Compiled by Corinne Abrams

Tattoos are being exposed, pub gardens are overflowing and the sun has appeared - the signs of summer are here. Which means it's time to exhume your raspy heels and gnarled toenails from their closed-toe sarcophagi.

There are thousands of salons that can prettify your toes, and naturally, if you're on a budget, you can break out the cuticle cream at home. But for the best pedicures in London, from affordable to ultraluxe, use our all-inclusive list.

A foot facial at the Richard Ward Hair and Metrospa

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Some time ago the facial broke free from its head-oriented location and proceeded to wander all over the body. Facials flashmob on your back and cleavage, with their furthest journey south to the feet. But can your calcaneus look as good as your cheekbones?

Experience: The salon has an impressive roll-call of high-profile clients, including Tara Palmer Tomkinson, Kate Middleton and ballerina Darcey Bussell. Its facial pedicure promises to treat your feet as delicately as your face, and, like any good facial, involves a mask and exfoliation. Clients sit in a special back-massaging pedicure chair, then have a tea tree and grapefruit soak in a foot spa integrated into the chair, then an AHA scrub and a clay. Then soothing vitamin cream massage. After that, the toenails were shaped to perfection and painted. All the remnants of a winter undercover were removed and the whole look, nail varnish included, lasted over a week.

Cost: The Metrospa Foot Facial is £50 and lasts one hour.

Location: Richard Ward, 82 Duke of York Square, London, SW3 4LY, 020 7730 1222
Corinne Abrams

Marian Newman at Charles Worthington

Forensic scientist turned nail guru to Kate Moss and Keira Knightly, Marian Newman is to pedicures what Heston Blumenthal is to fish and chips. Her background handling dismembered limbs allows her to deal with the most distressed feet without even a wince. She diagnoses each client and prescribes a bespoke treatments, promising a non-invasive, non-abrasive, embarrassment-free pedicure.

Experience: While your rough skin is chemically eroded under layers of baking foil, Marian sets to work buffing and filing the nails using her extensive surgical tool kit.

When unwrapped from their silvery shroud the feet need just a brisk wipe with a towel to remove debris built up over winter, sparing you the scrapping and cloud of dead skin that usually accompanies a pedicure. Marian artfully glides on polish which she has developed in collaboration with Nails Inc. It's a bit of a wait for the nails to dry but the result is super soft glistening feet. A chunk of polish has come off the big toe after a weekend in flip-flops which was disappointing for a £100 worth of pedicure.

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