Fantastic Foot Soak Sunday

Do you like my sweet use of consonance in the subject line? DO YOU?! Cmon, I'm an English teacher; I gotta get my kicks somehow!

Anyway. This is a kinda-sorta tutorial on how to do a great at home foot-soak-and-scrub routine. It's quick, cheap, and very effective. The only reason I don't do it more often is because it requires you to sit still for at least 30 minutes, then stick your feet in some goofy-looking socks. I don't often have the house to myself to take on these I'm-gonna-look-stupid tasks, y'know?

The toolkit: fuzzy cotton socks that hold in moisture, a grainy scrub, a pumice stone or bar, a super-rich foot cream, and some lemon juice. Oh, and of course you'll need some warm water and a big tub or basin to stick your feet in, but that's a given. Towels are a good idea, too.

First, I squeeze lemon juice in to the basin. I use about 3/4 of a container, which is why the water is slightly murky and yellow in the top picture, but you can use a little more or less to suit your tastes. You could also squeeze fresh lemons, but that's too much effort for me. :P Lemon juice can help with odor, calluses, and discoloration; some people actually rub slices of lemon on their feet for extra benefits.

Then I add plenty of hot water, being careful not to overfill the basin. Why hot water? Because you're going to be soaking your feet for 30 minutes, so it's going to cool down, and because it feels freakin' great. Oh, and it helps to soften up your skin. That counts.

After soaking my feet in the lemon water for 30  minutes, I start using my scrubs. I start with some St. Ives Apricot Scrub, which is marketed as a face scrub, but is--in my humble opinion--way too harsh to use above the shoulders. It's great for getting dead skin and flakes off of my body, though! After scrubbing my fit with a generous amount and rinsing it off, I then use my Mr. Pumice bar on any stubborn spots. For me, that means my ankles, my big toes, and my heels. I rinse my feet again.

The final step is to moisturize. I pat my feet dry, then apply a generous layer of the Ahava Leave-On Deadsea Mud foot cream. It smells absolutely horrendous, but I can't deny that it moisturizes my monstrous feet like crazy. I slip on my fuzzy socks to hold in the moisture and leave them on for at least an hour.

While this won't remove heavy-duty calluses or completely alter your feet overnight--you need tougher treatments for that--this foot soak is a relaxing and reliable way to maintain soft, beautiful feet. Try it out once a week and see if you notice a difference. At the very least, you'll feel a little more zen.