Beauty tip #1.
Mini-pedicure: Instead of wasting time sitting in a foot soak (a luxury, though time consuming) I wait until after I've had my shower. I "scrape" the dead skin off the soles of my feet immediately after towel drying, slather lotion on, pushing the cuticles back on my toenails as I do, put on my socks or flip-flops and I've got nice looking, soft feet. This can even work for the fingernails for a mini-manicure. (If you don't have a cuticle pusher, you can gently push cuticles back with your thumbnail.) A fairly frugal foot scraper (plastic handle, metal cheese grater looking thing on the other end) can be bought for around $3 at Wal-mart.


Beauty tip #2.
Another great item to use on the heels of the feet is an emery board. An emery board is basically sand paper on a stick. (Note: never file or shape toe/finger nails while wet. You can cause damage as the nail fibers are very porous and weak after prolonged soaking.) Olive oil is a frugal product to use in place of an expensive hydrating lotion. Petroleum jelly works great too.

Beauty tip #3.

I like to put lotion on my feet at night, but don't like my feet to be hot. I took an old pair of socks, cut off the toes and elastic part around the ankle, and put these on with my lotion before going to bed. You can use socks (uncut) to put on your hands for a hydrating treatment. I've also put thick lotion on my hands, put on latex cleaning gloves, and gone to wash dishes. My hands get a "deep lotion treatment" from the warmth of the dishwater, while the gloves help to insulate some of the heat.