Your feet take a lot of punishment all day long. Consequently, they can end up looking dry and cracked. If you’re wearing sandals or going barefoot this summer, you want your feet to look their best. By following the tips below, you can rejuvenate your tired feet, while protecting them, so they’ll look their prettiest all summer long.

Slough Off Dry, Rough Skin

Soak your feet in warm soapy water or warm water infused with bath salts for 15 to 20 minutes to help soften up your skin. You can also add a few drops of tea tree oil in the water, which is good for soothing dry, itchy feet.

Once your feet have soaked, you should gently rub any calluses or rough spots with a pumice stone to remove the dry, tough skin. Or, you can use an exfoliating foot scrub made from botanicals like crushed fruit pits or olive oil and raw sugar. If your calluses are really thick, you may need to use a commercial heel cream containing salicylic acid or urea to soften them up.

You should never cut your calluses, corns, or bunions. If these conditions are particularly bothersome, then you should visit a podiatrist to discuss treatment options.

Moisturize Your Feet

Immediately after soaking and exfoliating your feet, you should apply a rich, moisturizing foot cream all over your feet – including the tops, between your toes, and over your heels and ankles. Use moisturizers that contain shea butter or cocoa butter, emollients like petrolatum, or humectants like lactic acid. These creams or gels will draw moisture into the skin, helping to prevent drying and cracking.

At least once a week, before you go to bed, you should apply a thin layer of foot cream or petroleum jelly all over your feet and slip on a pair of cotton socks. This will help to moisturize your feet overnight for added softness.

Take Care of Your Toenails

Using nail clippers, you should trim your toenails straight across to avoid hangnails and ingrown toenail problems. Then, you should gently file the edges with an emery board. Make sure you only file in one direction, so you don’t weaken the nails.

You can clean under the nails by using the pointed end of an orange stick. Then, by using the slanted end of the orange stick, you can gently push back the cuticles. You should never cut your cuticles since this can lead to an infection.

After trimming your toenails, you should gently apply a moisturizer over each nail, including the cuticle.

If you want to polish your toenails, you should apply a clear base-coat polish first, allowing it to dry. A base coat will prevent dark-colored nail polishes, like red, from turning your nails yellow. Next, you can apply one or two coats of your favorite color of nail polish, allowing it to dry. Finally, you should apply a clear top-coat polish to help seal the color and add an extra shine.

To keep your feet looking cute, remember to touch up your toenail polish often. When removing nail polish, you should use a non-acetone remover. Never use nail polish removers that contain alcohol, acetone, or formaldehyde since these can cause your toenails and cuticles to dry out.

Remember to Apply Sunscreen to Your Feet

Your feet can get sunburned, too. So remember to apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15 to the tops of your feet whenever you’re out in the sun this summer.

Wear ezWalker^® Performance Insoles for Added Comfort

If you suffer from arch or heel pain, metatarsalgia, over pronation, or other conditions causing foot pain, you should consider slipping ezWalker^® Performance Insoles into your shoes. Custom-made, biomechanically correct, arch supports, like the ezWalker^® Performance Insole, can help reduce or eliminate your foot pain – comforting your feet with every step. Plus, you can easily transfer the ezWalker^® Performance Insoles for Dress from your high heels to your strappy sandals to your dancing shoes – saving you money.

So start pampering your feet today and order your ezWalker^® Performance Insoles.

Because … when your feet feel good (and look pretty), you feel good (and look pretty) too!