Sandal weather may seem like it’s light years away since we’re still smack in the middle of winter, but if you have “problem feet” like mine, now is actually the best time to start rehabbing those feet!

Sandal season may seem far off, but if you have "problem feet" NOW is the time to start rehabbing them! Check out my foot rehab routine for getting dry, cracked feet back into shape!

Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve dealt with insanely cracked heels and dry feet. I love wearing sandals and flip-flops in the summer, but I’m embarrassed. This year, I decided to start rehabbing my feet early so they’re ready by spring. I’ve finally perfected my routine, so I’m sharing it with you!

Rehab Your Feet: 7 Steps to Stepping Pretty

*This post is partially sponsored by Vanity Planet and features their super awesome PediSpin. While the PediSpin is not required for all the tips below, I do highly recommend it! You’ll see why!

PediSpin Vanity Planet

Start with clean feet

Your foot rehab routine starts with clean, dry feet, so give those tootsies a quick wash. No need to linger here, we’ll be giving them a proper bath in a bit. However, since we’ll be working on calluses, it’s important to wash away any bacteria hanging out on your feet. So wash those puppies then dry them good!

Remove Calluses

After drying your feet, it’s time to get rid of those icky thick calluses! I’ve read a lot of pedicure tips and they always seem to end with callus removal, but I like to start with it. To me, going through the whole cleaning ritual, then removing calluses and getting dead skin all over your feet just seems weird. You can consult a foot and ankle doctor for the right method.

Rehabbing your feet for sandal season is a breeze when you use the right tools, like PediSpin by Vanity Planet!

This is where you really want a great pedicure tool. I’ve used pretty much everything out there, from manual files to the brands you see on late-night infomercials. I can honestly say that PediSpin from Vanity Planet is completely different. Their tool comes with 4 different spinning heads to give you the full pedicure experience at home: Hard Bristle Brush, Pumice Stone, Buffing Pads, and Callus Shaver. For this step, obviously you want to pop on their large Callus Shaver. Turn on the PediSpin and spin away thick skin.

Now, if you have really bad heels, you’ll need to follow up a few times until you really get them smooth. NO tool out there will obliterate major calluses instantly. None. Believe me on this, okay. This is why we’re starting our foot rehab so early! However, I noticed far more significant results using the PediSpin Callus Shaver than I did with any other tool on the first try.

Bathe them in tea!

Foot Bath

NOW it’s bath time for your feet. Soak them for 10-15 minutes in a warm tea bath (green or black tea, whichever you prefer). I use one of those little square buckets they give you when you’re in the hospital, but you can use whatever you have on hand (or foot, ha!). The tannic acid in the tea really helps soften your feet and fights athletes foot. Don’t have any tea in the house? You can also add about 1/4 cup of milk to the water. Yep, milk. The lactic acid has the same softening effect as the tannic acid. I pop on the Hard Bristle Brush head here to put a little extra pep in my foot bath.

Break out the pumice

Pumice Stone

 

While your feet are still wet, slough off dead skin with a pumice stone. If you’re using the PediSpin, it already comes with a great pumice stone head, so just pop that on and start spinning. This is for those rough patches on your feet that either aren’t quite calluses or are left behind after you work on the calluses. For me, that’s the sides of my big toe, that area behind your toes on the under side of your foot, and the part of my heel right where my arch starts.

Scrub

Finish up this part of the routine by giving your feet a final scrub to get rid of all the loosened skin from all the other steps. I like to keep this step super simple because my moisturizing routine incorporates a lot of oils and lotions. A quick and easy sugar scrub made with oil and natural sugar is more than enough to get the job done. Sometimes I skip the oil completely and just grab a bit of sugar then rub-a-dub-dub. It’s the exfoliating properties that you’re looking for here. Save the fancy-schmancy stuff for later. Dry your feet and get ready to move on to moisturizing. If you want, once you dry your feet, you can break out the Buffing Pad on your PediSpin or a similar tool from your foot care toolkit.

Kick dryness to the curb

After all that, it would be a shame to slip those clean toes back into socks and end up with the same dry, gross situation the next day. Moisturizing is an integral part of your foot rehab. I came up with my own recipe for an awesome, super comforting foot oil that really feels amazing on tired feet. To make it, combine 1/4 cup olive oil with 2 drops each of rosemary, peppermint, eucalyptus and lemon essential oils. If you don’t have all of those oils, any combination will work. The lemon cuts the medicinal scent.

I also found that Vitamin C serum works wonders on cracked feet. My thoughts: if it’s good enough for your face, it’s good enough for your feet too! I figured “why not give it a try?” and was super surprised by the results.

Tuck them in and relax!

When you’re done, slip on a pair of clean socks (check out these awesome Keratin socks!), then lounge on the couch reading a good book or binging on Netflix! Hey, after all that, you don’t want to go running around on your fresh feet, right? I repeat this entire routine about twice a week, and do mini versions of it with the bath, scrub and moisturizing at least every other night in between. I’ve seen pretty great results so far, although I still have just a little bit more work to do to get totally sandal ready. I know by the time warm weather rolls around, though, I’ll be proud to dig out all my favorite flip flops and backless shoes!

Visit Vanity Planet to learn more about and purchase the PediSpin that I used throughout this post. Enter code prettyspin to get it for just $31.80 shipped! That’s 70% off! While you’re there, check out their other really cool products. By cool, I mean literally in one case; check out the Ice Roller! How neat is that? Follow Vanity Planet on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with news. Check out their Instagram and Pinterest pages too, I love their pictures!

Do you have any favorite tips for rehabbing your feet for sandal season? Tell me in the comments!