Your Self-Care Routine: A Step-by-Step Guide

We all know how full-on life can get. Between juggling work, family, and personal responsibilities, it can be easy to let self-care slide. And even though they move us through every day, our feet are even less likely to get the care they need. With closer focus often paid to the rest of our bodies, it can be difficult to know how to properly care for feet and where to begin. But in busy lives, taking care of yourself isn’t a luxury - it’s a necessity. Building a self-care routine for your feet is so much more than pampering; it’s about creating mindful moments that support your physical health, mental clarity and emotional balance.

Whether it’s taking time to relax after a long day or nurturing your skin and body, consistent self-care helps you recharge and stay resilient. It's one of the reasons that we chose to develop a complete, cohesive routine focused on the feet, rather than offering products with no connection to one another - to make sure that you’re able to care for what moves you. So let’s take a look at how to create a self-care routine for your feet at home, and make those moments as enjoyable and effective as possible.

Did You Know? The Benefits of Self-Care Routines

A consistent self-care routine is more than a soothing moment of relaxation - it can have profound benefits for your overall health. Here’s what the science says:

• Engaging in regular self-care activities can reduce stress and anxiety by up to 30%, improving mental well-being.
• Simply soaking in a warm bath can lower blood pressure and enhance sleep quality, contributing to better rest and rejuvenation.
• Exfoliating your skin not only preps it for hydration but also provides a chance to check in with how you’re feeling emotionally.
• Incorporating fragrance from essential oils into your routine can significantly improve relaxation, which helps to speed up recovery.
• Daily self-care practices promote emotional balance and resilience, helping you navigate life’s ups and downs with more ease.
• Mindful routines can enhance your focus and clarity, leading to greater productivity and sharper mental performance.

By making time for self-care, you’re not just caring for your body - you’re investing in your emotional and mental health too.

Your Three-Step Home Self-Care Routine

We developed BIRKENSTOCK Care Essentials to be a complete self-care system for the feet in three simple steps, supporting active recovery with at-home indulgence and 100% natural origin ingredients. Each step is designed to work together to give you the best results for your feet and your well-being. While every product in our collection can be used on its own, the synergy between these steps creates a routine that nurtures your body and mind. Simple and highly effective, this routine ensures that regular, mindful foot care becomes a sustainable habit, rather than an occasional luxury.

Step One: Relax – Bathing with Bath Salts

The first step in your foot self-care routine is all about relaxation. There’s nothing quite like soaking in a warm bath to calm your mind and body after a long day. By relaxing your muscles and soothing your skin, this first step helps to begin caring for what moves you. Our Relaxing Bath Salts are formulated to release blocked energy or tension and prepare your skin for the next steps in the routine.

The Importance of Relaxation: Bathing is not just physically soothing; it also helps to relieve mental stress. A warm soak allows your muscles to relax, reduces anxiety and prepares you for restful sleep.

Benefits of Bath Salts: Our Bath Salts are packed with ingredients that calm and soothe the skin as well as balancing moisture levels and helping to remove impurities. Soaking with these salts helps your body recover from the day’s physical demands while setting the stage for deeper skin care.

How to Use Bath Salts
1. Fill your bathtub with warm water.
2. Add 8-10 spoonfuls of our Relaxing Bath Salts, allowing them to dissolve completely.
3. Let the salt dissolve, and soak for at least 20 minutes.
4. If you don’t have time for a full bath, try a foot soak. Fill a large container with warm water and add a small amount of salts. Soak your feet for at least 20 minutes, then pat dry.

Step Two: Exfoliate – Using a Pumice Stone and Foot Scrub

After a relaxing bath, it’s time to exfoliate. Exfoliation helps remove dead skin cells, allowing your skin to absorb moisture more effectively. Healthy feet are the foundation of mobility, and regular exfoliation keeps them feeling soft, smooth, and ready to support your daily activities. In this step, we use two expertly developed products: our Smoothing Pumice Stone and an Exfoliating Foot Scrub.

Why Exfoliation Matters: Dead skin cells can accumulate over time, leading to dryness, dullness, and calluses. Exfoliating helps to reveal fresh new layers of skin, leaving it soft, smooth and better able to absorb hydration.

Benefits of a Pumice Stone: Pumice Stones are a natural and gentle way to remove hard skin on the roughest parts of the feet. Using a Pumice Stone regularly helps to prevent calluses and keep your feet feeling smooth and healthy.

How to Use a Pumice Stone and Foot Scrub:
1. Soak your hard skin in a footbath and gently rub the wet stone on your skin, focusing on heels and rough parts.
2. Apply a small amount of our Exfoliating Foot Scrub to your feet and lower legs.
3. Gently massage onto feet and lower legs in a circular motion to improve your blood circulation
4. Rinse thoroughly and pat your feet dry.

Step Three: Care – How to Moisturize and Soothe Feet

The final step in your foot self-care routine focuses on hydration and recovery. Taking time to nourish your skin and soothe tired muscles is essential for long-term benefits, and can help overall foot mobility and well-being. Our Nourishing Foot Balm, Relief Lotion, and Comforting Dry Oil work together to deeply hydrate your skin and provide long-lasting relief.

Why Moisturizing Matters: Hydrated skin is more likely to stay healthy. After exfoliating, your skin is primed to absorb moisture, making this step crucial for keeping your feet soft, smooth and protected.

Benefits of Balms, Lotions and Oils: Each product is different, working together to deliver targeted results. Balms create deep hydration and repair for damaged skin, lotions provide lightweight moisture and relief with easy absorption, while oils seal in hydration, leaving your skin soft and smooth with a silky finish.

How to Use:
The products in this step are designed to work together or alone. Depending on your needs in the moment, choose whichever products in whichever order most benefits you.
• Nourishing Foot Balm: Massage into clean and dry feet daily in the morning and evening. For very dry skin, apply a thick layer of cream, cover the foot with a sock, and let it soak in.
• Relief Lotion: Massage in upward strokes from the arches of the feet up to the lower legs to stimulate blood circulation. Reapply as needed.
• Comforting Dry Oil: Warm up the oil in the palms of your hands and gently massage onto your body, focusing on very dry areas. You can add this product to our Foot Balm for an enhanced nourishing effect, and for an ultimate relaxation experience, pour a few drops of the oil into the warm water of your bath.

Routine Tips: How to Stick to a Self-Care Routine at Home

Building a consistent self-care routine for your feet doesn’t have to be long or complicated. Here are a few tips to help you stick to your routine and experience those long-term benefits:
• Start Small and Build Gradually: Begin with one or two self-care activities that are easy to manage and feel enjoyable.
• Set a Consistent Schedule: Incorporate these into your daily or weekly routine at times that works best for you.
• Set Reminders: Life can get busy, so set alarms or create visual cues to remind you when it’s time for a little self-care.
• Be Flexible and Forgiving: If your routine gets disrupted, don’t worry - just get back to it when you can. Self-Care for Every Season Caring for your feet goes beyond just looking good in summer sandals - it’s about nurturing the foundation that carries you through life, day in and day out. Find your balance in three simple steps and discover how caring for your feet can support both your physical and mental well-being.

Self-care is an ongoing journey, and your feet deserve as much attention as the rest of your body. Take time for yourself - you’ve earned it!