Happy feet Monday

feet toes 2Every Mother’s Day, to keep things simple, I ask for a pedicure. My boys are very kind to get me one and my feet are always so grateful. But I always have this nagging feeling that my feet need to be much improved BEFORE going in for said pedicure. Kind of like cleaning your house very well before you have a cleaning service in. Am I right?

With graduation and all its activities, I was a little late getting my beach-ready pedicure this year. And in doing so, I stepped out of my comfort zone a bit by using a deeper turquoise on my tootsies, instead of my usual pale aqua. I couldn’t get the photo to upload properly to show you but it’s much more vibrant than the shade pictured (on fingers, sorry!) that I normally use. Took me a while to get used to it, but I’m ok with it now.

Anyhoo, I’ve still been using my buffer/scrubber before every shower (or at least when I think of it, which is about every other time) and slathering lotion on when I get out. But it’s always seemed that a day or so later, they’ve reverted a bit to their former state of disrepair. I’ve even tried wearing those socks at night, but because of my tendency toward swollen feet, they often cut into my skin, threatening to cut off the circulation, so I gave those the boot.

However, I have had some success lately with a Gold Bond cream in a tube that includes exfoliators in its moisturizing formula. It seems to be keeping the flakies at bay fairly well, so I’ll take that.

What about you? What are your beautiful, hard-working feet wearing these days? Or are you sporting simply sunny, bare-naked tootsies?

  • Stephanie says:

    I need to pick up some Baby Feet, apparently! I’ve been considering investing in an Amope callus remover, too.

    Right now my toes are in a pale duochrome lavender/blue, from the cheapie $2 line of CVS polish. It’s really pretty!

  • rosiegreen says:

    I just got a tube of Miracle Foot Repair and it has worked wonders for my scratchy feet.

  • March says:

    HAHAHA Babyfeet! I love to look at the photos online! I’m lucky that my calluses don’t get too bad — I usually pumice my feet in the shower a couple times a week, then slather them with lotion. That’s such a pretty polish color!

  • Queen Cupcake says:

    Ann, what a lovely color! I never do my nails, but like blues, greens, and even purples for the toes. I do a lot of gardening and yard work also, which makes it a challenge. They are not pretty feet to begin with, so I don’t particularly show them off in fancy sandals or anything. A pedicure or two in the Spring & Summer, some proper care during the rest of the year. Having just entered my 66th year, I have decided that I am not going to be ashamed of the condition of my feet, or any other part of my body for that matter.

    • Musette says:

      I am SO glad to hear that, QC, as you are gorgeous just as you are and one of the things that will enhance that gorgeousity is embracing who you are! We are SO hard on ourselves, aren’t we? I take great comfort in even being able to STAND (after those two horrible falls) – my left foot is no longer the pretty thing it used to be but erryday I take a minute to thank it for hanging in there with me, when it seemed as if it wanted to just give up the ghost!

      For exfoliation I use Walgreens (now Studio 35) Alpha-Hydroxy cream. Under $10 and every bit as good as the $40 cremes.

      xoxoxoA

      • Queen Cupcake says:

        Thanks for the tip, dear A! I’ll get over to Walgreens asap. My husband is the one with baby soft feet–even after all of his yard work. Sorry about the falls–geesh. I appreciate the mobility I have, and always feel pretty good (relatively) when I leave my primary doctor’s; there are so many people who are much worse off.

  • Cheri says:

    I saw a dermtologist treat a severe case of psoriasis with a heavy aquaphor cream, wet socks, and plastic wrap. It worked!

  • Tanja says:

    You can order Foot peels much cheaper from ebay, but use Korean sellers, not chinese…. They are around 6€ each.

  • Tara C says:

    I don’t have two weeks to have massively peeling, ugly feet (I do yoga classes four days a week, don’t want to gross everyone out) so I just scrub with the pumice stone and slather them up with shea cream. No nail polish, just plain, very short nails. I am too lazy to fuss with nail polish any more. Yours is very pretty though!

  • springpansy says:

    Yes, I do Baby Feet about twice a year. It’s wonderful, I recommend it to everyone. (I still scrub in between–after the peeling is done–and use lotion.)

    Polish on toes is one of my favorite beauty rituals especially in summer. I don’t really spend much on makeup, so polished toes are my treat. I usually go pretty classic in the summer – red or dark pink, but in the fall I’ve been known to go dark blue or gunmetal gray. I just got my first pedicure of the summer and am thoroughly enjoying how it looks (OPI Tell Me About It Stud) and I’ve had a couple of compliments even!

  • shiva-woman says:

    I can totally relate. The last few years, as I’ve gotten “older” I have had really rough, scaly, positively gross feet. It doesn’t help that I’m outside doing a lot of gardening, yard work and brush clearing. Then in the summer, much the same with open sandals. Last year or so, I went in to get a pedicure, realizing that my feet were a bit “rough” on the bottom–so much so that the young lady made a comment. I was bathing and cleaning and scrubbing and lotioning to no avail, and was embarrassed at how bad my feet looked BEFORE I went to the Pedicure.
    Then I looked up “Baby Feet.” There are similar products out there, and they probably all work the same, but the gist of it is that you put your feet into a “plastic sock” like thing that has a ton of fruit and/or salicylic acids (you can check the ingredients). You soak the feet first, taking a bath or some such, then pull this on, put some socks over the plastic do-whacky, and watch a movie or enjoy the sunset with a margarita in hand. For at least an hour. Then, wash. You will NOT notice immediate results. You WILL experience the most massive exfoliation with strips (do not be tempted to pull or tug) and peeling that you have EVER SEEN. that occurs over the next SEVERAL LOOOONG DAYS. There isn’t any pain–but your feet will be truly ugly for two weeks. Wear shoes, not sandals that reveal the peel.. Soak a few minutes every day in the bath and scrub off the top peely-bits. In two weeks–you will have the loveliest, smoothest callous free tootsies that feel like silk! No blisters, and your feet won’t have any problems with shoes, etc. It doesn’t make your feet more sensitive–just positively silky smooth feet. I have bought a few different brands but haven’t tried them yet, but I think they perform more or less the same. Might want to start with “Baby Feet”–it runs I think around 20 bucks. Worth. Every. Penney. Results for me lasted about 8+ months–ymmv.

    • Kathleen says:

      Thank you for the tip! Sounds like a must buy!

    • Kathleen says:

      I go for once per month pedicures year round, and I use lotion with glycolic AHA (I like Alpha Skin Care lotion) after every shower. Nail polish color varies per season and mood, typically various shades of reds, pinks or peaches.