Thread: Feet

OK, first all I hate feet. Mine, anybody's. However I would like some advice on how to make them look nicer.

Years of walking on Hawaiian lava rock barefoot has given me 'hobbit feet'. I tried some of that sally hansen stuff and it didn't work. My feet are of great use for walking across extremely hot beaches and such, I don't need shoes to walk pretty much anywhere, but my feet aren't exactly beautiful.

So help someone who doesn't think too much about her feet! ..g.:

I wear shoes as little as possible, too. Just don't like the way they feel, so usually it's either clunky cloggy sandals or nothing! I am also (sheepishly) so neglectful of my feet that about all I manage to do is moisturize them occasionally, but even that will help some if you use a cream that's really rich. Try it after a bath and put socks on top if you can stand to.

I like anything with coconut oil or shea butter, especially the "butters" in tubs from the Body Shop. They're on sale at the moment, and they smell great. The health food store and some of our local ethnic markets also stock an inexpensive cream that's basically shea butter in a tub. I haven't tried it yet, but one of my barefoot friends swears by it, and it probably works just as well.

Start thinking!!! And wearing shoes!!!

EVERY NIGHT:

• soak feet in warm water for five minutes
• generously apply a lotion containing at least 10% alpha hydroxy acid
• generously apply a very emollient lotion (I use Aveeno)
• apply cotton sox -- feet should feel slimy
• go to bed

In the morning, shower and scrub feet with a washcloth. If you want to pretty 'em up faster, use a pumice stone on the grody bits. After the shower, apply a smaller amount of the emollient lotion and wear sox for about 1/2 hour. Over time you will be able to space out the heavy duty evening treatments (I can get away with once a week now, and I dance in bare feet), while maintaining the morning scrub and moisturizer.

FWIW -- I was a licensed manicurist during college (in the early eighties when those dragon lady nails were so happening....w.:)

Socks?

Slimy feet? Ewww... ..l;,

Seriously, I am just kidding. I will give this a try. Zana's shea butter suggestion as well. I don't know if they'll ever look pretty like feet I see on television. I guess I'd settle for them looking like feet I see on other people.

The one thing that makes me hesitant is: will I no longer be able to use my feet the way I do now if I make them 'pretty'? There are definite advantages to having hobbit feet.

If your feet are flat (no arches) or if your arches are too high, and you don't correct your gait with the proper shoes or the inserts to put inside, prepare for lots of trouble later in life. I will try to find the link:

Sorry I don't know how to make it clickable, but you can cut and paste it. I wish I had known about this eventuality when I was young and walked around in every manner of stupid footwear, or none at all!

We all think it will happen to somebody else...

Sorry, Feet are on my mind a lot these days. I'm hoping to be able to spin and turn and hop again. Right now it hurts too bad to try.


Tendonitis :: Achilles tendonitis :: Tendonitis treatment :: Northcoast Footcare :: medical foot care products

I thought walking in barefeet was better for you?

At least twice a week I coat my feet with a heavy-duty moisturizer (whatever is available - Vaseline works), and wear socks to bed. Love the way my feet feel the next day.

Barefooted isn't 'good' for ya...sorry to say.
I have always worn dance shoes to teach and a variety of shoes to perform. About a year ago, I did a few classes sans shoes...and...at one show, went without shoes when someone stole mine (yes...stole) backstage.
I've developed tears in the muscles of my right foot behind the my toes and above ball of my foot that, with a lot of care, may heal in a year.
I'm now having to wear ginormous sneakers that look like combat boots and act as a 'soft cast' until I'm healed.
Barefoot...bad.
Gia

Think in these terms: You dance with the help of your feet so why wouldn't you treat them better? Get pedicures at least once a month - I love getting my feet messaged during a pedicure (which reminds me that I should set up an appointment at the spa). It's kinda like arm pit hair - no one likes to see arm pit hair and no one likes to see unsightly toes and cracked heels - think about the entire picture that you are projecting - from head to toes.

Hi jasani,

Yes, that is the goal now. I guess mostly because I have an aversion to feet I haven't thought to ask before.

another trick for smoothing out rough bottoms is after a long shower/bath/soak, carefully shave the rough spots. yeah, just gently shave them with the same razor you would use on your legs.

then all the good moisturizing solutions mentioned above. i like coconut or jojoba oil best cause they absorb quickly and are highly moisturizing without the "slime factor"

if you go for pedicures maybe try the parafin dip for extra moisturizing.

Originally Posted by BreaMorgiane

Hi jasani,

Yes, that is the goal now. I guess mostly because I have an aversion to feet I haven't thought to ask before.

Well, I am guilty of going barefooted all the time. I walk around my apt. complex barefoot, on the sidewalks not on the roads... ouch! The bottoms of my feet tend to be really hard (genetic condition) and I have to always sand them down or they get really cracked on the heels. I haven't been so good about taking care of them lately and really should start because they are becoming a problem for me.

You know, I love getting pedicures. haven't had one in a while. But I knew I was in trouble when they got the Dremil out with the sanding attachment.

All of the above is great advice. If you want to continue to walk barefoot, etc, skin has memory. which is why, even with all the nifty new procedures out, most people need several repeats to have them be totally effective. So your calluses will come back!

{{{HUGS}}}

I think that pretty, well-groomed feet are part of the dancer image. If you don't get regular pedicures, wear shoes and no one will know!

bintbeled - yeah I agree. I am looking to have prettier feet!

I just want feet that work and don't hurt. ..cr.: ,f:: Feet that let me dance. My barefoot days are over forever, but that's the part of it that doesn't phase me in the least.

But getting pedicures and slathering them with good goo and wearing socks to bed will work wonders on their appearance. It they're as leathery and "hobbity" as you suggested in your initial post, get yourself some of that "Bag Balm" that they sell in drug and fabric stores. It's amazing stuff, I use it in the winter on my hands and wear gloves to bed. Note: set aside some socks that are dedicated to this purpose, maybe all your purple ones ..l;, because they will never be the same once you start using the Bag Balm.

**Note: just took my kitty in for his checkup (after his urinary blockage, ugh), He's doing great!

hahah I hate feet too! I think I have a complex abotu them!
I get regular pedicures (once a month) and mousturize daily!

Face your fear and get a good pedicure once a week or so at least to get the majority of the callused skin off and observe how they treat your feet so you can eventually replicate it at home.

I can't afford pedi's as much as I could when I lived in Philly and boy do I notice a difference. Do it. You'll get addicted (once you get over the pediphobia).

XOXO

I looooove pedicures. I can only afford them once every other month though - and not the 75-90 expensive kind but the wham-bam your out the door 30- 40 $ kind.

Have you ever seen a professional ballet dancer's feet? Not pretty, are they? Dancers' feet are tough beasts, designed for work, not glamour.

It's nice to get a pedicure with focus on the nails and a paraffin pedicure is nice to make the feet feel soft, *but* in my view (and my massage therapist, who always raves about my feet, feels the same) you have calloused soles for a reason. My feet are incredibly sensitive and the soles are like old boots. God knows what they'd be like without that thickened skin.

It is true, though, that if you have very flat or very archy feet you might need some help. Bare feet are better than jandals(flipflops). I had a friend years ago whose feet arched so much that she was barred from wearing jandals (you have to use your toes to keep them on, after all, so you arch and arch over and over) and had hard-core orthotics for her shoes. Mostly she went barefoot.

I bet you will feel way better if you go to a good pedicurist and get them to sort out your toes and soften the lot with some paraffin.

Loooove that paraffin treatment...

Haha Azhia...I do have 'pediphobia'. Boyfriends LOVE finding out about that and always are grabbing at my feet. Weirdos. ..l;,

Zum- yes, my feet are basically shoes also (hobbit feet without all the fur). I agree that we dancers are also rough on our feet. I'm thinking of it aesthetically as a dancer, but also want to retain toughness. I don't know if I can have it both ways! It's like playing guitar.

I hate feet..so much that I got my first pedicure about a year ago. I still dont like it. I would rather get a bikini wax in public. I take care of my own. I dance bare and I teach with lyricals. I shave of the callus with that horrible tool, and no I cant walk on gravel or hot pavement like I used to. But after you tear open that half inch callus on the ball once and it bleeds on the dance floor...you learn that the trade off is worth it.

There's this stuff called Callex that's basically petroleum jelly with some kind of gentle enzyme in it that works really well. Also softens my cuticles and I have less nail breakage (on my hands) when I use it regularly. Smells good too, sort of minty. I'm hooked on to keep my calluses from cracking, especially around my heels.

Originally Posted by zumarrad

Have you ever seen a professional ballet dancer's feet? Not pretty, are they? Dancers' feet are tough beasts, designed for work, not glamour.

ah, the curse we must deal with

I love either just plain Vaseline and socks, or Burt's Bees coconut/mint lotion that smells super-yummy and works wornders even after one night

honestly, I love everything BB's, down to the Baby Bee line!

Coconut Foot Creme - Burt's Bees

Originally Posted by anala

I would rather get a bikini wax in public.

..l;,

If you're into full deforestation then that's a lot of exposure...

BAG BALM.....the stuff is a miracle....

*Sigh* I LOVE feet (if you can't tell by my avatar.) Anyways, somewhere I have a natural recipe for a foot scrub & lotion that I'll have to dig up for you... That said, you'd be surprized at how much of a difference you'd notice after just shaping your toenails and painting them (french tip-toes have a nice natural look but still very polished... and yes, I intended that pun :-)

Originally Posted by anala

I hate feet..so much that I got my first pedicure about a year ago. I still dont like it. I would rather get a bikini wax in public. I take care of my own.

and ummm, what, ummm, are you taking care of there Anala?.w.:.w.:

*runs away before public displays of waxation*

I deliberately avoid doing too much to the soles of my feet, because of what Zum said. I walk around barefoot all the time, but only indoors or in my garden, not downtown. ..g.:

I have HUGE flappy feet, I am 5'3" and a UK 7 (that's a US 9), at least when I dance on my toes I have a lot of contact with the floor still ..l;,

I tend not to do anything to the soles aparet from an occassional smooth of moisturiser, but I do use cuticle butter on my toes and heels (I use Lemony Flutter from Lush, which is awesome) which means I don't get cracked heels or toes. I use pumice if the edges start looking too rough.

What my original point was going to be (before I started rambling) was that you shouldn't forget about cheeky camouflage techniques. Nice nail polish, anklets, toe rings (anklets with pretty chains that attach to toe rings) henna etc are are good way of distracting from the less pretty bits.