Monday, April 13, 2009

Callus remarks

Warning: This post not for the easily grossed-out. It is perfect, however, for health inspectors, ladies with pretty feet, and health inspectors with pretty feet.

Those shavey things sometimes used in a pedicure? Are miraculous to me. For those of you who don't get pedicures, or who get them in the wrong states, they're a razor blade with a handle, pretty much, that shaves calluses and rough skin off your feet. They are apparently called "callus shavers." Which makes sense. For me, the callus shaver is the point of a pedicure, in fact. I can paint my own toenails, but I am afraid to shave the rough skin off my feet. That's a razor blade in there, people.

I have been told (though I cannot attest to the veracity of the information) that they are legal some places (including Idaho and Virginia), but not in all (including, apparently, New Hampshire). Bzh mentioned recently that they are not legal in North Carolina or Maryland.

So here's your question: How does a person find out what states they are legal in? I live so close to so many states that there must be somewhere around here I can get a decent pedicure. Right?

Anyone happen to know, for the benefit of all my readers, where that info lives? Or know, for my benefit, whether that is a service offered in any reputable (ah, hell, even semi-reputable) salon in the New England states?

UPDATE 4/15 4:27 p.m. Many thanks to bzh herself for finding us just what we were looking for. It seems Vermont is the place, for me anyway. Woohoo, and may you other seekers find a salon near you.

8 comments:

mike said...

How quaint. Hereabouts, there's been controversy for several months about the legality and wisdom of paying to put your feet in a tank of carnivorous fish that eat supposedly just the outermost layer of dead skin.

The USA Today reported about a fish pedicure salon in Alexandria: "State regulations make no provision for regulating fish pedicures. But the county health department — which does regulate pools — required the salon to switch from a shallow, tiled communal pool that served as many as eight people to individual tanks in which the water is changed for each customer."

bzzzzgrrrl said...

I know of these carp pedicures, but have never had one myself.

Interesting; it seems like a) pool regulations don't generally require that each bather get his or her own pristine water, and b) like changing the water that often would be upsetting and problematic for the fish.

katie said...

perhaps more than one person in the same water makes it a public pool and individual buckets with fresh water gets them out of being treated as one. it probably is stressful getting scooped up and moved all day, though.

mandy said...

I just love this headline.

bzzzzgrrrl said...

Thought of you writing it, Mandy. :)

Bitterly Indifferent said...

Wait, how good is this post for lady health inspectors?

Also, New Hampshire has been stealing booze customers long enough by setting up massive, tax-free liquor stores just inside their border. Isn't it time that they gave something back, by giving other states a chance to set up callus shaver salons just outside the NH state lines?

bzzzzgrrrl said...

And fireworks. But that's just it. Can anyone tell me if there are salons that use callus shavers just over the border in Massachusetts? Or Vermont? Hell, if I have to, I'll go to Albany or Hartford. Maybe.

mike said...

Okay:

http://www.nailsmag.com/pdfs/handouts/NAStateBoardDir.pdf

There. Now I feel like Allison Janney's character in Juno. (For the record, I googled it -- I am not, in general, a fount of information about cosmetology.)