DIY Summer Beauty Guide -- First Edition

Who has the time or money to head off to the spa for an entire day to get buffed, waxed, and polished to shiny perfection before you expose your entire body during the summer sun season? I know that after a long, hard winter wearing boots and all, my tootsies just aren’t that cute anymore. Overgrown cuticles and toenails that are just a tad too long are keeping me from showing off my feet in a pair of cute, strappy sandals. Not that sandals in my large shoe size look that cute anyway, but I guess I’m stuck with them. So, my pedicure needs to look amazing, and I have to get to work on them. You should, too. It’s DIY Summer Beauty, so set aside 30 minutes for each task and then you can go back to the busy business of being a mom! 
 
DIY Pedicure: I hate doing my own toes. Hate it, hate it, hate it. But, with the high price of gas this summer, I can’t afford to spend $75 on a pedicure. In order to get smooth, polished feet, you need a few items in your home pedicure kit.

• Foot Scrub
• Nail or Manicure Stick (wooden stick looks like a long flat chopstick, come to think of it, a chopstick might actually work, too.)
• Nail Clippers
• Nail File
• Foot Cream - any body cream will do
• Polish (make sure it’s a fun, punchy summer color like Essie’s California Coral - a bright peachy-pink)
  

It’s easiest to start the pedicure when you are in the bath or shower. Your feet will be damp and soft from the water, ready to be exfoliated with your FOOT SCRUB. Scrub each foot to remove all the yucky dead winter skin for at least a minute per foot. Really get in their and scrub the heck out of them. Don’t forget between your toes, and the heels especially where a lot of dead skin tends to build up. It’s then easy to rinse the scrub off while you finish your shower. After you get out and dry off, it’s time to finish up the rest of the pedicure.

First, clip your toe nails, you want them to to be straight across. Keep them on the short side, and then round off the edges with the NAIL FILE so that they are a squoval (square oval) shape. Then, while your cuticles are still soft, push them back with the MANICURE STICK. If you don’t have one of these you can use the edge of your nail file. You don’t want to clip your cuticles because you run the risk of damaging the area and inviting infections in the nail bed. Next, rub a heavy FOOT CREAM into your foot, but avoid the toe area so that you can polish them right away. Then, POLISH with your favorite summer color! Now is the time to experiment with bright colors that will draw attention to your pretty pedicure, and no one will know that you did it yourself!
 
DIY Waxing: Alright I am just going to come out and say that it’s not a simple task to wax yourself. Don’t get me wrong, I love the results of it because it lasts much longer than shaving, but it is also much easier to leave it to a professional esthetician who specializes in hair removal. It’s still downright painful, but if you want to attempt it at home, be my guest. If you really are up for a challenge you can also try to do your bikini area. I’m not talking about attempting the “fully monty” either. Just a basic bikini wax. Before you get started, pop an ibuprofen which is supposed to alleviate some of the pain of waxing. I don’t actually think it helps, but that’s what the pros recommend, and I am always up for doing anything that might make the process easier, even if it’s only in my head.

I recommend Bliss Spa’s Poetic Waxing Kit ($45) for two reasons. One, it’s not scalding hot and works at a lower temperature to ensure that you don’t burn yourself (which I have done before). And two, it isn’t pre-waxed strips which I have found are too sticky and hard to pull off and can cause bruising. I have done this, too- blah. The kit comes with a mug full of wax which is brightly colored so you can easily see where you have applied it. Remember to look over the instructions carefully. Getting good at DIY waxing takes practice. You are going to feel kind of clumsy the first time you try it. You don’t use cloth strips with this kit, so you can directly pull the wax off in the opposite direction of the hair growth. Hold the skin taut with one hand while you yank the hair away with your other hand. Try to practice a bit before heading up to the more sensitive bikini line. Start with your lower leg, for instance. It’s easy to reach and the pain factor is less there. Then move onto your armpits- those are fun, too! Well, maybe not fun exactly, but at least it’s not a large area of hair. Kind of like a man’s back. Hey, maybe once you get really good at the waxing thing, your significant other will let you wax his back. I say, if we women have to go fuzz free, maybe we should get the men on the waxing bandwagon, too!
 
Next week: DIY Summer Beauty continues with sunless tanning and at-home hair highlighting!