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Mani - Pedi

Tuesday, 13 October 2009 16:00

I have a very non-girly confession to make. I dislike getting manicures and pedicures.

First of all, whether it's a cocktail party or sitting across from a beautician, I hate making small talk. I'm not good at it and despite the fact that I enjoy public speaking, one-on-one, I am very shy.

I usually have a difficult time relaxing when I go and am anxious to get it done so I can go about the rest of my day, which often results in me trying to put my shoes on too quickly and ruining said pedicure.

I dislike paying someone else for something that I can do myself.

Mostly, I am still traumatized from the last time I had a pedicure and the beauticians made fun of my calloused feet. I felt like screaming at them, "HEY, I'm right in front of you! I can hear what you're saying!" I can't help it if my feet get calloused from doing and teaching martial arts five days a week. That's why I went to the salon in the first place. For them to repair my sad looking feet.

So, instead of paying for monthly manicures and pedicures, I do it myself. Rarely, do I sit down and give myself a complete makeover. For the most part, it's an ongoing process. I was reminded of it as I was removing polish from my toenails this morning before jumping in the shower.

Because I am barefoot pretty much every night, I like to keep my toes looking as nice as possible. Also, I like playing with fun and funky polish. Lately, I've been wearing a lot of plum colors in anticipation of fall. During the summer I wear a lot of soft pinks. Occasionally, I will slap on a cool blue color just for fun. I always get the most compliments when I wear blue.

I file my fingernails on a regular basis and try to buff them every few weeks.

As for those callous-ey feet of mine, I picked up a "Pedi Egg" and it works beautifully.

My trick for applying polish is to do it in the morning when I sit down at my desk. I will paint my toes and my fingernails and then surf the web or catch up on email while it dries. If I do it at night or while watching TV, I usually forget my nails are wet and do something silly to ruin the polish.

I won't say that my nails always look 100%, but I do my best to keep them looking good. More than anything, I just feel better when they look nice.

One of these days I'll get the guts to venture back to the salon for a proper manicure and pedicure. But for now, I am perfectly happy doing it myself at home.