A Guide to Saying Farewell to the Dry Foot Monster

Confession: I used to have dry feet that felt like my cat’s tongue. (If you’ve never encountered kitty tongue — then picture sandpaper on crack.) To the naked eye, the dryness didn’t look like much, but when I was lying in bed at night my feet would catch on my sheets and the sensation rattled me to the core; it’s truly a nails on the chalkboard experience.

Over the years, I have tried everything on the beauty market — slathering creams, pumice stones, fish pedicures — you name it, I’ve tried it. But still, my dry feet remained. Sometimes my feet were so dry that they would itch relentlessly, and because the skin on my heels was thick and callus, getting to the nerves and satiating the itch was impossible. An unscratchable itch is the worst — am I right? It certainly beats wedgie woes and sweaty palms, if you ask me.

Needless to say, I was forever on the hunt to quench the thirst that my feet were feeling, and I think I have finally devised the perfect foot care routine. The kingpin in this life-altering process (because true dry foot sufferers know that the dream of having smooth soles legitimately is life-altering) is my relatively new addiction to the Amope. But a girl cannot heal dry feet with Amope alone — despite the pure pedi perfection of this electronic foot file. So let me walk you step by step through what I have deemed the best plan for foot care that money can buy.

Step 1: Regular Pedicures Complete with Cheese Grater

Honestly, there is nothing better than a pedicure. There is something about soaking your feet in warm water that screams "I’m being pampered." That said, not all pedicures are created equally. Although many will turn your toenails glittery red and make your feet look pretty, they often do nothing to combat long-term foot dryness.

If you’re looking for a pedicure to help heal your crusty heels, ask if the pedicurist uses a cheese grater. I am not even kidding. The absolute best way to ensure that you will leave your pedicure with less callus than you arrived with is to have a trained professional grate your feet like you would Parmesan. A professional shredding of your feet every four weeks will leave your heels and footpads super smooth, shifting the dry foot situation from all out meltdown to solution maintenance.

Step 2: A Richly Creamy Moisturizer and Socks

If your feet are like mine, within a week of even the very best pedicure, your feet will start to feel parched again. I hydrate my thirsty tootsies with Josie Maran: Whipped Argan Oil Ultra-Hydrating Body Butter. There are all kinds of specialty foot creams out there, and it's possible that I have tried them all. Lots are good, but as far as I’m concerned, none are as good as this cream by Josie Maran Cosmetics. I have no scientific reasoning — just plain ol’ trial and error. All I can tell you is that this cream is marshmallow soft and super hydrating.

Josie Maran: Whipped Argan Oil Ultra-Hydrating Body Butter, $35, Sephora

Before applying cream, I always wash my feet with warm water and a hydrating soap like Nubian Heritage’s Raw Shea Butter Body Wash. Once my feet are nice and dry, I will massage about a dime size dollop of cream into each foot and then encase my feet in a pair of socks. The socks keep the cream on my feet and encourage hydration. Just so you know, there are all kinds of spa socks out there, but gym socks work just as well. I cream my feet often, sometimes everyday! But I would advise you to cream yours as needed.

Nubian Heritage's Raw Shea Butter Body Wash, $11, Amazon

Step 3: OMG! — AMOPE, AMOPE, AMOPE

Honestly, I know I sound obsessive, but even with regular pedicures and super hydrating creams — I still found my heels prickly and cracked. Now, I SUFFER NO MORE! Thanks to my Amope, a battery powered electronic foot file. Think of it like this: a power sander for your feet.

Amopé Pedi Perfect Foot File, $35, Amazon

I’ll admit that I was hesitant to buy the Amope, at first. I learned of its existence from a pretty hokey commercial — akin to the kind of the commercials that sold toys to me in the years of Saturday morning cartoons. The commercial in question featured bad graphics, a cutesy jingle and the promise of amazingly soft feet. By the time I saw it for the third time, my obsession with overcoming foot dryness got the best of me. I bought my Amope on Amazon and in two days it had arrived on my doorstep.

Using the Amope is very easy — you just hold the plastic handle and rub the rotating sander over the dry spots on your feet. I do this over the tub because the Amope is good at its job, and therefore it buzzes away my uncomfortable dryness and leaves behind powdery dry foot dust (which I easily dispense of by turning on the bath). In just two minutes, Amope smooths over any in-between-pedicure dryness. (So buh-bye pumice stone.)

To be clear, the Amope cannot replace my foot cream or my pedicures, but it is the final piece in the puzzle. It is the cornerstone in my fight against dry feet. It is the Amope that has stripped the dry foot monster of his power — and left me feeling footloose and fancy free.

Images: Flickr, Giphy