Feed Your Feet

We do stomach crunches before we put on that bikini, we tone those arms before we don the spaghetti tops so what do you do if you're wearing this season's latest craze of summer flip-flops and slip-ons? Treat your feet to the full works and pamper them silly with the tons of foot products that are just flooding the markets these days.

------------------------------------------------------------------ By Junie Ong

[eastciti.com, October 31]
Your feet can be as tantalising and sensual as any other part of your body that you bare (read: boobs, abs and arms) so make sure you give them a good treatment of the buff and shine before you eagerly sling on those flip-flops to go with your bikini or your slip-on mules for the evening. Even if you're not into either of these, your feet are still the centre of attraction when you wear platform shoes or backless loafers, especially if your footwear is pretty enough to catch the eye, so no slacking on the feet, now!

Here's your basic guide to making those toes pretty:

1. Circulation's The Key

Start with a massage of your feet, either with your hands or a massager like The Body Shop Footsie Roller. This is to get the blood flowing so as to best react and absorb the foot treatment about to come along. Of course, you can also wrangle a free kneading from your boyfriend or your husband under the pretext of foreplay. Tell him a foot massage makes you feel sexy and warm and you're sure to get his undivided efforts instantly.

2. Go With The Flow

Soak your feet in a little bathtub of warm water laced with a foot soak for 5-10 mins or give them a quick run down with a foot wash and a loofah or brush. This is to open up the foot pores and relax and revitalize just like you unwind in your tub with bath salts. Take this chance to catch a snappy forty winks or if you just can't sit still and do nothing while your feet soak, grab a book, settle yourself nicely on the couch or on the toilet seat with its lid down and snuggle up for a read.

Recommendations:

Fresh Herbal Foot Soak or Grapefruit & Cranberry Foot Wash (Bare Foot)
Lemongrass Deodorising Foot Soak or Peppermint Cooling Foot Soak (The Body Shop)
Body Essence Foot Soak (Watson's)

Banish all the dirt, dead skin and other unidentified stuff from your feet with a good scrub, and we don't mean with your scrubbing brush for the kitchen floor. The gift-of-the-century must be foot scrubs or exfoliators which incorporate pumice granules and ground volcanic rocks into their mixtures that save the trouble of using an additional pumice stone and peels off all the yucky stuff in the most gentle and efficient way. Don't be threatened by the stones and rocks mentioned here, they're totally harmless and you won't feel a thing. Just massage the scrub onto your feet with your hands or a loofah and rinse off with warm water. Think of it as baby-soft sandpapering for your skin…you can actually feel the difference in softness when you smooth over an exfoliated foot and then over a pre-stripped foot.



Recommendations:

	Iced Bayberry Footscrub or Plum & Pumice Foot Exfoliator (Bare Foot)
	Lemongrass Deodorising Foot Polish or Peppermint Cooling Pumice Foot Scrub (The Body Shop)
	Aloe Vera Foot Scrub With Pumice (Crabtree & Evelyn)

Now for the most pleasurable part of the routine: a good dose of silky soft creams to smooth over that jagged feeling from the scrubs. There are tons of lotions for this but the basic idea here is to restore the moisture to your feet and to soften and condition the skin.

Slap on a generous douse of lotion onto your freshly scrubbed soles and heels and massage until it's all absorbed by your moisture-hungry pores. Most of them come with some form of cooling agent such as Tea Tree or Mint Extract that leaves a wonderful tingling sensation akin to the pleasantly prickly feeling you get after brushing your teeth. Go through this part slowly and savour the massage as your knead the gels into your feet though you may feel somewhat ticklish at first. Another good chance for you and your guy to get close and have some good clean fun with your body.

Recommendations:

Wild Mint & Lemon Balm Foot Lotion, Cucumber & Tea Tree Cooling Leg & Foot Gel or Peppermint & Poppies Foot & Leg Lotion (Bare Foot)
Lemongrass Deodorising Foot & Leg Gel or Peppermint Cooling Leg Gel (The Body Shop)
Aloe Vera Foot & Leg Massage Cream (Crabtree & Evelyn)
Body Essence Foot Scrub or Healthy Skin Foot Lotion (Watson's)

And finally, some quick pick-me-up magic balms for the tired feet in a hurry to be off :

Peach Blossom, Bare Foot Balm Mint Liquid Foot Powder (Bare Foot), Scholl Refreshing Foot Spray, Aloe Vera Deodorant Foot Talc (Crabtree & Evelyn), Titania Foot Powder (Apex Pharmacy) - to keep the feet dry all day.
Lemongrass Deodorising Foot Spray (The Body Shop) - a handy spray-on foot deodoriser
Peppermint Cooling Foot Spray (The Body Shop) - works the same magic as the Lemongrass spray but can even be used over stockings

All foot products available at The Body Shop, Crabtree & Evelyn, Robinsons (Bare Foot), Guardian and Apex Pharmacy (Scholl, Titania) and Watson's (Body Essence). While most, especially Bare Foot, are affordably priced and very effective, splurge on Crabtree's line if you've got a bit of spare cash for it produces immediate results and pamper the feet to untold proportions.

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