READY for some innocent foreplay? Learn to give the best foot massage! We recommend that the massage be preceded by a foot soak in warm water mixed with ordinary table salt, rose petals and neem leaves. Use a pan or a bubbling foot spa and keep the feet immersed for 15 to 20 minutes. Dry them thoroughly. Place a folded towel on your lap.

Warm cream in your hands by rubbing them together briskly. (Don't use oil: When hands get slippery, applying pressure is difficult). Have your partner in a relaxed position, knees bent, feet in your lap. When you work on one foot at a time, keep the other warm by draping it with a towel.)

Calf massage: Place your hand under the knee, squeeze gently on the calf, then slide your hand down to the ankle, squeezing five times along the way. Repeat the action on the front of the leg from knee to shin. Repeat, increasing pressure.

Foot pad and arch massage: Place your fingers lightly across top of toes, thumb against the sole. Use your thumb to press in a circular motion. Continue the circular motion as your hand moves across the foot in a horizontal path. Removing your fingers from the top of the toes, slide your hand slightly closer to the arch and repeat the side-to-side massage. Continue until you have massaged the area under the instep.
Toe massage: Rub each toe between fingers and thumb, pulling up gently, then press the flesh between the toes.

Heel and ankles: Support the heel with your cupped hand and move your thumb in a circular motion around the heel pad, applying increasing pressure. Finish by pinching behind the ankle several times. Run your fingers along the top of the foot, then stroke the entire area from foot to knee. Repeat, more gently each time, until done.

Treat Dry Feet
Use a rich emollient cream (aloe vera is super softening) on your or your friend's feet, massaging the cream in well. Try a foot massage cream with mint or menthol for a soothing fresh feeling. A popular foot cream is the Peppermint Foot Lotion from The Body Shop. If you want to keep your feet in baby-soft condition, do this every night.

The 10-minute Pedicure
This is great to gossip over. Your girlfriend and you can sit opposite each other with two tubs. It's easy and totally DIY. Show her how to do it. Add a few drops of lavender or almond oil to a tub of warm water and soak your feet for at least 10 minutes. Gently scrub the cuticles with a nailbrush. Cut your toenails straight across. Smooth the edges with the coarse side of an emery board.

Soften Cracked Heels
This one's DIY. To fix cracked heels, exfoliate daily while you're in the shower -- pumice stones or foot files are great for softening calluses. Then carefully pat them dry and immediately apply a rich moisturising cream. Before bed, slather on a lot and slip on a pair of socks for intense healing while you sleep. Become a footcare specialist! Your girlfriends will love you and your boyfriends will be seduced!

Fancy Foot Work Reflexology
Did you know, your feet are also a key to the rest of your body? The ancient Indians, Egyptians and Chinese observed that tension in any part of the foot mirrors tension in a corresponding part of the body. Thus, when you treat the big toes there is a related effect in the head, and treating the whole foot can have a relaxing and healing effect on the whole body.

In ancient times, we stimulated reflexes naturally by walking barefoot over rocks, stones and rough ground. In today's world we have lost much of nature's way of maintaining a balanced and healthy equilibrium. Reflexology helps restore this balance and promotes natural health and vitality.

Although reflexology does not diagnose or treat specific ailments by definition, it has proven highly successful to relieve symptoms or ease pain or discomfort that have manifested themselves physically in the body - either as a result of stress, trauma or disease.

Reflexology is easy to learn and do. Follow the chart and apply pressure to these points, next time you are in pain.