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The best – and most drastic – foot peel masks for baby soft feet
Get ready to shed like a snake
I first heard about foot peel masks in a rather disturbing way. My mother, certain I would simply not believe her with words alone, sent me a photo of a sandwich bag of foot peelings. Disgusting yes, but she was right, I couldn't believe my eyes. Recommended by her friend at work, I thought my 60-year-old mother had discovered a secret phenomena that was about to make me TikTok viral. Only for me to discover I was late to the party, this was very much already a thing.
If you have yet to witness the intense shedding of a foot peel mask, we do have a whole photo diary to show you the process, but here we're rounding up some of the best options we've tried.
Most follow the same process and use ingredients like glycolic and lactic acid to cause the intense peeling reaction. Typically you're instructed to soak your feet for 20-40 minutes prior to use, to soften the skin, then slip on the sock masks and fasten tight with the sticky tabs. For a secure fit, it helps to pop on a pair of actual socks on the top, for maximum mask-to-skin contact. The time they have to be left on varies but is generally around an hour. So pick a movie before you get going!
Once the socks are removed and feet rinsed, the ingredients will already have your feet feeling soft and pampered, but it's the days to come when the magic happens. Some advise to soak your feet in warm water for 20 mins a day in the following days, I really saw the difference when I skipped this. Somewhere between three and eight days later, the skin on your feet begins to peel off. Like literally sheds like a snake, every square millimetre of skin will be born again. It's gross but so so satisfying and the peeling can go on for over a week, so choose when to do this wisely!
If you've made it this far... say goodbye to dry skin, cracked heels, callouses and leathery soles, and get ready for the softest feet of your life...
Beauty Pie Dr Glycolic Soft Feet 7-Day Peel Socks
Acting Beauty Director Keeks Says: "These socks had some heavy-duty softening to do because they were the first ones I had ever used and it was the height of winter. Bleak. They use glycolic and lactic acid to exfoliate dead and hard skin. It took a good few days before my skin started to peel but once the full effect had taken effect my heels were super soft."
Contributor Laura Capon Says: "I have tried everything on my hooves, but no amount of creams and pumice stones did anything, until I discovered the hideous wonder that is Footner exfoliating socks. Oh HELLO NEWBORN BABY FEET! Dry skin be gone, my heels are the smoothest they have ever been, this stuff is amazing. I wish I could use it over my whole body, although it might look like I've been skinned alive. I've been recommending this to everyone non-stop."
You can see a whole photo diary of Laura's peeling process here if you're brave enough...
Beauty Writer Elena Says; "I've honestly never had any product live up to my expectations so spectacularly. Did the whole ball of my foot come off at a bridal shower? Yes, yes it did. But it's so worth it for how incredibly soft your feet are afterwards. I will say mine seemed to peel for weeks, and the second time – when I didn't stick to the daily soaking – the results were less extreme. It could be down to the first one doing years of work, but given I waited a year, I think it really is just vital to stick to the soaking."
PLANTIFIQUE Family Pack Foot Peel Mask - 4 Pack
Plantifique also do this family pack of four different masks (can I call them flavours?) which is suchhhh good value for money and gives you a chance to try them all.
Acting Beauty Director Keeks Says: "You get two masks in this pack so the value for money is great. To make the experience of preparing your feet to shed like a snake a bit better, this mask comes in different scents; lemon, lavender and coconut. It contains glycolic for the exfoliating part and glycerol for super softness- a perfect combo."
Sex and Relationships Writer Lo says; "I get either the watermelon or the green apple - it's kind of acidic and sweet but not chemically. They do feel a bit weird and cold and squishy (and if you happen to have any cuts they hurt like hell, don't recommend). It takes like 5-7 days for the peeling to start but then it really peels, like it looks like your foot is falling off – gotta do them when it's not sandal season."
Elena Chabo is Cosmopolitan UK's former beauty writer, working on everything from buzzy celeb news and trending beauty, to sincere first-person reviews and engaging video content for social media. She also creates meatier features and expert-led how-to guides, for print and online. Her passion for Black beauty, textured hair, and the ways beauty interacts with culture, society, identity and relationships, quickly took over her writing career and led her into beauty journalism. Following an MA in Magazine Journalism in 2017, she cut her teeth across various roles at Stylist Magazine, before taking on a Digital Writer role at Good Housekeeping. It was here that beauty took centre stage and she launched and ran the site's first stand-alone beauty section. Remaining at Hearst, she joined the Cosmo beauty team in 2022. Find her on LinkedIn.
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