Footnotes - A Margaret Dabbs Pedicure.

By Tindara

Like a lot of people I have become addicted to the delights of the nail shop. Ubiquitous and reasonably priced, it has become the norm for me, in spring and summer months at least, to succumb to the regular pedicure. It seems we’re not squeamish about someone coming at our feet with a scalpel these days. But I hear there are pedicures and PEDICURES.

At Christmas, my very generous sister presented me with a voucher for a medical pedicure and polish at Margaret Dabbs Foot Clinic & Nail Spa where you can routinely see a podiatrist for a medical pedicure as well as a nail technician for nail polish. My sister was waxing lyrical about how amazing the experience was and I had read that it really was the best pedicure you could get in London. I saved up my voucher till the depths of a miserable cold, wet winter for when I needed cheering up, so obviously, I took myself off there this week.

When I got there, I was welcomed in by the receptionist who put me at my ease straight away, and pretty quickly my podiatrist Chloe called me into one of the treatment rooms with the whizzy chairs to start on my feet. It was super comfortable and I was asked if I wanted a drink or anything and she set to work. I was really impressed, not only did she talk to me a lot about any health issues associated with my feet - I’m a type 2 diabetic - she really did have an attention to detail that you don’t get with a regular pedicure. It was scrupulously clean too - she ripped open packets of newly sterilized instruments while working away. Once my feet were moisturized to within an inch of their lives I was given a couple of those foamy spa flip-flops and taken back to the main lobby manicure area for the next bit.

With a pot of tea at my side I relaxed while nail technician Kaiah expertly painted my nails a lovely bright red. I’m pretty unimaginative when it comes to nails colours for my toes. I always come back to reds. I also managed to smoosh up one of my big toes on the dryer but Kaiah just wiped it and did over without missing a beat. She even managed to do my tiny toenails precisely. Anyone who has painted my toenails remarks on how difficult this is, those toes are small, I can’t help it, my husband says I should live in a town called Smallfoot Tennesee, mucho apologies to nail technicians everywhere. Mea maxima culpa.

The only niggle for me was that I would’ve liked to stay in the treatment room for the nail polish part - I feel self-conscious being in a wider room visible to those popping their head in to enquire about appointments, though I know it’s perfectly common scenario in nail shops and some spas. I thought, perhaps the polish would be more part of the whole rather than an add-on to the medical pedicure here in a more luxe environment. Having said all that though, it really is a fantastic pedicure, the best I’ve ever had, and well worth the price tag for an occasional treat. Go go go.

Margaret Dabbs treatments are available at Margaret Dabbs Foot Clinic & Nail Spa, Margaret Dabbs Sole Spa at Liberty.

This post: Footnotes - A Margaret Dabbs Pedicure originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper

Pedicures - Heaven or Hell?

Feet freak me out.  It's a sad fact, but true, and they've always given me the willies (so to speak).  I can deal with the fact that I have feet, but, well, just don't talk to me about them, don't show me pictures of them, and don't, whatever you do, touch my feet unexpectedly.  More than once, when my mum was training to be a reflexologist and using me as a guinea pig, she got a swift (accidental!) kick in the head after a ticklish manoeuvre.  She's never really forgiven me.

All of this probably makes me the worst person in the world to attempt to review a pedicure, but hey, I'll give it a go! I was invited along to experience a Himalayan Signature Pedicure by Pinks Boutique recently, so I went along to their outpost at the Aurora spa in the Park Plaza Hotel in Waterloo last Friday to see how they coped with a terrified blogger ...

First impressions were that the spa is tiny, but very clean, and the staff were all very welcoming.  Nicole, my therapist for the day, had been made thoroughly aware of my little ... er ... problem before I arrived, and she took it magnificently in her stride (see what I did there?  I crack myself up sometimes, I really do.  Ok, I'll stop it now), and made sure that I was feeling comfortable at all times throughout the procedure.  At Aurora, they have a bespoke pedicure room which is liberally strewn with cushions and magazines, which is ideal for it's purpose (pictured left).  As I was having the signature pedicure, which involves a leg massage, I was in the more traditional spa room which was clean, smelled delicious, and had beautifully ironed sheets on the bed.

Starting with tea and cupcakes  - always a good way to set my mind at ease, at least - we started with removing the old polish, then went onto a trim and file (always the worst part of any pedicure for me), your cuticles are oiled, then your feet are soaked in warm water which is liberally filled with Himalayan salts and essential oils.  Once soaked, your cuticles are pushed back and then your feet are massaged with a salt scrub to remove the hard skin. This is where we discovered that my feet are exceptionally ticklish, and there was, I'm afraid, a bit of flinching - sorry Nicole!  A file was also necessary on my scaly heels, alas!   Feet are soaked again to remove the oils, and then it's onto the massage part of the pedicure.

Two words for this - utter bliss.  My feet and calves were given a thorough massage with glorious-smelling oils, and no flinching!  I absolutely loved it.  Even the bit where she was wiggling my toes ... we finished off by painting my toenails with OPI's India Mood For Love to match my pink patent Birkenstocks (yes, I did buy them, and I LOVE them, so there), and we were done.  My toes were looking beautiful, all the hard skin I'd carefully spent the winter storing up on my heels was finally dealt with, and I felt rested and refreshed rather than faintly sweaty, slightly stressed and somewhat resentfully twitchy as I tend to after other, rather more medical (and functional) pedicures.

If you're nervous about feet - and I suspect many people are, after I tweeted about the subject recently - then I can't recommend the Pinks Boutique Himalayan Signature Pedicure highly enough, the products are organic (the varnishes aren't, but then, there aren't any organic varnishes on the market, so it's not a black mark in my book), the therapists are highly trained, and the staff at the Aurora, Park Plaza will go all-out to accommodate mad phobias. And mad clients, but we'll gloss over that, shall we?

The signature pedicure costs £65 for a 75 minute pedicure, but there is a shorter version which costs £45 for 45 minutes.

The Fine Print: Pedicure was provided for free,  in order to help a me deal with a phobia that I'd admitted to on Twitter.  I'm not cured, but I thought I'd blog about it anyway. ;)