Entertainment

The race for the pedi-cure

Harold Ford Jr. is ready to go toe-to-toe with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand — and we’re not just talking politics.

In a recent interview, the potential candidate and recent transplant from Tennessee admitted to indulging in regular pedicures — to treat a foot condition, he claims.

No need to pussyfoot around your vanity, Ford! New York’s awash with dudes and their pumices. You might need to justify that kind of thing down South, but ’round these here parts, there’s no shame in a man who likes having his feet well groomed.

At the Sam Brocato Salon in SoHo, Beatriz Najera says that one-third of pedicure clients are male.

“Men started getting interested in pedicures about five years ago,” says Najera, whose celebrity nail clients include Gwen Stefani and Donna Karan. “Sometimes they’re waiting for their wife, or they’re waiting to have something else done.”

The salon offers a “sports pedicure” for men — a $35 treatment using specialized men’s products designed for drier skin. It’s a decidedly nongirly moniker designed to appeal to guys.

“At the beginning they’re embarrassed, but after the first time they become regulars,” Najera says. Some even come to embrace their feminine side.

“I have one client who comes in every other week and always gets the same toenail polish as his wife — but only on his big toe.” And he’ll even wear pink or red.

According to the International Spa Association (ISPA), men account for 31 percent of all spa-goers nationally. The industry is responding, tailoring nearly half of all spa packages to specifically meet male clients’ demands.

“A key reason for the boom in male spa-going is the female influences in their lives,” says ISPA President Lynne McNees. “A wife, girlfriend or mother introduces them to the spa lifestyle and then they’re hooked. ISPA’s research shows that men then go back to spas on their own and become very loyal customers.”

At the Caudalie Vinotherapie Spa at the Plaza, men comprise 50 percent of the clientele, and one-quarter of all pedicure appointments.

“We have a lot of husbands,” says head aesthetician Regine Berthelot.

“[Our customer] comes with his wife for a pedicure and reflexology, or his wife will make an appointment for things they don’t want to do for their husbands but they know they need — waxing, facials and pedicures.”

And while women are more dedicated pedicure customers and color-polish-inclined, men have their own sets of issues. “We see a lot of calluses on the heels, so it’s a matter of getting the whole foot smooth,” says Berthelot. “Often they don’t really even think of cutting their toenails to begin with.”

As for a Senate race, Ford isn’t thinking of defeat, but he is thinking of da feet.