Try a little hand massage

• Wash hands with gentle soap.
• Spread cream on both hands as though you’re smoothing on a glove from the tips of the fingers to the palm of the hand and wrist.
• Massage the palm of one hand with the thumb of the other, or a small soft brush, using circular movements.
• Massage each finger individually starting with the tip and pushing towards the base – start with the ends (including nails) and massage down the sides where there are many blood vessels and nerve endings.

DIY for nails

• Always file nails from edge to centre.
• Soften cuticles by soaking in water and gently ease them back with a cuticle pusher before trimming carefully with proper cuticle trimmers.
• After cutting nails to the right length with scissors perfect the shape with a cushioned emery board or 4-in-1 nail care system.
• Before applying polish, remove any moisturiser from skin with soapy water.
• When polishing toenails always start with the little toe to avoid smudges.

Be kind to your feet

We are even less kind to our feet than to our hands, even though the poor things are naturally dry, take some 18,000 steps a day and women experience four times as many foot problems as men. The foot is actually one of the most vulnerable parts of the body, with 26 bones, including the metatarsals made famous by a certain Manchester United footballer this summer!

Experts say we should all take as much care of our extremities as Wayne Rooney. Paying attention to our feet and avoiding problems such as dry and cracked skin to the more serious callouses, bunions and ingrown toenails benefits the entire body.

Beauty and holistic specialist Bharti Vyas, who created the Skin Wisdom range for Tesco, recommends regular attention for feet. She advises:

• Soak feet regularly in a salt bath to help improve circulation and control bacteria.
• Have a weekly massage to encourage blood flow to nourish skin and toenails.
• Stick to natural fibres on feet and expose them to the air for a short period each day.
• Spread and wiggle toes in the bath to liven up inert feet.
  

To these good suggestions I would add a few of my own:

• Care for your feet as you do your face – exfoliate once a week and moisturise regularly.
• Add milk to soften water in a footbath.
• Always dry carefully and avoid moisturising between toes.
• Before painting toenails clean them with polish remover and apply a clear base coat to prevent nails from discolouring.
• Scrub off dry skin gently.
• Be extra careful softening and cutting cuticles on toenails, which grow twice as fast as on hands.
• If you have problem feet, specialist ranges help you cope with corns, callouses, bunions, blisters, verrucas, athlete’s foot and ingrown toenails, but it does pay to get expert advice from a pharmacist or chiropodist.
• Walking in sand is great exercise for feet.

Pampering

Garnier Foot Cocoon Nourishing Massage Cream £4.49
An award-winning cream that moisturises, repairs, soothes and protects.

Lush Lemony Flutter £4.25
Especially for hard skin, with a fresh lemony fragrance, this waxy moisturiser also works well on elbows or any other hard skin you need to soften up.

Tesco Skin Wisdom Moisturising Foot Cream £2.79
With deodorising rosemary and revitalising lemongrass.

Burt’s Bees Foot Care Kit £14.00
Overnight treatment includes pumice, socks and Burt’s Bees Coconut Foot Crème to hydrate, purify, exfoliate and lubricate skin.

EssieSpa Hydro-Masque £29.99
Luxurious foot and leg mask, left on for 10–20 minutes with legs wrapped in cling film to intensify the effect.

Scholl Foot Smooth Shower Scrub £4.49
Two-in-one scrub that gently exfoliates and moisturises feet in seconds.