All about Manicures and Pedicures

Manicure and pedicure or a "mani-pedi" makes the hand and feet look and feel better. In Latin, "manus" means hands, "pedi" means feet and cure means care, thus, hand and feet care. Both treatments or procedures also help clean, strengthen, shape, and even decorate the finger nails and toenails.

The steps in performing a manicure and a pedicure is really very similar, though there may be somevariations such as the time you allot for specific steps. The initial process involves soaking the hands and feet in warm water, some hair salons have their own unique way of mixing the soaking solution like adding fragrances, skin softeners and rose petals. This procedure makes it easier to handle the hands and feet without breaking the skin. It makes hard, dead skin easier to slough off and causes the cuticles to soften as well.

The finger nails and toe nails are then cut, clipped and filed to have a rounded or square form. This prevents the nails from growing inwards which can cause pain and infection. Dead skin is then cleaned off around the fingers and toes and the entire hands and feet. Many people have regular manicures and pedicures so the accumulated dead skin wont form bunions and corns in both hands and feet. In hair salons, the manicurist or pedicurist will usually massage the hands and feet after cutting the nails and sloughing off dead skin. Massage improves circulation in the hands and feet and promotes relaxation. It can reduce pain, fatigue and improves the health and nimbleness of the muscles.

The last step to a manicure and pedicure is painting the finger nails and toe nails with the preferred nail polish. This is usually done by applying three layers of coating. The base coat is the initial coating applied, the second coat helps bring a deeper, richer look to the nail polish, and finally, the top coat for the shine. The number of coating may also vary depending on the nail or hair salon you go to or the style of the person applying them. A lot of salons in the Tampa area even offer unique nail arts to their clients. Nail art is applying a customized design to the nails, like making the nails the canvas for a painting. Want to know more about nail arts? Read on.