After all that traipsing along shops buying Diwali goodies and what not, a girl needs her dose of TLC, especially her poor little peds. The soles of my feet have been crying for mercy post all that hard work, and I decided that it was time I treated my feet to a really nice pedicure

And a simple pedicure it must not be — more than just cleaning the toenails. I needed one of the new Freespirit Orchid Foot Facials that Lakme Salon came out with a few months ago. It is not your run-of-the-mill pedicure but a foot treatment involving steps just like in a facial — cleansing, scrub, massage, mask et al targeting problems like pigmentation, aging skin, and dehydration.

So off I went to the nearest Lakme Salon seeking solace for my soles. It was not really the first time that I was entering a Lakme Salon, so there was a sense of familiarity. The same beige and purple decor and a smiling receptionist, who ensured I got what I had come for, a foot facial. Seeing the condition of my feet she suggested I try the soothing Freespirit Orchid Foot Facial — a treatment that complements the Freespirit Orchid Facial. This particular treatment with floral extracts and essential oils soften, and hydrate dry parched skin. I needed that dose of moisturiser.

As I sat at the pedicure station, my tired feet were soaked in cool water with rose petals in them. The pedicurist first cleaned, filed, and buffed my nails and heels like in any pedicure. Then came the actual foot facial as a lovely floral foot scrub was massaged on my feet and calves to exfoliate dead skin cells, and prep the skin. Post scrub was the soothing massage using dollops of cream with orchid extracts. The skin on my legs and feet was toned using an orchid foot mask that also had a cooling effect on my dehydrated skin. After moisturisation with a light lotion, my nails were prettified with a lovely shell pink polish.

No more Diwali-shopping damage! My feet gloried in their new look for weeks.

Available at all Lakme Salons Across The Country. For locations, check www.lakmeindia.com. Price: Rs 425 for foot facial.

Two things happen in the mad run-up to Diwali. My feet and face both feel as if they’ve been steamrolled. This time around, though, I’m on top of things. On a friend’s hearty recco, I went off to Vidya Tikari’s studio, to hand over my peds, pardon the pun, for her signature massage that’s put my feet back on the ground.

It’s done with seriously hot stones, and this is how it goes. First, my aching feet are dipped into hot water, and scrubbed clean. Then, aaaah, this is where the good stuff starts. I am made to lie down, my legs and feet are creamed and softened. And then, hot stones, wrapped in a towel to retain the heat, are placed on my legs, and cellophane wrapped around the whole.

You can feel the warmth seep in, and the tiredness leach out. Vidya, one of the best make-up artists in town and a living advert for her studio — her face is bright, and her hair all fluffed out in a swish cut — stops by to see how I’m doing. More cream, one more round of massage, and I am unwrapped — the possessor of shiny, smooth legs and a pair of peds that long to be back on the floor!

I do not ignore my other extremity: along with my feet, my face gets its share of pampering, too. I get an O3 Vitamin C facial, which I can vouch for being an absolute winner: in fact, this has to be one of the most effective face treatments I’ve had in a while.

The products have been formulated by dermatologists in Hong Kong, and can be used on all skin types. Once the cleansing-moisturising-massage-serum process is over, and the darned blackheads out, the mask goes on, and sits for ten minutes. When the therapist takes it off, I can see the glow, three feet away, in the mirror. And it’s still there, a whole week after.

I know where I’m headed back, once the festivities are over!

The Vidya Tikari Studio, B-21 Lajpat Nagar, Ist Floor (Opp Ozone Gym, Next to Barclay’s Bank), Ph 011-41635074/5, 011- 41630940. Services start from Rs 750. Hot Stone Foot Massage Rs 1,000. O3 Vitamin C Facial Rs 2, 200. Happy Hours all through October, with a 20 per cent off on all services (except make-up). www.vidyatikari.in