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Beauty Board: Heel Cream

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 23, 2008

If ads for popular beauty products leave you skeptical, relax. Our 4you Beauty Board's veteran testers are ready to try the latest and greatest when it comes to all things beauty. We'll share what worked and what bombed with the hope of making your life a little easier. This week: Can a heel cream really fix the funk on your tortured tootsies?

J.R. Watkins Apothecary Peppermint Rejuvenating Foot Cream

Available at www.jrwatkins.com and at Target, Wal-Mart and Ulta stores; $8.99 for 11 ounces

"A tingling burst of aromatic peppermint oil cools and revives tired, aching feet."

Rating: A-

Michelle says: Fortunately, my very worst body part is rarely seen: the bottom of my feet. Can you say elephant hide? It's gotten to the point where I dread getting pedicures at my favorite Vietnamese nail joint. I just know the technicians are saying horrible things about the Grand Canyon-like crevices in my heels: "Does she walk barefoot on hot lava rocks? I don't get paid enough for this!" So I owe much to J.R. Watkins and his peppermint foot cream. After one month of slathering it on nightly and wearing socks to bed, my once-cracked heels are on the road to recovery. I just added the Peppermint Exfoliating Foot Scrub to the regime and expect great things from this one-two punch. The price is right, it smells good and my heels are no longer the laughingstock at the Saigon Salon.

Michelle Bearden, 53, covers faith and values for the Tribune.

Sally Hansen Just Feet Dry Heel Balm

Available at Walgreens, Target and other stores that sell Sally Hansen products; $5.99 for 3 ounces

"Fast-acting balm instantly smoothes and softens rough, dry, thick heels."

Rating: B

Kim says: My heels are not as damaged, it seems, as my crusty co-workers'. Still, I occasionally have to deal with nasty blisters and bumps left by heel straps, and this product helped with those. What I really liked, though, was that it smoothed the ugly callouses my running shoes leave on my pinkie toes. And it's supposed to help prevent blisters - another plus. At $5.99 it's worth picking up a tube.

Kim Franke-Folstad, 49, is senior features editor at the Tribune and editor of 4you.

Creative Nail Spa Pedicure Cucumber Heel Therapy

Available at amazon.com; $40 for 15 ounces (smaller sizes available)

A rich, restorative heel cream which contains a moisture intensive complex of aloe, allantoin, panthenol and urea to aid in the repair of dry, cracked skin. Relieves the effects of severe dryness on heels and other parts of the body. Daily use provides noticeable improvement in a short time. Concentrated formula can be used sparingly.

Rating: A

Sherry says: When the Beauty Board said, "We've got heel cream to review," I said, "Sign me up!" I confess: I wear garden clogs all weekend long, and my heels are so bad my husband uses them to scratch his feet. Too much information? Sorry. This cream really does work in a relatively short amount of time. It's a little pricey, but I've tried the inexpensive creams and they don't seem to do the trick. This one smells great, and you could use it on other rough patches of skin. My motto that if a little is good, a lot must be even better doesn't apply here. Use sparingly or be prepared to shell out some bucks.

Sherry Hayes-Hutchinson, 46, is the features design team leader at the Tribune.

Heel Rescue Intensive Overnight Foot Repair

Available at www.drugstore.com; $12.99 for a 1.7-ounce bottle

"A high-potency moisturizer for the driest cracked feet and heels."

Rating: B

Melinda says: I wouldn't go so far as to say that this moisturizer works miracles overnight, but the results I saw after just two days of applying the cream were very impressive. It goes on smooth and silky but leaves the skin feeling a little sticky with a bit of an unpleasant scent, almost like plastic. Once you've completely moisturized your feet, and put on the adorable booties that come with the cream, you just let it sit overnight. You'll wake up in the morning to absolutely amazing looking feet.

Melinda Ramos, 33, is events coordinator for Friday Extra and TBO.com.

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