Beauty Bible Beauty Clinic Welcome to our new weekly column on the YOU magazine website, www.you.co.uk Below you will find the current question and our advice, with a list of where to source the products mentioned. To look at past columns, click here. And for lots more solutions to your beauty dilemmas, visit Q&A, just click here. May 10th, 2009: Manky Feet Q With the sandal season fast approaching, I would like to get your advice for treating manky feet! My feet are in a mess with dry cracked skin everywhere and blister marks taking ages to heal. Please could you advice me what products I should invest in to help heal the skin and then prevent further damage? A
Pharmacist Shabir Daya advises that 'the foot cream of choice' is Gehwol Med Salve for Cracked Skin by Gehwol, (£7.95 for 75 ml), which you should apply twice a day. 'This cream contains a combination of natural oils including lavender, eucalyptus and rosemary, together with panthenol which is known to help with the repair process of skin. Bisabolol is included to heal any underlying inflammation that may be linked to the cracked skin,' he says.
Shabir also suggests taking Ultimate Beauty Oil by Viridian, £8.75 for 200ml. 'Cracked and dry skin around the feet are often associated with either a lack of essential fatty acids in the diet or simply incomplete breakdown of fats within one's diet - in both cases increasing essential fatty acid intake will restore elasticity of the skin and improve its resilience,' he explains.
One thing we've learnt from experts over the years is that daily applications of foot cream are essential, but daily filing of rough hard skin can result in more build-up. Instead, if you feel rough skin, use an emery board on slightly damp skin, and a foot file once or twice a week (also on damp skin). The one we swear by is by Alida, it's simply called Foot File (£9.75) - and it looks strangely like a cheese grater. It is dual sided, with a coarse surface for removing hard and dead skin and a finer one for smoothing. We have had ours for years - so, at £9.75, the Alida Foot File is a real 'Beauty Steal'.
Lastly, do have regular chiropody treatments, every three months until your feet get into better repair, then every six. The investment will repay you every time. But make sure you go to a qualified chiropodist; contact the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists for qualified local practitioners (www.feetforlife.org, and look under Find a Podiatrist).
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Superdrug's GOSH range of Tropical Eye Pencils, they're amazing value at just £4.89, in gorgeous summer colours. Our favourites are seagreen Aqua Life and Violet Queen, wonderful soft and creamy to apply. Actually, do take a look at the website www.superdrug.com for masses of great beauty bargains, which you can buy online (free postage for orders over £35) or in stores.
WHERE TO FIND PRODUCTS:
Gehwol Med Salve for Cracked Skin by Gehwol, £7.95 for 75 ml, is available online at www.victoriahealth.com (with your special 5% discount and free postage for all UK online orders).
Ultimate Beauty Oil by Viridian, £8.75 for 200ml, is available online at www.victoriahealth.com (with your special 5% discount and free postage for all UK online orders).
Alida's Foot File, £9.75, is available online at www.victoriahealth.com (with your special 5% discount and free postage for all UK online orders).
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Superdrug's GOSH Tropical Eye Pencils, £4.89, are available online at www.superdrug.com
Beauty Bible Beauty Clinic - Archive
May 3rd, 2009 - Makeup Makeover
April 26th, 2009 - Facial Hair Removal
April 19th, 2009 - Teen Skin
April 12th, 2009 - Swimmers Hair
April 5th, 2009 - Make-up For Damaged Skin
March 29th, 2009 - Are Sunbeds Safe?
March 22nd, 2009 - Weak, Flaking Nails
March 15th, 2009 - Puffy Eyes
March 8th, 2009 - Camouflaging Red Cheeks
March 1st, 2009 - Hair Colouring in Pregnancy
February 22nd, 2009 - Thinning Eyebrows
February 15th, 2009 - Acne | 
