In reality, I am not a fan of sandals or even open toes shoes because I don’t like my feet. Partly due to the fact that feet look, well, just weird and partly due to my feet having stubborn calluses as a result of many years running around outside barefoot.

However, I am always looking to remedy the latter issue and I’ve used several foot care products in the search of the “one” that will leave my feet silky soft and ‘smooth. I’ve used foot files, buffers and pumice stones along with various lotions to achieve varying results.

Pumice stones are one of the older methods of softening and smooth hard and dry calluses on feet. They’re pretty straight forward; it’s a stone made out of pumice. Sometimes they’re called “pumice sticks” when a handle is attached and sometimes they come with a brush or file attached to do multiple duties. Sometimes it comes in pretty colours or shapes and sometimes it looks like a lump of grey rock because, oh wait, that’s what pumice is (“a porous or spongy form of volcanic glass, used as an abrasive”). Pumice stones are natural and can be used as part of a green lifestyle!

I’ve used one from Avon Foot Works attached to a handle and had little luck. Part of achieving good luck with pumice stones is finding a stone that is rough enough and that product just wasn’t. The other factor in good exfoliation is effort applied to the stone itself which might be a little easier to do without a handle though this may possibly be rough on the hands where skin is not callused.

I picked up my favourite stone from date in the dollar bin at the local store. (It was mislabeled and came up $2, though, humph!) It was a round stone with two sides and no handle, one the typical gray and the other yellow and was labeled “silver and gold.” The ‘silver’ was intended for abrasive exfoliating and the ‘gold’ was intended for moisturizing afterward even though it seemed to be pretty much the same as the other side. Despite its cheap packaging and price, it worked wonders (until breaking in my luggage on vacation!) and made me feet feel much softer and smoother. As it was a no name item, I have yet to find it again.

On the other hand, foot files are man-made, almost always have a handle and usually have 2 sides: 1 for abrasive filing and one for smooth buffing. Sometimes the files are metal, plastic, emery or even glass with have a sand-paper like look and feel.. I’ve used several, usually drug or dollar store brands, but not to much avail. It seems that pumice stones do a better job for me but, again, that may be because I’m not a fan of the handle. Also, foot files often have a finer grain than pumice stones.

Overall, I prefer the stones to the file because the stones do the work for you. Top it off with a daily lotion like Suave Skin Therapy Advanced Therapy lotion, and calluses will be greatly improved!

So, my recommendation? Avon Foot Works Sloughing Cream and Intensive Callus Cream work well together but for a less messy and easily attainable solution, the classic pumice stone with lotion also works well.

In reality, I am not a fan of sandals or even open toes shoes because I don’t like my feet. Partly due to the fact that feet look, well, just weird and partly due to my feet having stubborn calluses as a result of many years running around outside barefoot.

However, I am always looking to remedy the latter issue and I’ve used several foot care products in the search of the “one” that will leave my feet silky soft and smooth. I’ve used Avon Foot Works Sloughing Cream as in-the-shower treatment along with Avon Foot Works Intensive Callus Cream with mixed results. Avon is a big name in the make up and cosmetics industry and is relatively affordable but is usually seen as a step above drug store cosmetics.

I remember fondly, the Avon Foot Works Sloughing Cream working well on my callused feet even if it was a little messy. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to work quite as well some years later, probably do to the calluses on my feet worsening over time.

Instructions read that one should use on dry feet after soaking them in Avon’s Condition Foot Soak, then, massage the area until flaky rough, dead skin wash away. I skip the foot soak step but using after a bath or shower would probably help the effectiveness of this product.

After applying the Sloughing Cream which contains rough, abrasive particles, I let it sit and then ‘massaged’ the sloughing cream into my feet. Let me say that massage is misleading; a rough rub is what one should shoot for to make this most effective. In doing so, I was able to see the dead skin actually rub right off. It also made my hands much softer. However, be aware of sores or cuts, especially tiny ones like papercuts, which will become irritated by the rough particles on the Foot Works Sloughing Cream.

Even after 1 application, my feet were notably softer and smoother. Note that using the product on wet feet or in the shower nullifies most of the effects. Water reduces the friction which actually causes the dead, dry skin to rub off.

I follow up with Avon’s Foot Works Intensive Callus Cream which is, unlike lotions, extremely greasy in application and has a very strong mint scent (the sloughing cream has a slight minty smell but it’s almost hard to notice). Unfortunately for me, I don’t like to feel greasy or to smell mint but it does make my freshly sloughed feet feel even smoother and softer!

There’s good news, though. Avon has seems to be developing Watermelon scented Foot Works products as an alternative. I will probably look into the Watermelon Exfoliating Foot Scrub or the Foot Works Exfoliating Bar Soap which should be less mess and usable in the shower, to replace the Sloughing Cream in the future. I hope they expand this line because Avon’s Foot Works product really do work!

In reality, I am not a fan of sandals or even open toes shoes because I don’t like my feet. Partly due to the fact that feet look, well, just weird and partly due to my feet having stubborn calluses as a result of many years running around outside barefoot.

However, I am always looking to remedy the latter issue and I’ve used several foot care products in the search of the “one” that will leave my feet silky soft and smooth. I’ve also foot files, buffers and pumice stones along with various lotions to achieve varying results.

Sometime before I happened upon the Sally Hansen Callus Remover, I tried Avon’s callus buffer, the predecessor of its Foot Works Electronic Callus Smoother with Interchangeable Heads. This was a little machine that looked much like a miniature drill with flat, metal bits instead of, say, a phillips. I didn’t find that the buffer did much at all, even with a head for rough, medium and light calluses. It might have even worked better as a personal massager if I hadn’t been so grossed out by the fact that it had been on my feet!

However, the modern version has only 1 head for the toughest calluses, a pumice head for medium and a nylon brush for gentle cleaning. I still suspect traditional pumice would be more effective than nickel and steel but the new Foot Works Electronic Callus Smoother seems like a worthy upgrade!

In reality, I am not a fan of sandals or even open toes shoes because I don’t like my feet. Partly due to the fact that feet look, well, just weird and partly due to my feet having stubborn calluses as a result of many years running around outside barefoot.

However, I am always looking to remedy the latter issue and I’ve used several foot care products in the search of the “one” that will leave my feet silky soft and smooth. I’ve used both Sally Hansen Extra Strength Callus Remover Gel and Avon Foot Works Sloughing Cream as in-the-shower treatments along with Avon Foot Works Intensive Callus Cream with mixed results. I’ve also used foot files, buffers and pumice stones along with various lotions to achieve varying results.

Both Avon and Sally Hansen are big names in the make up and cosmetics industry and are relatively affordable but are usually seen as a step above drug store cosmetics.

Some years ago, I had been using an Avon product which may have been the Sloughing Cream or its predecessor and I was happy with it. However, I ran out and just never got around to purchasing it again. In the meantime, I forgot about foot care or simply used a pumice stone. I happened upon the Sally Hansen Callus Remover in a store and decided to try it out. It was far different from the pumice stones and sloughing creams which were actually physically abrasive. Sally Hansen Extra Strength Callus Remover Gel promises to “erase deep, thick calluses, instantly exfoliates & smoothes, leaving feet silky-soft & supple” not by physical abrasion but by chemicals.

I thought I’d give it a try. The super slick, clear gel is to be applied to (dry, I suppose) callused skin for 1 minute then washed off with soap and water. I did so. I saw no results. Absolutely nothing. However, I did manage to spill a small amount on my hand when first checking out the product which resulted in an unusual rash; it didn’t make my skin any smoother or softer.

This product might be worth a try in conjunction with a foot file or pumice stone but if I’m going that route, I’ll stick to half the work and just use the file or stone itself. I’m tempted to lay the blame on my super-callused feet (which my husband has compared to “bullet proof” and “steel”) but even a customer with slightly callused feet has bad luck.

I like other Sally Hansen products but, if I were you, I’d pass on this one.