Giving a woman a pedicure

I know this is primarily a blog on sex but I was convinced to put this up. A pedicure can be fun for you and a great treat for the recipient (naturally). You can give one to your significant other, a friend, even a family member, or anyone comfortable enough to have you handling their feet.

A professional pedicure at a salon can take about 30 minutes. Expect this one to take 1-2 hours depending on how long you spend on each step, so make sure you have enough time before you begin. There are a number of short how-to's on giving a pedicure available on the Internet, but what I have written here is almost the whole nine yards, with steps for each step, so be prepared for a read! Skip to any step if you just want the skinny on something in particular.

Things you'll need for a complete pedicure:

• Strengthening top & base coat
• Cuticle nail oil
• Her desired color of nail polish
• Metal emeryl or glass emery file
• Multi-step nail buffer
• Cuticle trimmer
• Cuticle pusher (rubber or plastic, not metal)
• Nail polish remover
• Nail clippers
• Pumice foot scrub (and optional stone)
• Foot salt soak
• Massage oil
• Non-greasy lotion or moisturizing cream
• Cotton pads and cue-tips
• Any nail art polish or stickers if you wish to add these
• Able hands, patience, and feet in need of pampering

Step 1: Get comfortable

• You should both be in comfortable relaxed clothing.
• Sit her some place that the both of you can be comfortable. You'll need to be positioned so that you can access her feet easily and go through all the steps. The couch or a comfy chair is the best place for her as you'll need her feet near the floor.
• Bring her a cup of hot coffee, tea, cocoa, or whatever she likes to help her relax.
• Light a scented candle with a relaxing scent such as lavender (or her favorite)

Step 2: Soothe her feet

1. A home foot spa is great if you have one. Most people don't have this so simply soaking her feet in a tub or plastic wash basin will do. Add the foot salt soak to warm water and stir it a bit to ensure it is dissolved.
2. Let her feet soak for about 15 minutes. It will soften and soothe them.
3. After soaking dry her feet completely with a towel. If you'd like, you can heat the towel up by putting it in the dryer for 5 minutes or sitting it folded over an air vent if the heat is on. Going from a warm foot bath to a warm towel will feel even better.

Step 3: Prepare her toes

1. If necessary, use the nail clippers to trim back her toenails so that there is about 2-3 mm or so of nail past the edge. Cut in a straight line, not a curve, to prevent in-growing toenails. Don't cut too much....you want enough there to paint!
2. File her nails with the emeryl file, arcing across the edge to mildly round out the toenail. Don't use it on the surface of the nail as emeryl files are often too abrasive, not to mention the metal edge can slice painfully into the cuticles. You'll need to hold each toe steady in turn so be careful not to squeeze it too hard.
3. Buff her toenails, edges and top surface, with the 4-step nail buffer. This will smooth out the nails.
4. Brush the cuticle nail oil onto her cuticles. Using your thumbs, gently massage the oil into the cuticle of each toe.
5. Trim of any bits of loose skin visible on the edges of the toenails using the cuticle trimmer. Do NOT cut the actual cuticles, despite the name of the tool.
6. Gently push back the cuticles using the cuticle pusher. You do this by sliding it across the back of the toenail against the cuticle. Some cuticle trimmers come with a cuticle pusher on the other end.

Step 4: Massage her feet

1. Prepare the massage oil by heating it in a small dish if you'd like. I recommend using KY Touch Warming Foot Massage, which you don't need to heat up in advance. You can activate the heat through friction (obviously) and also by blowing gently on the KY Warming variety.
2. Rub the oil between your hands to get them lubricated and to ensure it is warm (if you didn't heat it).
3. Massage each foot in turn using the oil. This should take 30-45 minutes. There are a number of good how-to's and videos on the web showing techniques for foot massage. Here are some general tips to keep in mind though:
   • If she is ticklish, go very slow and use pressure enough that the tickling isn't so bad.
   • You should use smooth slow strokes. This allows the tissue to better move blood.
   • The heel and ball of the foot can generally take more pressure.
   • Be careful how you hold her foot. Don't let your finger tips press into the tops. Try to hold it with your fingers flat.
   • Don't forget to massage her toes! Gingerly massage them with finger and thumb as if painting up and down with a brush between your fingers.

Important

It is recommend that you not give a foot massage to a woman who is pregnant. Pressing the wrong points can actually cause contractions to start in some women. Also, make sure any lotions or oils used are safe for pregnant women. Check the back of the bottle or box for warnings before use.

Step 5: Exfoliate her feet

1. Set her feet on a clean towel.
2. Put some pumice foot scrub into the palm of your hand and rub it around to get it warm before applying it to her feet.
3. Rub it across the top and bottom of her foot, including the Achilles tendon. Work each toe lightly and individually. Be careful not to apply too much pressure as you want to exfoliate the skin, not rub it raw.
4. Move to the next foot when the pumice foot scrub starts to create too much traction. The scrub will have broken up the cuticle and massage oil as well.
5. Using a warm wet wash clothe clean off her feet gingerly. You will probably have to re-wet it with warm water two or three times to completely remove the foot scrub grains. Don't forget in between her toes!
6. Use the pointed tip of the emeryl file to slowly and carefully remove any grit that has built up under the edges of her toenails. This is a delicate matter because the last thing you want is to slice into the skin under her nail.
7. If she still has some thick rough spots on the bottoms of her feet then use the pumice stone to smooth them out.
8. Apply the moisturizing cream to her feet to lock in moisture.

Step 6: Paint her toenails

1. Apply a base coat using the strengthening top & base coat solution to each toenail. Allow to dry.
2. Apply the first coat of nail polish in smooth strokes across the toenails, being careful not to get it on the skin, covering the whole nail. The smaller toes can usually be covered in one stroke. Don't go back over the coat of polish even it has just been there a few seconds as multiple unnecessary strokes can make the polish gummy and uneven.
3. Allow the first coat to dry completely. Blowing on the toes will speed this up a bit. It should not be tacky feeling when you apply the next coat or the tackiness will catch the paint brush as it is applied, making the coat look poor. While waiting on the nail polish to dry you can lightly massage her feet some more to pass the time, but be careful not to touch the nail polish.
4. Apply the second coat of nail polish and allow to dry completely.
5. Optionally you may try your hand at nail art using a nail art brush on the toenail of the big toe. You can use a cotton pad to wipe the tiny tip to the nail art brush when you need to switch colors. There are also polish bottles available specifically for nail art that have the art brush built in. I personally find that a nail art brush allows for better control though.
6. After any nail art is completely dry you will apply the top coat using the strengthening top & base coat solution.
7. Very carefully remove any excess nail polish from the skin around her toenails using cue-tips or the pointed tip of the emeryl file. Optionally she may wait until the next morning and just allow any excess polish to come off in the shower.
8. Apply any nail art stickers or jewels after the top coat is dry if you decide to.

Note

If she needs to get up, put some slippers or soft socks on her feet so that they don't get dirty while still doing the pedicure. As a nice added treat you can heat the socks up by putting them onto the end of a hair dryer for a few seconds. Obviously this can't be done if you are in the process of applying toenail polish that is still wet unless you have open toed slippers.

She should NOT do much walking until the polish is dried HARD. Otherwise the repeated pressing of the skin around the nail from walking can bunch up the polish at the edges little by little making an ugly mess. Stepping mostly with the heel of the foot can prevent this.

So there you have it! Hope it wasn't too much to take in! If you have fun (and still have a willing participant) you should be able to do more/better on subsequent pedicures.

....and who knows, that pedicure could take a more interesting turn for you both as it has for me before. Some ladies just love to put their well pampered feet to naughty uses. ;) Have fun!