A necessary extravagance
Updated On: 03 November, 2023 08:15 AM IST | Mumbai | Rosalyn D`mello
Pedicures may seem overpriced where I live, but given the specialised care feet require and amount of comfort I feel after the treatment, I’m considering investing in repeating the process every 2 months
Listen to this article :
It’s not easy to get rid of all the dead skin that accumulates around the cuticles, or under the foot. Representation Pic
I had my first first-world pedicure this week. More than eight months after my last—during my trip to India in April 2023. Which was my first pedicure since 2020, possibly. It isn’t that I prefer depriving my feet of such care. It’s that where I live, the prices feel intimidating. My middle-class financial sensibilities find it difficult to justify paying 50 Euros (R5,000) for a haircut, for instance, so I get them just twice a year. I even occasionally cheated the system by turning up for my appointment at the Salon with freshly washed and shampooed hair, to get some money shaved off the bill for not needing the compulsory hair wash. It costs 30 Euros to have one’s legs waxed. 30 Euros for the hands. I buy cold wax strips from the supermarket and only ever bother with my legs. I let my hands stay hairy. No one here cares. There’s no judgment attached.
The thing about feet, though, is that whether we like it or not, they do require specialised care. It’s not easy to get rid of all the dead skin that accumulates around the cuticles, or under the foot. I have odd toenails and clipping them in a way that doesn’t enable in-growing is challenging. During the first two lockdowns in 2020, when I was staying in place in Delhi, for some bizarre reason that I cannot now remember, my left big toe looked like crap. The toenail had grown really thick and discoloured and in order to clip it, I had to soak my feet in water for ages, and then make several attempts with the nail cutter. I think I’d had some form of injury which caused the original nail to die and a new nail to grow. I cannot remember. But in the absence of pedicures during that time, I had to care for this condition on my own. I remember learning to feel secure in my partner’s love for me because I witnessed how committed he was to the well-being of this dysfunctional toenail. It was a clear imperfection that I didn’t feel I needed to hide from him, less he thought me not attractive. He was invested in its healing.
Read Next Story
Trending Stories
Latest Photos
Latest Videos
Latest Web Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
Mid-Day Fast
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT