5 Hacks For Beach-Ready Feet

Body positive attitude? Check. Killer swimsuit? Check. Freshly manicured feet that don't look like an elephant's kneecaps? Oops. As soon as the sun comes out, we all want to rock those sandals we bought last fall on clearance. The problem with that is as soon as we start skipping socks, we start drying out our feet. And before you know it, your feet look cracked and crusty and beach day is upon you. Add in some chipped polish and that callous you got from insisting on walking around downtown in those new boots, and you get feet that are screaming out for some TLC.

Getting your feet beach-ready isn't just about having smooth heels and cute toes. Keeping up on your foot hygiene can help prevent yellowing nails, fungal infections and sore, bleeding heels — none of which feel great against hot sand and beach rocks. If you're like me and don't enjoy strangers playing with your feet (or if you just don't have the time or money to go to a salon), a home pedi with a few quick hacks thrown in can save the day. Here are some of the best, most effective pedi hacks for perfect, beach-ready feet.

1. Remove Any Stains From Your Nails

Grab some whitening toothpaste from your medicine cabinet, and an old toothbrush or nail brush. The whitening agents in the toothpaste will remove yellowing and stains on your toenails caused by dark polishes. If you don't have whitening toothpaste, make a paste with baking soda, peroxide and lemon juice. Scrub either whitener into your nails with the brush and let it do its magic for 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Soften Your Skin

Dunk your fresh toes (and the rest of your feet) into a large bowl of warm water. Add in a handful of epsom salts and a cup of apple cider vinegar. In about 10 to 15 minutes, the rough skin on your feet will be soft enough to slough off with a washcloth.

3. Exfoliate

Vinegar and lemon juice aren't the only kitchen staples that lead to smooth feet. If you have sugar or coarse salt and some olive oil, you can mix them together to make an exfoliating scrub that will finish smoothing your feet. A little honey will add even more moisture.

4. Moisturize

While you're in your kitchen, look for some coconut oil. If you don't have any, you can slather on some olive oil and put on some clean, cotton socks while you finish getting ready. The socks will hold the moisture close to your skin so more of it gets absorbed. You can skip this step and use your favorite lotion instead for a less intense (and quicker) bit of hydration.

5. Polish

Since you have pretty perfect toes now, you don't really need polish. Haha! I know, I'm talking crazy. There are some things you need to do to to keep from undoing all your good work. First, use a base coat, no matter what color the polish, to prevent staining. Second, use baseline around around your cuticles because not only will it moisturize them, it will make any polish mistakes wipe away quickly and easily.

Images: Getty Images; hosanna_joy, jekkuberglund, _senseofchaos_, candycoloredtoes2/Instagram