Anyone who has a daughter between the ages of seven and fifteen has probably heard of girls pedicure kits. They frequently make an appearance at sleepovers and other gatherings of "tweens."
About Girls Pedicure Kits
These kits, which either come in a box or beauty bag, include items a girl needs to trim and polish her toenails. Common items found in these kits include:
- Nail clippers - Sometimes these are of a smaller size than average clippers or have a plastic casing that makes them easier to hold.
- Nail file - These are used to round off any jagged edges from the clippers. They are often purple or pink or have flowers or another girly pattern.
- Toe separators - These are pieces of foam that have a slot for every toe. It makes it easy to polish one toenail without getting polish on the others at the same time.
- Nail polish - The nail paint is, of course, the most important component of the kit.
- Cuticle stick - This is a metal or plastic tool that allows the girl to push her cuticles down toward the base of her nail so more polish-able area is exposed.
- Foot brush - This is used, often with a foot scrub, to remove dry skin from the base of the foot and around the toes.
Other items that these pedicure kits may contain are toenail stickers, toe rings, a pedicure mat, flip flops, a nail dryer and a foot bath. Usually each kit has enough supplies for only one girl to use it at a time. For example, it will only have two toe separators, one for each foot. This is not always the case, though. Pedicure kits can vary greatly in size, quality and price.
Finding Kits to Buy
Most drug stores or beauty supply shops will have a girls pedicure kit for sale. There are also many different kits available for purchase online. These include:
- Faber-Castle's Pretty Pedicure Salon which comes with three colors of nail polish, slippers, a nail file, a foot towel, rhinestones, stickers, an inflatable foot bath and a spa tote
- Cupcake Sweets Manicure Pedicure Tween Gift Set which comes with glittery body lotion, nail polish, cupcake toe separators and nail stickers and an emery board
- Alex Spiffy Spa Treat Your Feet Set comes with terry slipper decorated with buttons, glittery nail polish, toe separators and stickers
It's also easy to assemble a kit by buying all of the items separately and putting them in a pretty basket or zippered beauty bag.
Considerations
Girls with skin allergies don't have too much to worry about when it comes to girls pedicure kits. The only items that are likely to cause a reaction are scrubs and lotions, which are not even present in many of the kits. A more immediate concern is the nail polish - not because it is likely to cause a reaction but because it can easily stain clothing and household furnishings.
It's best to have the girls wear old clothing when polishing their nails and place paper towels or tissue under their feet to catch any spills, if the kit does not include a pedicure mat. It's also important to have a bottle of nail polish remover on hand, which is rarely included with pedicure kits.
Most nail polish is both toxic and flammable, so care needs to be used when handling it. Keep it away from open flames and use it only in a ventilated area. Because of these safety concerns, it's best to supervise girls younger than 10 during their pedicure parties. Girls kits are still safer than adult pedicure kits since they include fewer items with sharp edges.
