How to Pamper Your Man's Feet

Lars is a wonderful man. I simply adore every last inch of him (oh hush!)... except his feet. He's on his feet all day and at 6'6", those feet take a pounding. They have a tendency to crack really bad and look downright painful. Off to Bath & Body Work's I went one day with the intention of doing something about this. That day I came back with I Love Shea Foot Cream, Heel of Approval, a brush, a callus file, moisturizing socks and a bottle of Toe the Line Foot Scrub, all from their True Blue Spa line. This stuff is wonderful....

He looked at me like I'd lost my mind that evening, but I made him sit and comply to my ministrations. He's now become a spoiled big baby. Ohj.

After soaking those feet for a bit, I broke out the Foot Scrub and went to work. This is similar to an exfoliant in that it has Walnut Shell Powder in it to get rid of all that nasty dead skin prior to a good foot-rubbing with the other items. It worked remarkably well.

The Tea Tree Oil in this is aimed at helping to deodorize, and does this admirably. He doesn't really have that problem, but I could still tell a difference. The Rosemary Extract and Peppermint Oil are added bonuses and serve to stimulate and refresh. Boy do they ever.

While I mainly use this for his feet (and he uses it in the shower the days my hands hurt to bad for the pampering,) I have also been using it on days that my own feet and ankles hurt (I have RA/Lupus.) A nice warm, luxuriant soak in the tub is enhanced muchly by using this foot scrub. It just feels so damn gooood!

After a good soaking and scrubbing, break out a good quality foot file and gently remove any callouses and rough spots that were too tough for the scrub alone. While I mainly use Bath & Body Works products for feet, do not bother with their Something's Afoot Pretty Pedicure Foot File. I like their products a great deal for the most part, but that file is crap. The one I bought fell apart within a week. Buy a cheaper one at your local drug store, they last longer and don't cost as much.Do not put too much pressure on the file. At this point the feet are pretty tender after soaking and ex-foliating, so do this part gently or you will draw blood. Don't ask me how I know this...

Next, I crack open a jar of Heel of Approval for cracked heels and get jiggy upside those horribly rough heels of his. I cannot describe to you just how bad those heels were. We're talking deep canyons. It looked downright painful and I was surprised they weren't bleeding. I had doubts about how much could be done for those heels.

I'm not sure how much you're supposed to use, but I grab a big gob of this stuff and proceed to massage it into both his heels and to a few problem areas on his toes. It isn't just a quick swipe it on thing with me, just so ya know. This comes in a small round jar and runs $15 for the 4oz. It didn't look like there was much there, but it lasts about 3-4months.

Because one of the two active ingredients is Shea Butter, this stuff smells heavenly. The Shea does an amazing job of nourishing and hydrating his skin. It's gotten to where I actively seek Shea on the majority of my creams these days because of this.

The other active ingredient is Glycolic Acid, which sounds scarier than it is. This is here to help get rid of any dead skin cells that may still be hanging out after the scrubbing with the umm Foot Scrub.

Then you grab this pretty blue tube of I Love SheaFoot Cream and completely massage it into the whole foot, even over the Heel of Approval. This is the part where you lovingly massage those tired feet for a few minutes, rubbing the foot cream into every crack and crevice while he moans with pleasure. Shea not only re-hydrates your skin, it smells really, really good. I've gotten so conditioned to the smell of it now that when I open one of the containers, my feet plump up on their own. (OK, that's an exaggeration, but you get the idea.)

Add Moisturizing Socks, and hit the sack. Again, I am advising that you do not shell out the 10 bucks for Bath & Body Works socks. Grab a 4 dollar pair from the grocery store. They all work the same.

After following this regimen for a week or two, my husband's feet looked entirely new. No more cracked heels in this house, and he handed over the credit card for a shopping spree. Foot pampering is better than a gourmet meal, I'm tellin ya.