Epsom salt can help your hands look their best and get your feet ready for sandal season. Soaking hands and feet in Epsom salt softens skin and cuticles in preparation for a mani/pedi while also easing aches and pains and reducing swelling, according to celebrity manicurist Marsha Bialo, who touts Epsom salt as “one of the least expensive beauty products on the market.”

DIY Epsom salt mani/pedis

Epsom salt pedicures for healthy feet

Bialo recommends biweekly DIY pedicures, like this one, to keep feet feeling and looking their best:

Easy Epsom salt pedicure

Give your feet a comfortable place to rest by folding a bath towel and positioning it at the bottom of a bucket.
Mix ½ cup of Epsom salt in warm, soapy water and soak feet to soften skin and calluses and dry out the bacteria from blisters.
Remove old nail polish with a cotton pad soaked with nail polish remover. Cut nails straight across with clippers, then file them square to remove sharp edges.
Soak feet for another 5 minutes, then dip a file into the water and use it to smooth your heels, the balls of your feet and the outer edges of your pinkie toes.
Dry your feet, then top your toenails with the nail polish of your choice.

Epsom salt for softening cuticles

This cuticle softener, designed to revive dry skin and cuticles, is among the Epsom salt–based DIY beauty treatments used by models at TRUE Model Management:

Epsom salt cuticle soak

Mix ½ cup warm water, 1 tbsp. Epsom salt, 2 tbsp. coconut oil and 1-3 drops of the essential oil of your choice in a shallow bowl.
Submerge your fingers or toes into the mixture and soak for 5-10 minutes.
Cut and/or push back cuticles, which should now be soft and moisturized.