This $24 Callus Remover Will Instantly Make Your Feet Baby-Smooth
When I first discovered the magic of a good callus remover a few years ago, I was already well into my career as a grooming and self care writer. It belonged to my roommate, and it had a sand-papery wheel that whirred around real fast. Fast enough to peel the paint right off the wall.
“What the hell is this?” I yelled out to him as I studied the tool.
“Oh, that’s for my calluses!” he said, poking his head into the bathroom. “It grates the dead skin like cheese.”
“Gross.”
“Try it. I have a spare wheel.” He fished a spare wheel out of the bathroom drawer, and popped it onto the rechargeable handle. First of all, it was so rude of him to assume I had calluses! Secondly, he was right. I’m a runner, and I always have calluses and sharp, cracked heels. My plight.
But that night, I had smooth feet for the first time since, well, since I was in diapers. And every night since then, I have had smooth feet. Because of this singular device—the whirring, purring callus remover. I wouldn’t dare touch it to any other part of my body, but it sure polishes the thick, dead skin that forms on the undersides of my feet, and sands them down like dust. You can even blow away the dead skin like you just sanded an antique table. Yes, it’s also gross, but we’re talking about feet here.
The device? It's the Care Me callus grinder. One overnight charge and you've got 40 full minutes of callus grinding. You can order ‘super’ or ‘medium’ coarse rollers, too, depending on how far gone your dogs are.
Best of all, this little device inspired me to step up my whole footcare regimen, as result. Yes, sometimes it’s weird receiving compliments for my smooth, healthy feet from friends while we picnic in the park, but it’s far better than having gross, yellow, callused feet that they just whisper about to one another. I’m totally content being Smooth Foot Guy.
The other foot-saving finds I've made since my Care Me discovery include:
This urea-packed lotion that further dissolves dead skin cells—which is ideal for thin strips of dry, cracked skin, since you don’t want to run the callus grinder against healthy, already-smooth skin. (It’s an easy thing to avoid, but a painful mistake when you make it.) I also like washing and drying my feet after a smoothing grind-down, then applying Advanced Clinicals’ foot lotion. It’s best done at bedtime, with socks worn during sleep to shield the foot from any dirt or friction on the floor. You’ll wake up with a brand new foot, in as little as one night.
If you want to take seriously drastic measures, you might consider doing a foot peel:
Once it seeps into your skin, it dissolves all the dead or nearly dead skin cells. But it doesn’t work its magic immediately: Over the next few days, your skin sheds all of this dead weight, and that dead skin literally peels off your foot, revealing fresher, cleaning skin underneath. (Another occasion for wearing socks to bed, so that you don’t wake up to piles of skin under your sheets.) This is a fairly severe process, however, and should only be done a couple times a year, and only as necessary. If your skin is perfectly smooth and healthy already, there’s no need to obliterate it with a foot peel. It’s simply a reset for whenever the situation is dire—we’re talking major calluses, fungal infections, cracking, and odors. Baby Foot is the brand to beat here.
Again, those first two products—the callus remover and the lotion—are your necessities, while the peel is more of a luxury treatment. And regardless of your severity of dryness, callused-ness, or stench, take solace in knowing that smooth, healthy feet are but a few days away.
Originally Appeared on GQ
