The sun’s shining in my ‘hood, so a few days ago I dug through my closet, aka the 10th circle of hell, to find my favorite spring sandals. I found them but ended up wearing Adidas Shell Toe sneakers to work instead, because, when I took my socks off and examined my feet closely, they looked pretty gross — flaky heels, dry toes, gnarly cuticles. Ewww! Even though I’ve been good about moisturizing those bad boys at night, my feet still looked rougher than Bobby Brown’s mug shot.
To get them sandal-ready, first I made a weekend appointment for an overdue pedicure. Next, I busted out a tube of Philosophy Soul Owner exfoliating foot cream ($14 for a 3.3 oz tube) to do some interim damage control.
An exfoliating foot treatment with alpha and beta hydroxy acids, Soul Owner reduces dry, flaky skin and exfoliates callouses. Eucalyptus oil, which works as an emollient and skin refresher, gives the cream a fresh, masculine herbal scent. No flowers or fruit here.
The thick, non-greasy formula felt like a body cream, so it took me a few minutes to work it into the skin. The coolest thing (literally) about this cream is the subtle cooling sensation it produced when I massaged it into my heels, soles and toes. It didn’t sting; in fact, it felt just cold enough to be kind of relaxing.
For the past few nights I’ve applied Soul Owner before bed, and now my feet look smoother and feel softer, especially around the heels. They’re looking pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself!
However, there is a price to pay (isn’t there always?) for all this foot cuteness. One caveat to using this product is that while glyolic and salicylic acids are fantastic ingredients for softening and exfoliating, they also increase your skin’s sun sensitivity. While your feet get soft and sexified for spring’s skin-baring footwear, unfortunately they also become more susceptible to sunburn. Oh, the irony. If you’re going to use Soul Owner, Philosophy suggests applying sunscreen to your feet and limiting sun exposure.
Soul Owner is great for getting scraggly winter feet ready for spring, but even though I love Soul Owner’s exfoliating and softening powers, when the weather heats up and my feet see a lot of sun, I probably won’t be using it on a daily basis because of the increased sun sensitivity thing.
I’m really looking forward to liberating my feet from the confines of thick, winter socks and oppressive closed-toe shoes. During the spring and summer I live in flip-flops and sandals, so my toes are free to wiggle, stretch and pinch (yes, you read that correctly. I can pinch with my toes) to their heart’s content. Are you itching for sandal weather, too?
Purchase Soul Owner exfoliating foot cream online on the Philosophy Web site, or at your nearby Nordstrom or Macy’s Philosophy counter.
Tonight I’m hitting the club with two of my friends, NBLACK and C-Lo. I haven’t gone dancing with them in a long time, so I’m looking forward to burning some calories and shaking my booty! Any fun plans for tonight?
Because we’ve made it to Thursday, which is that much closer to Friday, here’s a treat for you.
Video courtesy of Four Four.
Bonus points if your freaky-deaky self can name the title of the song and the artist!
Have a good one and smile today!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
TUPRNUT says
This stuff rocks – I used it last summer to get my feet looking pretty and soft. One warning though – if you have ANY sort of cut or open wound, this stuff will burn like hell!! Major hell.
But other than that, I loved it and this is a great reminder for me to dig it out of the closet and give my feet some much-needed pampering.
Allie says
I’m jealous that you can even be thinking about sandal weather. We have no such luck in New England.
I recently discovered a great product for feet too. It’s a lactic acid lotion called Lac-Hydrin Five. I bought it at CVS, and I think it was $5 or $6. I’ve always heard that lactic acid works wonders on rough feet, and turns out it’s true. My feet were B-A-D from running and this stuff made a huge difference.
I’m pretty sure the song is “Freak Me Baby”, by Silk. Either that or Jodeci–they both have songs about getting freaky that came out around the same time.
Karen says
Hi Tupurnut,
OH WOW, good to know. I’m glad my feet don’t haven’t cuts or wounds…they’re thrashed, but not that thrashed.
Yah! Give those feet some love, girl!
Karen says
Hi Allie,
I think I’ve seen that lotion – either at Rite Aid or online somewhere. How is the consistency? Does it smell good? It’s sounds kinda medicinal.
Yeah, running can really tear up your feet. When I did a lot of distance I always had calluses. Moleskin helps. The best kind is from Walgreens. It’s cheaper than Dr. Scholl’s and has better staying power.
Holly says
Hi Karen!
I used to LOVE that song Another Level – Freaky with you! What do I win????? :p
I finally got to Mac today yey!! I tried to limit myself to just a couple of items but ended up buying: paint pot in Rubenesque, paint in bare canvas, 219 brush, eye shadow in Goldmine and a blot powder! I think i showed remarkable restraint really considering my wish list includes at least 10 more items! I also scored an invite to the fafi launch wooo!
I also bought some Kerastase hair serum, not sure if you have the brand over there but if so you mus try it, its incredible!
Quick question for you, do you tend to put bare canvas paint underneath paint pots or not? I didnt really feel like i needed it underneath the paint pot but not sure if it will help make it last longer?
Hope your having a good thursday and looking forward to you night out dancing! Im going out with my girlies tomorrow night and can’t wait! Especially since Im going to be wearing a fabulous new dress and have persuaded my lovely mummy to buy her only and therefore favourite daughter some AMAZING new Kurt Geiger shoesies :D!!!
Karen says
Hi Holly!
Girlfriend, kudos to your powers of MAC restraint. I wish I could bottle that up and sell it to, um, myself. That’s great that you got an invite to the Fafi Launch…take lots of pics for us, LOL! BTW, Did you buy loose or pressed Blot? The Pro Store has a really great loose translucent powder called “Invisible Set.” If you have get the chance check it out sometime.
I have tried and used several Kerastase products in the past. They smell great, have good textures, and are fab for women with hair that responds well to silicone products. I don’t use it as much now because I’ve been doing a mostly silicone-free hair regimen for the past year. But I do remember liking it very much in the past!
Regarding your Bare Canvas question, I usually don’t put them underneath Paint Pots. I’ll use one or the other. I usually put Bare Canvas on top of a layer of concealer if I’m doing a lot of shadow blending. If I’m only using one or two shades that don’t have a lot of contrast a lot then I’ll pop the BC on top of a layer of Urban Decay Potion Primer, which gives it great staying power but is very difficult to blend.
Yes, I’m so looking forward to going out with my crew. These are my dancing buddies and we having gotten together in ages so it’s going to be fun. I hope you have tons of fun with your girls tomorrow! The fact that you’ll be wearing a fab new outfit and shoes will make it even better, I’m sure!
Megan says
Umm hello I can totally pinch with my toes… I can pick stuff up with them too… LOL
I totally need to get the roughness taken care of although I must say the cuticles etc. are fine… Just need to do my regular exfoliation more often.
And I love that song.
Karen says
LOL, Megan! I can pick up pens, pennies, laundry, you name it, with my toes. El Hub is grossed out by them. They’re like a force of nature, or something.
I need to exfoliate more often, too. I used to have one of those cheese grater things for the feet but it mysteriously disappeared and I’ve yet to replace it.
Holly says
Hi Karen,
I bought the pressed powder, its mainly to keep in my handbag just to blow with it if get a bit of shine on my t-zone, I will probably carry on using my trusty Chanel universal powder compact to set my foundation.
I have never really been a fan of loose powder to be honest, mainly due to my tendancy to drop things on the floor/ all over myself!
Karen says
Hi Holly,
I carry around the Blot Compact powder too (I have it with me right now in purse!).
I drop everything, too, but have somehow managed to not get my countless jars of loose powders all over the place (knock on wood). Today I used MAC Select Sheer loose powder and I literally had three minutes to get ready for work. The chances of me spilling it all over the bathroom when I’m in a hurry are pretty high, now that I think about it!
So, now when you go to work at the Chanel counter, do you wear your MAC stuff?
Holly says
Hi Karen,
Haha I know the feeling of having no time to get ready, it seems that more and more often these days im finishing off my makeup in the car at traffic lights!
When im working at Chanel I would wear subtle MAC makeup, my blush, powder, eyebrow powder etc because that could be any brand really to look at and if people ask me what it is I just show them the Chanel equivalent if we have it or if we have nothing similar I just tell them (quietly!) that its MAC lol! But when it comes to things that really stand out like eye makeup i tend to wear just Chanel, it isnt a real rule that you have to wear Chanel as long is the style is ‘suitable to the Chanel image’, the main reason I would wear Chanel colour is that it helps me to sell it! Its amazing how many people come up to me and just say ‘I want whatever your wearing!’ particularly when it comes to men buying fragrance lol!
Gosh I wish I had that foot cream tonight i need feet to be in tip top condition for tomorrow night so ive just had to resort to slathering them in Clinique dramatically different moisturiser and putting conditioning socks on to go to bed! (its 11.30 pm here lol im not a lazy student going to bed during the day time !)
Dao says
Foot cream, ahhhh! Victoria’s Secret has some really nice one too and the price is the same. I hope this one doesn’t have such a strong smell like the VS one. I used the Target brand eye makeup remover and it’s great! Beside having the grandmotherly smell, it removes eye shadows, mascara, paint pot, and brow pencil easily. It’s also oil-free so I don’t need to use soap to rinse out the residue afterwards. And LOL at the cat pr0n!
Baby Girl says
I’m in need of a serious pedicure myself, but t won’t be warm enough here to leave the salon in flip-flops for another few weeks. I thought the video was too cute. I had no idea that “Freak Me” by Silk would be the music track. Takes me back to senior year in high school. I actually own this cd.
Love those Franco Sarto sandals. I’m going shopping this weekend!
Amanda says
Thursday night=LOST! so Lost tonight for me. an added bonus is I have the day off tomorrow too-we are going snowshoeing with some friends and the dogs. 🙂 We won’t have sandal season here for a while….it is actually supposed to snow Sunday/Monday. (and we will probably have snow off and on until late April). But your sandals are really cute! have fun dancing.
Megan says
Yeah i have a Dr. Scholl’s Cheese grater thingie… I think they’re actually meant for callouses etc. but I think they work the best for exfoliating the sole of the foot.
And yeah my brother has this thing about feet… and I used to gross him out with mine when we were younger…pinching him…flinging things at him…LOL…
Karen says
Hi Holly!
I would probably be one of your customers that ends up saying, “I wanna buy what you’re wearing!” That happens to me all the time. The power of the visual sale is amazing!
I’m sure you’re asleep now but have a great Friday!
Karen says
Heya Dao,
I might have to visit Tar-ghay this weekend so I’ll go looking for it. Is it a particular brand, or just the target generic brand? I hope it doesn’t hurt my eyes or make my vision blurry! Those are my two big issues with most eye makeup removers.
LOL, I cracked up when I saw that video for like 15 minutes. 🙂
Karen says
Hi Baby Girl,
I own this CD too, LOL. I think one of my ex’s stole it though, because I can’t find it. Funny, I always think that Jodeci sings this song; I mix the two groups up all the time.
It’s still not quite warm enough for sandals ’round my way but my nail shop is right across the street, so I won’t have to go far in my flip flops. Wherever you are I hope it warms up soon!
Have fun shopping this weekend! Are you looking for anything in particular? I need some new pants, badly.
Karen says
Thanks, Amanda!
I know a ton of people that are obsessed with LOST! It’s filmed in the North Shore of Hawaii. Every time I go there I keep hoping I’ll run into Matthew Fox…he’s cute!
You know what? I’ve never snowshoed in my life. I’ve heard it’s a great workout, though! Have lots of fun on your day off, yay!
Karen says
Hi Megan,
I only use it on the sole of my foot and my heels. It’s gross but I find it satisfying.
Do you have long toes? I have this theory about people with long toes having lots of toe pinching dexterity.
Dao says
yeah, it’s Target brand and it’s also a dupe for L’Oreal makeup remover. The bottle is blue btw and usually is placed next to the L’Oreal one. I found it in the aisle that has face washes, moisturizers, and zit creams. So far it doesn’t give me any blur vision or sting my eyes. It’s quite cooling and soothing as soon as you pass over the grandmotherly smell.
Baby Girl says
I’m torn. I want/need some black strappy sandals. But I think there’s going to be a MAC trip and some spring shopping.
Allie says
The Lac-Hydrin Five actually doesn’t smell medicinal at all. It has a faint scent of something I can’t identify, but it’s not bad. I do wish it were a little thicker because that makes me feel like a foot cream is working better, but it works great so I guess I don’t need that.
Have a great weekend! Good luck recovering from your night out 🙂
Karen says
Hi Dao,
Hmmm. Smell is a big thing for me. I’ll have to give it a good whiff first, because sometimes, if something is too perfume-y then I can’t use it.
Karen says
Hey Baby Girl,
You can never have enough black strappy sandals! But if you do end up going to MAC have fun! Let me know what you pick up…I always like living vicariously through other people’s makeup hauls, no joke. 🙂
Karen says
Thanks Allie! That’s good to know that at least it doesn’t smell too strong. If I find it I’ll give it a go…my feet need a lot of TLC before they can see the light of day.
I hope you are having a good weekend so far! Doing anything fun?