Male Mani-Pedis: How to Tame those Toenails and Still Be a Guy
The male “mani-pedi”, I never thought I’d see the day! Believe it or not, more than 30 percent of clients in salons and spas are men and many of them are pampering their fingernails and toenails. There is no arguing that well groomed hands and feet are a turn-on for women. No girl really wants a date with grease under the nails or hoof-like feet but at the same time relaxing at the spa with cucumbers over your eyes and lavender essential oils being spritzed about might not suit your manly image. Never fear; for the decidedly non-metrosexual man, there is still a dignity sparing way to get and keep great “paws” without compromising your testosterone level.
The simple solution is to give yourself a mani-pedi at home. It can be your secret; no one has to know! First you’ll want to soak your feet in warm water in which you have added a few drops of tea tree oil (or baking soda if you prefer to go totally low-frill). After you get your feet dried off, use a pumice stone to rub off all the dead skin and calluses. Warning, if you do this with out soaking your feet first, it will be like sanding balsa wood.
Next, you’ll want to use clippers to bring the toenails down to a respectable length; smooth out with a nail file on the ends. Next you’ll want to use a cuticle stick to gently push back your cuticles, don’t cut them as this could lead to painful hangnails and an infection. Rub a little lotion all over your feet and even massage some baby oil (or olive oil from the kitchen) into your cuticles and you are good to go - that is unless you want polishing, and for that we are just plain speechless! Now for a pedicure, just repeat everything (except the pumice stone) for your fingers.
Now we do realize that you may not even know of what I speak when I say pumice, nail file and cuticle stick. The good news is that you can treat yourself to one of the many pampering personalized gifts for men, namely a manicure or grooming set with all the tools lined up nicely in a leather case. Heck, you can even get the granddaddy of all manicure sets, the combo manicure, game and bar bag. The epitome of gifts for men, this genius receptacle of guy gear will have your nails shining, your thirst whetted, and your game on!
Now once you are hooked on the home mani-pedi, you will want to slowly indoctrinate your buddies into the club. Take off your socks and flop your feet on the coffee table the next time their over for the game. Eventually someone is going to notice how great your feet look and rib you about going to the spa. This is when you can whip out several of these gifts for men and treat them to membership in the secret club!
