 I'm
a firm believer in 'happy feet, happy
face'.
If your shoes are painful and hurt all
day long then how can you feel happy?
For years women have been squashing their
feet into all shapes and styles of tortuous
footwear in the belief that they look
stylish.
But frankly if you watch someone walking
along in badly fitting shoes they look
anything but stylish! The discomfort always
shows on their face. True, that in the
bad old days, comfortable footwear really
was boring and often ugly but thankfully,
times have changed. You really can find
some fabulous styles that won't kill your
feet.
And in the summer this is sometimes even
more important. There are so many really
cheap sandals and flip-flop styles out
there that offer no support to the feet,
they rub and cause blisters and look shoddy
really quickly - not a great look. But
it doesn't have to be that way. There
are some really gorgeous summer looks
out there.
Don't dismiss the traditional footwear
shops as only having old-fashioned, frumpy
styles, shoe manufacturers have really
realized that we want to look great as
well as taking care of our feet. Shops
such as Clarks and Pavers have really
upped their game in recent years offering
really trendy styles yet still with the
great quality they are known for.
 My
personal favourites are the Ecco company
range of footwear. I love everything they
do and although I do occasionally wear
other shoes I can honestly say I come
back to my Ecco's time after time. I know
I can wear them all day without even feeling
them, I can walk for miles in them and
generally get on with my life.
They can be tricky to get hold of as not
all stores stock every style, so it's
worth popping into each shop you come
across to see a better range of try the
internet. I love all the funky colours
they offer as well as the beautiful traditional
looks in shoes, boots and sandals. Actually,
I'm in the market for some new sandals
at the moment as the sun begins to shine
(finally) so I'll be checking out their
new season's style.
 I
also really the Sketchers range of fun,
flowery summer shoes, which are really
trendy yet offer real comfort all day
long and look great with all the maxi-dresses
that are out there just now. Or fall in
love with all the fabulous new looks from
Birkenstocks - bang on trend.
If you are going to be wearing lovely
sandals and toe-posts soon then its time
to check out the condition of you feet.
They've probably been stuck in Ugg's all
winter, as mine have, but you can really
rejuvenate them fairly easily.
 Treat
yourself to a 10 minute pedicure and you'll
be amazed how fab your feet can look.
Give them a really good massage with a
fairly heavy duty exfoliator - the skin
on the feet is quite tough so you can
use a granular cleanser with no worries.
If you don't have any to hand, then massage
a handful of dried porridge oats mixed
with a tablespoon of sugar and a tablespoon
of any type of oil, even vegetable oil,
and give your feet a good scrub with this
mixture. Sounds weird but trust me, its
fabulous!
Trim or file your toe nails being careful
not to cut too close to the skin at the
corners. If you paint your toe nails do
them before you put any moisture onto
the feet as varnish is difficult to apply
over moisturiser.
 Even
if you don't like colour on your toes
then even a coat of clear varnish will
make your toes look prettier. If you do
love colour then go for it! You can get
away with really funky colours on the
toes even if you're a little reserved
on your fingernails.
If you're into your pastels this year
then a beautiful nude on the toes will
look really sophisticated or if you love
your florals try a little nail art on
your toes by having a little white daily
painted over your polish, really pretty
with white sandals.
Keep your feed well moisturized in summer
- if you suffer with dryness go for a
foot cream that contains shea butter,
but if your get hot and sweaty, treat
yourself to the L'Occitane Verbena hand
cream that will double up for your feet
and has a lovely mattifying and cooling
effect. Treat your feet to some tender
loving care this summer to show off all
the lovely strappy summer styles you'll
be enjoying.
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