeat a few times.

Sit on the edge of a chair with your heels resting on the floor. Spread the toes wide and then relax them. Repeat ten times.

Wear shoes that fit. When you buy shoes, always have your feet measured to be sure you choose the right size.

Buy shoes that give your toes room to wiggle. When you stand up, there should be at least 1/2 inch between the end of your longest toe and the toe of the shoe.

Put lotion on your feet every day to help with drying and cracking. 

Wash your feet daily. Rinse off all soap and dry thoroughly, especially between toes.

Summer? After showing or bathing, trim your toenails and smooth any rough edges with a file. Use a pumice stones on calluses and make it a habit to use a foot file on the bottom of your feet and heals at least once a week. This will keep your feet ready for any sandal at any time.

Foot refresher. After soaking feet in warm water, massage feet with a mixture of one tablespoon olive oil, one tablespoon sugar, and one tablespoon crushed dried peppermint. Remove with a warm, damp wash cloth.

Photo by Kevin Malik: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-person-holding-a-game-controller-8762843/