You buy the best face washes and shower gels money can buy, treat your hair to elaborate oil-massage-shampoo and lather yourself with delicious body butters. However, amidst our elaborate beauty rituals, we often tend to overlook our hands and feet. In fact, smelly feet, corns, ingrown toenails and bunions aren’t that uncommon, because of the long hours spent stuffed in closed shoes. Fret not, a little TLC and some fuss-free grooming can fix those niggling hand-feet glitches in a snap.
Here are the best hands & feet care tips:
1. Simple hand care strategies
Like your face, your hands bear the brunt of the elements; sun, hot or cold air, moisture, wind and dust. While you should maintain hand hygiene by washing with a hand wash like Nykaa Wanderlust Handwash - Sicilian Sweet Pea, it’s also important to regularly use a moisturizer to restore lost nutrients. Nykaa recommends Nykaa French Lavender & Honey Hand & Nail Creme
2. Nail care rules
Soft, well-kept hands is only the start. What about your nails? Are you a nail biter? Do you often bite or chew off hang nails instead of snipping them with a nail cutter? This is the time to stop these ugh worthy, nail damaging habits once and for all and follow our beauty tips for hands. Buy a handy nail trimmer like Vega Manicure Set and keep your nails trimmed and filed. Remember a man’s nails should be longer than the width of a one rupee coin.
Some nail clipping rules you should keep in mind:
3. Manly feet problems and their fixes
Long hours trapped in nylon socks and laced up shoes is a breeding ground for smelling, sweaty feet. Simple solutions: Ditch nylon and opt for pure cotton or even woollen socks in cold weather. If Athletes Foot is the bane of your life, using an anti-fungal powder or cream can only help short-term because the fungus invariably returns. Instead, during your shower, wash your feet with your regular shower gel or bathing soap. Then pat dry with a towel and apply a thick lotion containing peppermint or eucalyptus says naturopath Dr. Maya Shinde. “Both ingredients are powerful antifungals.” She also recommends using a specialized scrub like MCaffeine Naked & Raw Coffee Foot Scrub to scrub heels and between toes to slough off dead skin. Fungal infections can cause your nails to shift and even lift off the nail bed.
Walking around barefoot in gyms or common shower areas at spas is the commonest way to pick up fungal infections. Podiatrists say this can be avoided by wearing flip flops or rubber chappals in the common shower area at the spa or gym. Plantar warts are trickier though. They resemble corns but aren’t and your options for getting rid of range from freezing them, shrinking them with salicylic acid, surgical excision or laser treatment.
4. Treat ingrowths and calluses
Ill-fitting shoes and excessive trimming can cause toenails to curve inwards and painfully dig into the surrounding flesh around it. Get relief by soaking in warm water and cut nails across in a straight line. Hardened, dry skin calluses are another common problem caused by friction from ill-fitting shoes. Get rid of it by using a pumice stone like Panache Oval Pumice Stone. Don’t forget to give your hardworking feet a little TLC by slathering on some hand and foot lotion or moisturizing cream at bedtime.
5. Banish smelly feet
Finally, the touchy problem of smelly feet. Often wearing socks before your feet are fully dry is the culprit. Prevent this by making sure your feet are completely dry—especially between the toes—and sprinkling some talcum powder before wearing shoes. You could also try using an antiperspirant like the one you use on armpits between your toes. Nykaa recommends Nivea Men Fresh Ocean Deodorant. give your feet a regular soak in a bucket of warm water infused with green tea like Organic India Tulsi Earl Grey Tea (25 Tea Bag). The tannin in the tea kills bacteria.
to give your hands some TLC!
