So this was your basic horror show. I ordered Grace & Stella's Dr. Pedicure from Amazon. A home pedicure kit that promises all the skin on your feet will peel off. Which sounds great until you actually witness all of the skin on your feet peeling off.
Product review. Not a sponsored post.
Skip right to how to use Dr. Pedicure.
Maybe, let's go back to the beginning of all of this. First of all, if you've been following me for any amount of time you know my feet are horrible. They are block shaped fists of meat on the end of my ankles. I have a bunion and they're calloused and for the summer months they have the added delight of also being stained with ground in chicken crap. It's probably compost, but it started as chicken crap.
I am therefore on a constant quest to do what I can to make my feet less repulsive. Not presentable because that would require a foot transplant - I just want to get them to the point that if someone sees them they only stare in horror as opposed to barfing on the spot.
I use CeraVe as a moisturizer, a pumice stone regularly (this inexpensive, archaic tool actually works by the way) and even a battery operated sanding roller which I reviewed a few years ago. I have used Shea butter, flown to Thailand to allow tiny fish to eat away at the dead skin on my feet and went to bed wearing wet socks. I'm not sure why I did that last one.
And yet I still have rough, shield your eyes, feet. All of the things I do help a little (some a lot) but if I let things slip I'm back to square one with my ankle fists.
So the home pedicure search continues. In November it led me to Amazon and Dr. Pedicure and the new Canadian company Grace and Stella.
I wasn't entirely sure what a "Dr. Pedicure" was but the packaging did say USE THIS AND YOU'LL BE SHOWING YOUR FEET OFF so I figured I was headed in the right direction.
It turns out that Dr. Pedicure is a single use skin exfoliator for your feet. The box contains 2 plastic booties filled with special, scientific gunk that you wear for an hour. Then you just remove the booties, rinse the gunk and wait for your skin to naturally peel away several days later.
(It takes a few days for the gunk to work its magic.)
There were several warnings on the box about this not be appropriate for people with thin skin (Diabetes), those who are pregnant, nursing and a few other things.
WARNINGS??? omg this was going to be fantastic!
I put the booties on immediately and the horror show began. But the good kind of horror show.
Home Pedicure with Dr. Pedicure
Day 1
- Apply the booties and secure with included red tape.
2. Sit for an hour while wearing booties.
I would advise you to put socks over your booties because they are a safety hazard of epic proportions. Slippery plastic booties filled with slippery, gooey gunk.
Just put the booties on, cover them with socks, sit back and relax. It's not as pleasant as it looks. For the next hour you will feel as though your feet are trapped in 2 cold, dirty diapers.
3. Remove the booties and wash your feet.
Day 4
It has begun. For days 2 and 3 my feet felt really dry. On the evening of Day 4 I pulled my socks off inside out and noticed they were filled with bits of Kleenex. I figured I must have accidentally washed a wad of them when I did laundry and it ended up in my socks.
Nnnnnnnnnope.
It wasn't Kleenex on the inside of my socks. It was skin.
Day 5
More peeling. More grossness. I loved it.
Would you like to save this stuff?
We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.
The remarkable thing, which I never even thought of as I was wearing the booties is it made EVERYTHING on my feet peel. The tips of my toes, the tops of my feet, my cuticles ... every-thing.
Day 6
My feet were looking so good I thought I'd really take the look over the top and paint my toenails.
I was ready for sandals. Obviously.
Day 7
At this point I was starting to think about charging admission.
You aren't supposed to pick at or peel your skin and you're only supposed to moisturize your feet a tiny bit if you really think you can't stand it anymore. You're just supposed to let the skin slough off naturally. Which it did. In my socks, in my bed, on the carpet.
Every time I pulled on a pair of socks it sounded like I was breaking open a crusty loaf of bread.
At this point I started sending out pictures because the most fun thing about getting a cut, bruise or any other injury is showing it off to people. The first picture went to Betty.
My mother went from a position of absolute horror to considering the possibility of using it as a home facial in 1.2 seconds.
Please do not use Dr. Pedicure as a home facial. I don't think they'd even recommend that in China.
Day 16
A little over 2 weeks into this experiment it seemed like the peeling was finally finished.
This is not a great picture. I get that. But you can see my foot a little bit and you can see there are still dry bits.
However they are much better than they were at the beginning of this process.
Conclusion?
Does Dr. Pedicure work to peel dead skin away in 2 weeks? Yes it does.
Does Dr. Pedicure work as well as a real pedicure? I'm on the fence on this one. It definitely gets rid of more dead skin that an aesthetician could, like in between your toes and the skin on the top of your foot. But my heels still needed a bit of smoothing after Dr. Pedicure with a pumice stone.
Is Dr. Pedicure safe? I'm not a doctor of feet or skin so I can't really answer if it's safe or not according to the packaging it is.
Main Ingredients in Dr. Pedicure
Water, Alcohol, isopropyl Alcohol, Lactic Acid, Glycolic Acid a bunch of other stuff, and then a LOT of plant based acids from fruit like oranges, apples and grapefruit.
Those seem to be the main active ingredients, but it also includes a lot of plant extracts from sage, lemons, clematis, meadowsweet, horsetail herb, chamomile and other plants and flowers. In fact it has 17 extracts in it.
The product is indeed made in China but is distributed by The Grace & Stella Company out of Vancouver and first appeared on Dragon's Den.
Get Dr. Pedicure here in Canada.
or
Get Dr. Pedicure here in the U.S.
At $17 it's cheaper than a box of barf bags.
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Paula L
Hey Karen- I just read this March 15, '23 and I have to advise you of something probably way cheaper, way faster and very effective. I was turned on to the method by my boss way, way, way back when I worked in a beauty supply store. Look for Blue Cross Cuticle Remover (Amazon has it) - it's a white liquid in a 16oz bottle and is the old school cuticle remover. Grab a piece of plastic wrap (or cling film, if you use the British) large enough to warp around your foot and ankle and some cotton balls. Unroll the cotton ball until you have a long piece (I save the cotton out of medicine and supplement bottles for this- it gives them a better purpose). Put your foot on the plastic wrap, saturate the cotton with the Blue Cross, and the wrap it around your heel. I also do one across my toes. Put one anywhere you have a callus. Then fold the wrap up around you foot so that it sticks to itself. Do the other foot as quickly as you can and then set a timer for 10 minutes. Then pull everything off and discard it, and plunge your feet into a hot foot batch and scrub away the dead skin with a foot paddle. After you moisturize, your feet will be pretty. BTW- follow up that CeraVe with a thin film of Aquaphor and it will do a bang up job keeping your feet smooth. (I have eczema all over my body and this is what my derm MD wants me to do- it works!) Blue Cross also has a callus remover gel, but it's a lot more expensive and I don't know how well it works, having never tried it.
Karen
I'll give it a shot! Thanks for the detailed instructions. :) ~ karen!
J
Hi Karen
I’m late to this post but wanted to share - my husband has worn Smartwool socks for years and has the softest feet. Great to wear around the house in winter!
Karen
Good to know! Thx. ~ karen!
Lillian S. Smith
Loved your description of Dr. Pedicure. Can't say I was not warned but my feet sound like yours. Always dry and cracked heels. Have a Dr. Pedi to try. Given as a gift.
Kathy Hartzell
I’m getting to this article a little late! I miss pedicures - glad I snuck one in right at the beginning, as it gave me hope. No hair cuts happening in the salon, but Mi took my feet in her strong hands and gave them a workout. Now, it’s all up to me and I’m just too old and thick to do a good job on feet. So I bought an electric pedi unit and have been grinding away!
Have you tried Pretty Hands and Feet? It sloughs off a lot of skin in about 30 minutes. It’s something I will use after a shower and it’s amazing. I make my husband use it when I discover a pile of epithelial on they footrest to his chair in the living room!
Jan
My husband has worn Smart Wool socks for years and he has the softest skin on his feet! I started wearing them last winter and there is a definite difference. Go wool!
juanita
after using baby feet for years, it has actually made my feet worse when i discontinue. however i saw a facebook post about life hacks and its wierd but it works so now i use babyfeet only twice a year and maintain with the crazy remedy which is.....
soak your feet in a solution of 1 cup vinegar and i cup blue listerine. and yes it has to be the blue one and has to be listerine.. dont know why it works but it does .soak and scrub the dead skin immediately. then to smooth them (be cause peeling leaves ridges) i use a foam sanding block .
Eva Tovstiga
Omg, I almost spit out my lunch laughing at the "I'm ready for sandals" part!
I've spent my lunch hour reading your blog Karen and each one has made me laugh. Keep it up!!
Karen
Hey Eva! Thanks, lol. That's my job. Make you laugh and learn. And laugh. And question my sanity at times. ;) ~ karen!
Tracie Berry
OMG Karen...I want to get that right now, but I would be put in pickers jail for sure! I could not leave that skin alone...I do wonder where the hell all that dead skin comes from though, really?! By the way, CeraVe is the best!!!! Slather it on your feet at night and put on some white cotton socks...presto! soft feet forever!
Jenny Durling
My feet are pretty hideous. My left is actually worse than my right with cracked heels, callouses etc. I had pretty much the same results that you did. You need to repeat the process in about 2 weeks and it will take care of what's left. I don't do it often or regularly enough basically because I feel like a leper leaving skin all over the house for more than a week!
Jacquie Gariano
I'm very fortunate in that I don't have dry foot skin. But I don't go barefoot hardly ever and use Nivea After Shower lotion. I also get a pedi (to spoil myself) about every 6 weeks. I started laughing reading this and couldn't stop. You are so good to share all this trauma with us. I agree, you can't stop blogging ever. We need you and your blog in our lives to entertain, teach, and encourage us in life. Thanks so much.
Karen
Thanks for saying that Jacquie! ~ karen
Paula Clark
I use to have terrible feet too. My worst problem was dry cracked heels so bad that they bled. Then I started making and using my own soap and it was a miracle. No more cracked heels. I don't know what else to contribute the healing of my heels. That's been about 15 years ago and no cracks ever for me. I use lard, coconut oil and mostly olive oil in my soap. I should say my husband's soap since he got such a kick out of making it for me once that he has taken over the "scientific" process.
jen
I've used Baby Foot, which I think is the same thing. Barring using a belt sander, nothing will take the 4-inch layer of callous of my heels, so I feel you. When I go for a pedicure, I tell the poor person to put their back in it when they're sanding away delicately.
Robin Carter
Hi Karen!!
You probably won't get to my reply since you have sooo many on this topic, But...you can avoid all the work as well as drama by using "Nivea Moisturizing Body Wash" CVS & Walgreens seem to always have it. My feet were so rough I wore my sheets thin (like see thru) from my rough feet "sanding" a hole in them! This stuff is amazing I use it everytime I shower and wash my feet with it as well. It only took 2-3 showers until I have the softest feet and all over skin that I've ever had and that's NO BS!! They also make an after shower lotion although I've never used it since the body wash does it all! Hopefully, you read this and try it And no I don't own stock in the company ;)
Karen
I get allllll comments Robin, no matter how many in a post. :) Got your email! ~ karen
Tamatha Mavraides
You really made me laugh. Ankle fists!!! Hahahahahaha. Feet are gross in general aren’t they? I read the whole article because I didn’t want to miss one funny remark. Plus bonus, I got details about this pedicure kit. Awesome!
Karen
They're generally pretty icky, yes, lol! ~ karen
Lynn
Chicken poop?
I first saw your post when I was looking for how-tos for using floor leveler, and I think you were barefoot in that post, too.
I joke that my feet aren’t Lynn colored until at least mid September when it gets too chilly to stay barefoot outside.
The o’keefe’s someone mentioned is awesome. Supposedly henna is, too, which can be fun and is slightly less messy then skinning yourself alive for beauty.
Coco in the Kitchen
You're hilarious.
But, the dead skin on heels is killing me. I'm going to try this Dr. Pedi!
Karen
It definitely works to peel skin away! ~ karen
Patricia
Karen,
I'm so glad you've found my favorite foot cure! My daughter told me about it, I use Baby Foot (I'm sure it's similar) and love the results. I too used all the things that you used, and still had alligator hide feet. No more. First time I tried it, I repeated it two months later. I think it has also slowed my toenail fungus. I file them down thin with a battery powered dremel and apply oil nightly. Now I can wear sandals and feel like I won't send others screaming from the room.
Lesley
That first pic made me shriek, which frightened the cat. Then I picked up the phone and booked a pedi for tomorrow.
Karen
I thought you were going to say you picked up the phone and threw it across the room, lol. ~ karen!