Doing your own pedicure at home: my step-by-step plan

I'm Ellen, and I graduated as a beautician in 2003. I used to do pedicure treatments myself. With this blog I want to teach you how to do your pedicure yourself at home.

Doing a pedicure at home is easier than you think. If you suffer from corns or ingrown nails, go to a pedicurist now and then. The regular care in between you can do yourself at home.

In this video and the step-by-step plan below, I show you how I do it.

My go-to plan for a pedicure at home

My base is the routine against calluses and white heels: the callus softener softens your calluses so you can file them away gently, and the DD Cream Mousse then keeps your feet supple. If you take your time, I start with a foot bath with the Foot Soak and a scrub with the Seaweed Scrub.

Footlogix | Routine against calluses and white heels
€ 62

Add the routine to my cart

For the full pedicure, with foot bath and scrub (together € 117.40):

Footlogix | Foot Soak for your foot bath
€ 23,10

Footlogix | Exfoliating Seaweed Scrub
€ 32,30

Add the full pedicure to my cart

Pedicure at home: what do you need?

• a large towel under the foot bath and a small one to dry off
• cotton pads and tissues
• nail polish remover
• Footlogix Foot Soak for your foot bath
• Footlogix Exfoliating Seaweed Scrub
• nail clipper, nail file and cuticle pusher
• Footlogix callus softener with foot file
• a foot mousse, for example the DD Cream Mousse
• optionally nail polish, Gelactic Top Coat and Gelactic Speed Dry spray

Pedicure at home in 10 steps

Step 1: remove your old nail polish

Remove your old polish with a nail polish remover, so you can see what your nails look like.

Step 2: take a foot bath

Add some Foot Soak to your foot bath. It cleanses and softens the skin while you relax. How long you stay is up to you.

Step 3: scrub your feet

Scrub your feet with the Seaweed Scrub, also between and on your toes and around your ankles. This removes dead skin cells that make your feet look dull. Rinse and dry well.

Step 4: trim your toenails

Cut your nails straight with a sturdy nail clipper and leave at least 1 mm of white edge. Cutting too short is not good if you have ingrown nails.

Step 5: file the corners

Round off the corners slightly with a nail file.

Step 6: push back your cuticles

Gently push back your cuticles with a cuticle pusher.

Step 7: remove your calluses

Spray the callus softener on your callus, leave it to work until it feels slightly tacky and file gently with the double-sided stainless steel foot file. No need to rinse, the spray keeps hydrating your skin. Rasping alone doesn't help: it is the combination of spraying, filing and then your foot mousse that works. If you only have a little callus, don't overdo it. You can read more tips in my blog about removing calluses at home.

Step 8: care for your toenails

If your nails are yellow or discoloured, spray the Nail Tincture spray on and under your nails. Read how I handle yellow or discoloured toenails.

Step 9: massage and care for your feet

Massage your feet and lower legs with the Footlogix Massage formula if you feel like it. Then apply a caring foot mousse. I use the DD Cream Mousse. Thanks to Footlogix's Dermal Infusion Technology (DIT), the urea penetrates deeper into the skin than with a classic urea cream, so it can do its hydrating work better. Do this before you paint your nails, so you don't accidentally rub over freshly painted nails.

Step 10: paint your nails

First degrease your nails, so no traces of mousse or scrub are left behind. Then you can paint them. How to do that beautifully, you can read in my step-by-step plan for beautifully painted toenails.

How often should you do a pedicure at home?

I recommend doing a full pedicure every 4 to 6 weeks. I do it myself every 4 weeks, so my feet look nice and cared for all year round. A full pedicure means: trimming nails, cuticles, calluses, foot mousse and optionally a foot bath and scrub.

Every 2 weeks you do a quick check-up: look at your nails, gently file away calluses where needed and apply your foot mousse.

My tip: keep your products in your wardrobe or shoe cabinet. You see them and you remember to use them.

Do you have cracks?

If your heels have a crack or fissure, read how I treat cracked feet.

My go-to plan for a pedicure at home

My base is the routine against calluses and white heels: the callus softener softens your calluses so you can file them away gently, and the DD Cream Mousse then keeps your feet supple. If you take your time, I start with a foot bath with the Foot Soak and a scrub with the Seaweed Scrub.

Footlogix | Routine against calluses and white heels
€ 62

Add the routine to my cart

For the full pedicure, with foot bath and scrub (together € 117.40):

Footlogix | Foot Soak for your foot bath
€ 23,10

Footlogix | Exfoliating Seaweed Scrub
€ 32,30

Add the full pedicure to my cart

Your questions, my answers

How often is it best to do a pedicure at home?

I recommend doing a full pedicure every 4 to 6 weeks. I do it myself every 4 weeks, so my feet look nice and cared for all year round. In between, you do a quick check-up every 2 weeks.

What does a pedicure at home cost?

Doing it yourself only costs you your products, and you use them for several sessions. My base, the routine against calluses and white heels, costs 62 euros.

Should you remove your nail polish before a pedicure?

Yes, always start by removing your old polish. That way you see what your nails look like and you can trim and care for them properly.

Should you file calluses before or after the foot bath?

After the foot bath and the scrub, on a dried foot. Spray the callus softener on your callus and only file when it no longer feels wet, but still slightly tacky.

When is it better to go to a pedicurist?

If you suffer from corns or ingrown nails, go to a pedicurist now and then. The regular care in between you can do yourself at home.

How long does a pedicure at home take?

A check-up takes a quarter of an hour. For a full pedicure with foot bath, scrub and painting, allow about an hour.

Also discover all Footlogix foot care.