Source: Vogue

A few weeks ago, I arrived at a close friend’s apartment with the unthinkable: freshly tended-to feet. “How?” she asked—or, really, begged—as she curled up her own toes, which still bore the traces of the polish from her last pre-quarantine pedicure. Much to her surprise, I hadn’t snuck into my neighborhood salon prematurely but rather paid a visit to Medi Pedi, the midtown Manhattan destination for medical-grade pedicures.

“We do not pamper the feet—we just treat them,” owner Marcela Correa warned me as I leaned back in a raised chair in her ground-floor clinic, which evoked a sterile doctor’s office more than a plush spa. Of course, any sandal season calls for some TLC, but after months of leaving our feet to their own devices, who couldn’t benefit from a deep clean? Performed by technicians trained to spot the difference between a callus and psoriasis, say, every session begins with a once-over of the feet to assess their condition.

In my case, that translated to a custom treatment, executed with laser-sharp focus, that included a hand-held drill to smooth my nails’ surface, a hydrating oil to return the beds to a healthy hue, and a file to gently mend my cracked heels. Thirty (painless!) minutes and a dollop of moisturizer later, my feet looked like those of a newborn—especially because they were completely naked. (Appointments are polish free—lacquer can dry out the nail beds and lead to discoloration and brittleness, Correa noted.) But as I walked down Park Avenue with my bare toes—now so shiny that they almost sparkled—staring up at me, I can’t say I missed the color. In fact, with phalanges this naturally glowing, there was no longer a need for even a barely-there coat of nude, let alone my go-to deep crimson. “I want people to feel proud of their feet,” Correa said, plain and simple, just before I left. I never thought I’d say it, but: Mission accomplished.

Please read the full article here on Vogue.com