If your feet tend to be dry or rough, a moisturizing soak, careful heel filing, and this overnight hydrating treatment can work wonders!
This Neroli foot soak recipe is just like the professional foot soak you get at nail salons.
Neroli oil is also used in homemade baby oil recipes and in professional facials because it promotes new cell generation.
The items you’ll need:
- Bowl
- Neroli essential oil
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- Towel
- Foot file (or pumice stone)
- Shea butter (or other intensive moisturizer)
- Foot booties (or cotton socks)
How to do it:
#1 Fill a bowl large enough to immerse your feet completely with warm water.
#2 Add 6 drops of Neroli essential oil and 4 tablespoons of olive oil — mix well. Neroli’s floral fragrance is relaxing and uplifting while olive oil is known for its softening and emollient properties.
#3 Soak your feet for 20 minutes.
#4 Remove your feet from the water and rest them on a towel.
#5 While your feet are still slightly damp, using a firm back-and-forth motion with a file, remove the dead skin that tends to accumulate on the heels, balls of the feet, and bottoms of big toes. Check every few strokes to feel your skin. When it no longer feels rough in a certain area, move on to the next problem spot. If your feet are severely dry and cracked, it might take several treatments to smooth them, so don’t expect instant miracles.
#6 Hydrate your newly exposed fresh skin. For dramatic results, spread a thick layer of shea-butter balm or other intensive moisturizer (such as hemp oil) on your feet.
#7 Finally, slip on a pair of deep-moisturizing foot booties (or cotton socks) and leave them on overnight.
Where To Find The Items You’ll Be Using
Essential Oils:
Lately, I’ve been getting most of my essential oils from Whole Foods. They have a separate Whole Body store across the street from their grocery store where I live. Other Whole Foods stores have a section of their grocery store devoted to whole body products (like shampoos, vitamins, supplements, and other healthy living items like essential oils).
Before that, I simply googled “essential oils” and my town and found a handful of people selling essential oils — either from their homes, or from small shops in the area. Since I trusted the area of town this one lady was located in, I didn’t hesitate to buy essential oils from her in her home.
Of course, there are a number of places online where you can buy essential oils as well. One word of advice: many online stores sell synthetic essential oils (rather than 100% pure ones). Or, they tend to sell pre-mixed combinations of essential oils. Those are fine for the single purpose that they’re intended for (or merely for good-smelling scent combinations alone), but they are not the same as buying 100% pure essential oils in individual little bottles. When you buy them individually, you can make your own mixes, based on recipes that you find online or in books. For example, if you buy a separate bottle of Neroli essential oil, then you will be able to use it in so many more ways than just as a dry foot treatment.
NOTE: You rarely need more than a small bottle of any essential oil. Even 1ml is enough to try out — because that amounts to about 25 drops. (Recipes can take anywhere from 4 drops to 20 drops, depending on how much of a recipe you’re making and which “notes” you want to be the strongest ones in the mixture.)
Foot Files:
The type of foot file you use is completely up to you. It all depends on how rough the bottoms of your feet are. Here are some of the best ones that I’ve tried (the most heavy-duty for rough skin are at the top of the list):
- Foot Razor — my long-time favorite, but it does take some getting used to
- Ped Egg — a very simple alternative to the foot razor
- Fine Grit Foot File — some are wet/dry for use in the shower as well
- Pumice Stone — I actually use one that was intended for cleaning toilets!
Lotions or Creams:
- Shea butter — lots of products have shea butter in their ingredients
- Intensive moisturizer — my favorites are Aquaphor, Surgeon’s Skin Secret, and Dove Cream Oil Intensive Body Lotion
- Foot cream — Burt’s Bees makes my favorite foot cream
Other DIY Dry Feet Treatment Options
Homemade Bath Salts, Bubble Baths & Bath Bombs
10 Home Remedies & Natural Treatments For Dry Skin
Home Remedies For Dry Feet & Cracked Heels
Who knew that I'd be writing about feet for a living?!… Or even that a website devoted solely to feet, shoes, and foot care issues would be successful? But as it turns out, many people have questions and concerns about their feet — and we do our best to provide the most helpful answers here. Myself and a handful of others who happen to have some rather unique foot issues share our firsthand experiences with everything from ingrown toenails, bunions, calluses and rough feet to trendy shoes and helpful foot modeling tips. When I'm not writing about all things below the ankle, you will find me at the corner of Good News & Fun Times as publisher of The Fun Times Guide (32 fun & helpful websites).
