UGLY FEET TO PRETTY FEET GUIDE

Having ugly feet is hard, especially if you’re female. Guys may or may not care about that stuff (they’re supposed to be ugly haha!) but it’s a hard thing being a lady with “beast feet”. Women have the burden of maintaining their feet to a certain standard. Also, just like ashy skin, ugly feet are a “Pet peeve” among certain cultures & communities *lol* So that makes it even harder on some us when you cannot avoid hiding your feet.

Unfortunately, some people have these same ugly feet issues with their hands. Thick dead ugly crusty skin, darkened knuckles (hand corns), and palms rough as the bottom of their feet.

Well, guess what. THERE IS A CURE, and it won’t take months or years to be rid of your ugly crusty horrific feet or hands. It’s just a few simple tasks that won’t monopolize a chunk of your time, nor burn a hole in your wallet. I’ll try to keep this guide as short and simple as possible, but there are a few things you need to know & understand.

UGLY FEET CLASSIFICATION
Mild Case: Your feat are ugly due to maybe a jacked up pinky toe, and a little dead skin that you scrub off with a pumice stone. You can still wear open toed shoes, but are limited to ones that only show your first two or three toes.

Moderate Case: Lots of dead skin on your feet & a few corns. You have a jacked up pinky toe. You’re embarrassed at going to the nail shop, so you do your own pedicures. There are certain trick & tasks you have to do to make your feet presentable & comfortable enough for you to show them in public. You work hard giving yourself pedicures, and afterwards you use a makeup concealer on your feet. You still wear open toed shoes, but are limited to ones that only show your first two or three toes.

Severe Case: THICK dead skin covers the entire bottom half of your feet, your pinky toes, and the side of your big toes. A crusty layer of skin covers the top half of your feet. Your pinky toenails are dark & crusty, other toenails maybe also. You never go outside without socks even in the summer time. You won’t go without socks during “intimate” encounters. You won’t even show your feet to your spouse to whom you’ve been with for 10-20 years. You don’t even bother trying to fix your feet because you know it’s hopeless.

WHAT CAUSES CORNS CALLUSES DEAD SKIN & DARK TOENAILS ?
Callus: Hard dry thick layer of dead skin that develops do to extreme and constant pressure & friction. A callus is an inflammatory reaction toward this pressure & friction. The skin naturally tries to protect itself by developing a thick layer of dead skin to shield it.

Corns: Basically, it’s what you call a callus that has developed on toes or knuckles(hands). Corns can be pink & raw, beige like the sole of your foot, or dark skinned. Some corns & calluses can be painful. A lot of times they are not, they’re just dry crusty & ugly to look at.
Dead skin: Massive layers of dead skin generally develop due to moisture loss and due to pressure & friction (callus).Dark Toenails: Due to constant pressure toes will discolor & thicken. The darker the toenail, indicates the severity of the trauma it has been put through. Most peoples “pinky” toes are dark & thick due to it’s position or proximity inside of shoes. Because of this, pinky toes tend to take the brunt of the pressure/friction/weight when you’re walking, working, dancing, exercising, etc.

Most Athletes have ugly feet due to years of constant physical exercise during games & training. Dancers & performers tend to have the same issues. A lot of female celebrities have bad feet due to wearing fashionable (but extremely uncomfortable) heels constantly. Dark toenails, thick toenails, corns, calluses, dead skin, blisters, etc. will develop & remain until the source of constant irritation is ceased.

WHAT MAKES THEM WORSE?
I’ve listed items & products below that you need to stay away from. EVERY last one of the items below do nothing but make corns calluses & dead skin WORSE! Cutting & abrading makes corns/calluses/thick-dead-skin even worse and uglier! Whatever temporary relief you might receive, is just that. TEMPORARY.The #1 one thing that makes corns/calluses/thick-dead-skin worse is shaving or cutting them off with a razor blade or other metal object. It does nothing but make the skin grow back even THICKER FASTER & DARKER (dark-red for lighter skinned ethnicities). The metal reacts with the iron in your body/skin (as if it’s been injured or damaged just like a burn or something) then as an inflammatory reaction the skin, again, develops a dead layer of skin that is darker & thicker than it was before. On your palms & soles of your feet, there’s no color so it would just develop the thick layer of dead skin minus the hyper-pigmentation. Ever had a pedicure? Notice how when the nail tech uses that corn shaver or that metal cheese grater thing, making your feet all smooth & soft before you walk out? Then a days later your dead skin is back thicker than it was before? Then you go right back for your weekly pedi & have her do the same thing again? Yeah, that’s why. It’s a vicious cycle. What’s even scarier is, even if you scrape up “normal skin” with a razor or metal abrader (like the normal skin surrounding your corns/callus/etc.) it will cause the normal skin to do this same thing. So now the thick dead dark skin is spreading to other areas that didn’t even have a problem before. Don’t believe me? Find the prettiest most normal area of skin on your hand, or your knuckle. Use that corn shaver on it to scrape off a little dead skin and make it all smooth. In five days, let me know how your hand or knuckle looks.

Ever seen this “Corn & Callus Remover” at CVS or Walgreen’s? (they have generic versions too) This stuff will only make your corns/calluses/etc WORSE. This product is a Salicylic Acid based chemical. Now S.A. has MANY great uses in dermatology and skin maintenance in general, but this crap is S.A. mixed with some weird caustic industrial adhesive that damages skin even worse than it was before. Yes it will temporarily remove some dead skin (after several painful applications) but it irritates the new skin underneath, once again bringing back the dead skin faster & darker. Oh and don’t let it touch any surrounding “normal skin” near the corns/callus/etc. This stuff will RUIN normal skin and make it look just as bad as the damaged skin your trying to get rid of.

The same goes for this product also, minus the industrial strength adhesive additive. This product burns like hell if it soaks into normal skin. Both of these products belong on the shelf of an auto-parts store.

All of the products mentioned above are nothing more than a razor blade with a fancy handle, a cheese grater, sand paper on a stick, a brick, a rasp, and sulfuric acid! (haha! just kidding, but those corn liquids are horrible!) They all belong either in a tool box or a kitchen utility drawer. NONE OF THEM SHOULD EVER BE USED ON SKIN. They’ll do nothing but damage your skin further.

PREVENTION
Stop wearing tight and/or uncomfortable shoes. Wear work gloves when lifting heavy equipment or when doing hard labor or frequent home repairs. Keep your hands & feet moisturized during the day. If you’re wearing socks & shoes, moisturize with Vaseline before putting on your socks. This will be sufficient until you get home for the evening. Keep your hands moisturized all through out the day, especially after you wash them. At night after showering, moisturize your feet and hands with Vaseline. Then put on cotton socks & plastic/vinyl (or cotton) gloves and wear them to bed. Most importantly, DO NOT use a razor blade on your skin or abrade your skin or use ANY of the products mentioned above.

THE CURE
The cure is simple. CHEMICAL EXFOLIATION & MOISTURIZING. You need to heel your skin. Now, you may think because there’s no open wound or bruise that there’s nothing to heal, but dead skin is an actual skin “injury” that needs to be healed. You get rid of the dead-skin/callus/corn with chemical exfoliation and keep it gone by moisturizing the skin and wearing ONLY comfortable shoes.MATERIALS NEEDED:
• Glycolic Acid 90%
• Strong Foot & Knuckle Peel
• Salicylic acid 30%
• Baking Soda
• Distilled Water
• Cotton Pads
• Vaseline
• Skin Bleching Cream
• Raw Shea Butter
• Plastic Wrap
• Disposable Vinyl Gloves
• Mediped Socks (very soft cotton socks made for diabetics)

EXFOLIATION
Glycolic Acid (like all chemical peels) loosens the glue that holds dead skin to the new healthy skin underneath it. Applying this solution will cause the dead skin to peel & fall off. Glycolic Acid “70%” is the strongest glycolic acid available, and for severely thick dead skin you will need to use this strength initially. First, get a small cup or bowl, and dissolve a tablespoon of baking soda in water (tap water is fine). You will use this mixture to neutralize the GA70 in any areas that start to sting before you finish this treatment. Apply the GA70 to your feet with a brush. You can either use a fan brush or a large makeup brush. Brush the GA70 on all the areas you want to peel, or over your entire foot. You will notice that the GA70 has absorbed into he dead skin, you can apply another layer if you like. (FYI:Dead skin seems to be very porous compared to normal skin. So you’ll notice the GA70 may stay “wet” looking while sitting on top of any surrounding normal skin) Let the GA70 sit on your feet for 30 minutes. If your skin starts to sting in certain areas, dip a cotton pad in the baking soda mixture, squeeze the excess, then wipe the stinging area. You will see fizzing & bubbling. This reaction is caused when the baking soda (a base) neutralizes the GA70 (an acid) :::IMPORTANT: If your skin starts stinging bad, before the 30 minutes is up, immediately proceed to the next step of rinsing::: After 30 minutes, go rinse your feet (or hands) with warm water. Pour a little baking soda onto your feet and gently rub it in to neutralize the GA70. Rinse. Then cleanse your feet with regular soap & water. Use a SOFT bath brush, loofah, or firm sponge to gently cleanse with (remember, NO MORE ROUGH ABRADING) Afterwards, dry your feet completly then apply a thin layer of Saliclear, rub it in good. After this, follow the moisturizing routine as instructed below. Three days after the first application of GA70 & Salicler your feet will start to peel profusely, especially when you shower or bathe. Your socks will be filled with thick flakes of skin. If you have a severe case of dead skin/corns/calluses, your feet will will have thick layers of dead skin peeling off like TAPE. Use GA70 daily until the skin isn’t as thick. After a while you wont need to treat your feet as aggressively with GA70. They’ll be less dead skin so you’ll eventually will want to treat every other day, and then 2-3 times a week. NOTE: Initially, there will be a lot of dead skin peeling off your feet. So naturally you’ll want to pick at it. You can help peel the dead skin off by pulling it off with your fingers but DO NOT force it. You could damage the new skin underneath if the dead skin is still heavily attached to it. You can also scrub off the dead skin after having soaked in the bath or shower. Use a gentle bath brush, your nails, or a loofah, which are all natural & contain no metal. Dead Sea Salt scrubs or Sugar scrubs are okay, but be very gentle with those. You may want to hold off on the scrubs until your skin is completely back to normal though. Remember, too much friction/abrading can further irritate (or injure) your already damaged skin making the corns/calluses/dead-skin come back stronger.

For feet and hands with a lot of thick dead skin corns/calluses, and massive hyperpigmentation. You will need do a more aggressive chemical peels to get results. You will need to do a TCA 30% Peel in addition to using Glycolic Acid 70% and Salicylic Acid 30%. Applying TCA 30% to thick dead crusty skin on your feet or hands will not even burn, but it will remove that thick layer of dead leathery skin. After you mixup your GA70% and TCA30% solutions, gather the rest of your tools from the list above. First you’re going to do a TCA30% peel on your feet/hands (please read my ‘Chemical Peel Guide’ first). Then the next day Apply your GA70% (as instructed above), then apply your SA30%, then your skin bleaching cream. Now you need to wrap your feet in the plastic wrap. After you do that put on a pair of socks (not the Medipeds). Leave this on your feet for an hour, then rinse & wash your feet with soap and water. Do the same for your hands only use the disposable vinyl gloves. After washing your feet/hands apply raw shea butter and put on a pair of MediPed socks, or a pair of VERY soft comfortable socks. For your hands, at bed time apply shea butter and a pair of vinyl gloves. You can take remove the gloves in the morning, or later when you get up to use the bathroom at night. I promise, after a week of doing this you will be amazed at your results. Continue this regimen until the super thick dead skin corns/callus is down to a normal level. Then you can start using just the GA70% and SA30% for regular maintenance. You should always keep your feet exfoliated with SA30% & GA30%. Continue to apply your skin bleaching cream daily until your feet/hands no longer have hyperpigmentation. You are to do these treatments every other day (i.e. Monday= TCA Pel; Tuesday= GA & SA Peel; Wednesday=TCA Pel; etc etc…) until the dead skin is to a normal level where can exfoliate with just the GA70% and SA30% for regular maintenance.

MOISTURIZING
Moisturizing is the part that will heal your skin, it lubricates & soothes damaged skin. Leaving skin dry causes an inflammatory reaction to occur, which is the building up of dead dry thick skin. It’s VERY important keep your feet & hands moisturized at all times. After using the above exfoliation methods, and cleansing your feet & hands. Apply your Raw Shea Butter, rub it into your feet very well. Raw Shea butter is very good at healing damaged skin. After that apply a layer of Vaseline (or good quality generic petroleum jelly) to your feet then put on your Mediped socks. Make sure you purchase a large pair of Mediped socks so they won’t be tight on your feet, tight socks are as bad as tight shoes. For your hands do the same, but put on a pair of plastic or vinyl gloves (remember: latex weakens & tears with Vaseline/petroleum). It would be easier to do all of this before bed. After about 3 days, every morning you wake up & take off your gloves and socks to wash your hands/feet, massive pieces of dead skin will fall off as you rub or wash your hands/feet. If you simply cannot deal with Vaseline during the day due to work or whatever, you can use your ‘Gold Bond Lotion’. It’s a healing non-greasy lotion and it moisturizes (not as well as Vaseline though). You still need to use the Shea Butter/Vaseline glove method at bedtime. Severely damaged skin NEEDS deep intense moisturizing & conditioning to heal. After awhile, you won’t have to employ this intense moisturizing method, but initially it’s very important that you do.

WHAT TO EXPECT
You won’t turn into a foot & hand model over night but within two weeks your feet and hands will look 20% better! Your skin will be softer and you’ll notice normal color returning to the discolored areas. The severity of your situation will determine how long you’ll have to work on your feet to get them completely healed. No matter what, your feet WILL go from ugly to pretty as long as you follow this guide and have a little patience. Feel free to contact me with any questions or if you need help with your regimen.