I have always had horrible heels. I am not sure if it is an inherited thing but my mother had them and so does one of my bonus sisters. They quickly thicken and split at certain times of year. When I used to walk barefoot on the beach a lot, they were fine – maybe the sand exfoliates them. But in winter Sweden they are agonisingly painful when they split.
I have used all kinds of foot cream with differing levels of success. Scholl cracked heel cream tends to be good, as does O’Keeffe’s Healthy feet. But it takes a while, and you have to be consistent (which I am not – as soon as my heels get better I tend to stop using heavy creams on them).
I had a terrible crack last weekend, so I bought the product above from the pharmacy. Boy did it work. The product size is nice and big, the pump is no-mess, the texture is fairly light, and it works immediately. It took two days to heal everything and my feet are now baby soft. You use it once a day until your feet are better and then apply for maintenance purposes once or twice a week. The packaging says it replaces foot baths, exfoliating socks, foot files and creams. It is also, apparently, anti-microbial.
The ingredient list:
Aqua, Urea, Sodium Lactate, Lactic Acid, Tartaric Acid, Glycolic acid, Panthenol, Glycerin, Methyl Methacrylate Cross-Polymer – insert, PEG-20 Methyl Glucose Sesquistearate, Methyl Glucose Sesquistearate, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter, Octyldodecanol, Behenyl Alcohol, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil, Caprylyl Glycol, Squalene, Menthol, Polyacrylate–1 Crosspolymer, Retinyl Palmitate, Sodium Gluconate. Footmender has a menthol scent and does not contain perfume or ingredients of animal origin. Contains no preservatives.
The long term effects remain to be seen, but I am going to make sure I keep up with this as long as I can.