Merely scrubbing your feet and moisturizing them before putting on your favourite shade of nail polish may be a good start to nice feet but what truly does your feet a world of good is a foot massage before the foot beauty regime. A good pedicure has a hefty dose of massage thrown in for effective measure.
The art of pedicure need not always be salon-based. While it is great to have someone else do the work for you as you relax, it is equally true that you can give yourself a very effective foot massage.
Keep an hour on a Friday aside for this exercise. Choose your favorite corner in your house, put on some music you really like and get started. Get two small basins - one filled to half with warm, soapy water (you can put in a few slices of lemon if you wish for an invigorating touch) and a few drops of oil in it. You can use aroma therapy oils which induce soothing sensations.
Half fill the other basin with plain warm water. You will need the following items - a low stool, two foot towels, a pumice stone or foot scrub, emery board, cuticle pusher, a hand and foot lotion, a nail polish and a remover (if you need to remove the previous colour)... and you are ready to start.
Foot massage:
To
begin, put several drops of oil on your palm and rub your hands together
to warm them up.
Put your foot on a very low stool or on an elevation that is easy to bend
down to.
Relax your foot muscles by flexing them a bit before you begin. Stroke
from toes to ankle.
Hold foot in both hands and work over the top of the foot with large thumb
circles.
Grip the outside of the foot with thumbs on the sole and pull fingers and
thumb gently towards each other.
Pull and knead each toe separately.
Starting between the toes, thumb roll smoothly up (between the bones continuing
the toes) towards the ankle.
Work on the sole of the foot with your knuckles, thumb roll from heel to
toes and make thumb circles all over the sole.
Repeat with the other foot.
You can also use an acupressure foot roller for the under foot area.
(See picture)
And now...
Massage over, soak your feet in the warm, soapy water for ten minutes
and read a magazine or a book if you wish.
Scrub foot under water with a foot scrub, using circular movements to cover
the entire area.
As a general rule, women are more likely to get corns and adult males to get athlete's foot. And people hate bunions the most
Pay particular attention to your heel. Do not use too much force while
scrubbing.
Remove foot from the water, dip into the second basin with clean water,
rinse feet briefly and pat dry with a foot towel.
Steady your foot on a low stool, and cut nails neatly across, taking care
to nip edges gently.
Nails of the feet should not assume a conical shape, as they could interfere
with the toe-space in shoes, especially if you are wearing tight-fitting
shoes.
File nails with an emery board to even edges. Wipe toes with foot towel.
Using a cuticle pusher, gently push skin back. Be careful not to be too
enthusiastic about this procedure.
Repeat all steps with other foot.
Take a blob of foot lotion and massage into each foot thoroughly, including
between the toes. Ensure your heels are also well moisturized.
Allow
for moisturizer to be fully absorbed into your skin.
Wipe toe nails with cloth to prepare them for nail polish. If you have
applied too much moisturiser on your nails, your nail polish may not glide
on the way it should and will not apply properly.
Before applying nail polish, separate toes with small wads of cotton. It
makes application easier and polish won't smear on other digits.
If using base coat, allow it to dry thoroughly. Then, using one application
at a time, use two coats of nail polish waiting for one coat to dry before
applying the second one. You can if you wish top it with a clear lacquer
finish.
When the nail polish has dried, removed cotton wads.
And you thought you were just painting your toe nails!
To get the most flattering pedicure, specialists say you should consider the shape of your feet and toes, as well as skin tone. A few tips for great looking feet:
Most narrow feet can handle any colour and shape. But for those with very long nail beds, a French pedicure can break up the length of the nail.
Wider feet look best with slightly longer nails, which visually elongate the feet. "When you have wider feet, you really shouldn't do anything that draws attention, like painting stars on your toes," says Ilse Chamberlain, an expert pedicurist.
Those with blue undertones in their skin look best in colours that also have a bit of blue: pinks, burgundy, cherry. Warmer colours, such as coral, brown and earth tones, flatter people with yellow skin undertones.
Just as a very thin woman can wear almost any fashion trend, "little bitty feet can handle just about anything," when it comes to pedicures, says Chamberlain. For cooler weather, she recommends using darker tones, may be with a bit of shimmer. When in doubt, classic red is universally flattering.
Most of us are just minutes away from a natural pedicure of sorts: Walking barefoot on the beach exfoliates and softens the feet.
Enlarged pores on the face can be a problem for many people
An enlarged pore is the opening of a follicle that usually has a tiny,
invisible hair and large, active sebaceous (oil) glands. 
Enlarged
pores are most obvious on the nose, forehead and inner aspects of the cheeks
and chin, where the oil glands are concentrated. Oily skin and acne often
accompany enlarged pores.
Nothing can change the size of enlarged pores or prevent more from developing, so don't believe claims that any product or treatment will "shrink" them.
You can temporarily improve the appearance of enlarged pores with cosmetics. Astringent preparations, which contain ingredients such as witch hazel and alcohol, may make pores less obvious for a short time. They irritate the surrounding skin so that it swells slightly around the pores. Inflammation from sunburn, for example, may cause swelling (edema) of the skin, making pores appear smaller for a short period. When carefully selected and applied, makeup can help conceal enlarged pores. You may have to try several different makeup bases to find the one best suited for your skin.
Hemali Peiris's life took a different turn one year ago when her friend,
Charisma suggested she started stitching on a 
commercial
basis. "With your artistic and creative ability you can do lovely
handmade linen and embroidery" her friend had urged.
Hemali made up her mind was set to give it a try. One year later, she
is a successful 
exporter
of linen. "Looking back I never imagined I would be in this line of
work one year ago, but now I am glad" said Hemali, who is also a mother
of three boys.
Lovely export quality handmade tablecloths, serviettes, cushion covers, bed spreads, pillow cases and other household linen, are her specialities. Along with Anula Perera, she has brought out several creations which clearly depict the culture of our country while they also having a romantic old English touch.
Some of her exquisite embroidery takes one back to the old Southern
era where lace was made by hand with the method 
known
as 'beeralu'.
From flowery decorations to abstract shapes each creation is different to the other. "It is not easy especially since it is done by hand" she says. The time commitment is heavy, she concedes. Depending on the pattern and the work involved one could take from six hours to six days, which is why usually one finds that handmade goods are very expensive" she said .
But Hemali makes sure her products are reasonably priced. Given that each of her creations is painstakingly stitched, her work is worth going a long way to see.
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