4 Tips For Foot Care

If you want to show off your beautiful feet in the summer, you have to look after them properly. What’s great is that you can do this at home.

Pedicures

Treating your feet to a regular pedicure is a must if you want your feet to look cared for. We will show you how to remove the horny skin properly, cut nails into a perfect shape and treat your feet to an intensive pampering programme.

Horny skin: the protective layer for the feet

Horny skin often looks unattractive but for your feet it is actually important protection!
With regular pressure – a result of shoes that are too narrow, high heels or thin soles – small inflammations are caused in the hypodermis.
These signal to the body that protection for the sensitive lower cell layers must be built up.
To prevent further injuries, the skin thickens locally in the damaged area and the horny layer is formed.

Protection for your feet, step by step

If you want to avoid having a lot of horny skin, you should ensure your shoes fit perfectly. Regular foot care will also help to keep the horny layer thin, soft and smooth.

Good to know: what are feet made up of?

The structure of our feet consists of 28 bones, 107 ligaments and 19 muscles. This means that our feet contain 25% of the bones in our bodies.
The skin on our feet is very firm. Also, our feet have hardly any subcutaneous tissue.
The horny layer itself cannot protect itself and can therefore dry out and tear very easily.
With excessive and constant pressure, more horny skin may be formed, along with calluses and tears in the heel, also known as rhagades. NIVEA products contain a soothing formula with panthenol and bisabolol which supports the skin’s natural regeneration and makes it soft and smooth again.
But even with only the horny layer, the skin on your feet should be kept smooth and robust, and this is where daily foot care is important.

These help to regenerate the dry, rough and callused skin on the feet and to provide it with moisture – making it smooth again.

A home pedicure: for silky soft feet

All-round foot care is easy to do at home: find the best tips from NIVEA.

How to look after your feet

A warm foot bath is the best way to start

Begin your pedicure with a lukewarm footbath. Leave your feet in the water for 15 minutes. Pour in a special foot bath additive or bath oil in advance. It not only has a relaxing effect, but it also makes your feet softer, making it easier to remove dry skin.

How to look after your feet

Gently and effectively remove horny skin

First, remove dead skin particles with a scrub (for example, the Anti-Callous 2in1 Scrub from Hansaplast). Then treat worse areas carefully with a pumice stone or a foot file.

How to look after your feet

Now you need moisture

After removing the horny skin, you should moisturise your feet well. Regenerating foot creams with urea will provide an extra dose of moisture and will combat the formation of new horny skin (for example, from the Hansaplast foot experts Regenerating Foot Cream).

How to look after your feet

Going barefoot – an occasional little massage

Did you know that there are lots of little nerve cells and nerve endings on the soles of your feet? These are highly stimulated if you walk around barefoot – similar to having a foot reflexology massage. Why not try walking through the fresh dew on the grass on summer mornings?

Beautiful feet with the right nail care

Cutting your nails is also a part of pedicures.
It’s best to use nail clippers for this – then your nails won’t split.
Cut the nails straight and along the top so that they don’t tear or grow inwards.
The shape of the nails should follow the natural shape of the toe.
To finish off, smooth the edges with a crystal nail file. These are particularly gentle on brittle nails.
Now rub in some oil or foot cream into the cuticle and nails – and you’ve finished your home pedicure.
Our tip: Treat very dry feet to an intensive foot cream mask: In the evening, simply apply a thick layer of intensive-acting foot cream, such as Hansaplast regenerating foot cream with 10% urea, pull on a pair of cotton socks, let it absorb overnight – and look forward to having beautifully soft feet the next morning!