If the shoe fits

I’ve been experimenting with footwear since my return to Scotland. Yep, it’s heels for this redneck, if you can believe it.

I admit it’s a bit tricky at times because I still wobble a bit (and that’s with fairly short and chunky heels!) but I’m getting better and I almost feel like a semi-pro! But the biggest bonus is that I feel good! I know it sounds silly, but the dress code here tends to be a bit smarter than the homeland for everyday wear, and I feel good when I am dressed up that little bit more.

But that’s not the point, so I’ll move on now.

The point is that my feet are suffering! They don’t hurt but they are suffering. You see, I’ve always worn sensible, well-fitting shoes without heels. And that meant that I’ve always had pretty feet. Well, not so much as a child because I insisted on wearing shoes that were too small because I didn’t like shoe shopping. Not that I like it anymore now. But I digress. Again…

Back to the point: The bottoms of my feet are starting to get a couple of spots with not-so-soft skin. And I need to figure out how to fix that, whilst still wearing pretty shoes. And since I can’t afford professional pedicures at the moment, I’ll need to figure out how to fix it on my own.

For starters, I am using a heavy lotion before I go to bed, covering my feet with socks as I sleep to not get the bedding all lotion-y. I am also spending a bit more time making sure my toenails are trimmed nicely.

But the biggest solution, I imagine, is going to be finding the right shoes and the right inserts. And that, sadly, means shoe shopping. (I think I know someone who can help with that!)

Of course, the other solution would be to return to my redneck roots and just wear casual trainers everywhere.

10 Replies to “If the shoe fits”

  1. Happy to help out, no reverting to trainers allowed. It’ll be a sacrifice for me to go shoe shopping (*ahem), but such is the strength of our friendship!
    xx

  2. My advice is this: 1st of all if you don’t have access to a pedi-egg type foot file or callous remover then you can use one of those metal fingernail files or the roughest side of an emery board to exfoliate the top hardened skin, it should fall off fairly easy as it is dead but careful not to go too far down to the “fresh” skin beneath! Then what you are doing with the lotion & socks at night is excellent but beware of what lotion you are using as most are full of perfume & not made to penetrate the thicker skin that adorn our feet. Make sure to use ones specific for feet or something like Eucerin that is for cracked dry skin. There is a couple of things that work way better than lotion but some people don’t care for the feel or “smell” but I think it’s worth putting up with. A.) 1st there’s good old bag balm, which of course the initial use was for cow teats when they would get chaffed from milking but it does work great on human skin too & since it goes on areas that would have contact with human consumables there (still) is nothing in it that will hurt you & is mostly petroleum based but a bit thicker & better than using Vaseline. B.)2nd is shortening(like Crisco)used for cooking. I know this one sounds weird, but because of the oils it absorbs really well into the skin & again has nothing that would “hurt” you in it. I was recommended to use it by my Dr. when I has psoriasis on my hands and it was the only thing that worked! C.)Lastly a warm soak with some peppermint or tea tree oil extract is a wonderful natural pedicure that does wonders! Both oils have a soothing, relaxing, effect on the feet plus they have natural astringent qualities & promote “healing” of the toughened skin cells! So there you have the making for a cheap at home pedicure. I have been wearing heels for years and have only had 2 professional pedicures ever & I am still a “tender foot”! Hope the advice, if you choose to use it, gets your tootsies back to happy~

    1. I don’t know how I feel about pedi-eggs, but I have used pumice stones in the past which I liked. Maybe I’ll find one of those again? I’ve been using a really nice peppermint lotion that’s quite heavy and I’ve also recently gotten a foot-specific mint and green tea lotion that I’ll be trying.
      Maybe this weekend I’ll look for some quality insoles, too!

  3. Okay I know the price will seem outrageous, but this foot buffer is.the.bomb. I highly recommend you treat yourself to it. 🙂
    You use it on dry feet only to remove callouses and dry skin. It is truly amazing and well worth the money.

  4. I’ve got a ton of heels that I wore for work and I learned what was comfortable for me and what wasn’t. Now I go for the more rounded tips and I go for heels that also have a considerably thicker sole. This reduces the actual bend in your foot and relieves the pressure on your toes. Mary Janes are good to your feet. I also learned to plan which ones I wore for what I was expecting to do that day. If I was going to do a lot of stair climbing or walking because I had a meeting to go to, I would choose a lower heel or one I could walk easier in. Also, it’s trendy now to wear colored tights and this relieves some of the friction on your feet. Hopefully that will eliminate the foot pampering. I got to the point that I could actually run in some of my heels. Of course, there are some that it would be stupid to even try because they could slip off easily. You’ll figure out which ones work for you!

    1. All of my heels (the tallest is ‘only’ 2 inches!) have wide bases. I can’t do the spindly heels–I’d break my ankle! I tend to wear tights with them most of the time which helps, but I think additional insole pads will help!
      I don’t know for sure which ones will be the ‘best’ for me, but I am slowly finding out which ones don’t work. It’s a start …

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