Woman applying moisturizer cream on the legs over white background
Smoother, softer feet are right this way.
For many of us, the words “foot cream” are an inherently unsexy pair. However, dry indoor air, lots of walking, and even at-home workouts are all recipes for rough, flaky feet. Aesthetics aside, less-than-supple feet can also feel uncomfortable — or even downright painful. Thankfully, the best foot creams are available far and wide to soothe your feet’s roughest scenarios.
The reason our feet tend to feel rougher than the rest of our body often boils down to simple physics, according to Hillary Brenner, DPM, a New York City-based podiatrist. “Every time we walk, we exert [a lot of] pressure from our body weight, and the friction between our feet and the ground can cause them to become dry,” she tells Allure.
Another culprit behind crustiness and thick calluses is some of us don’t shed keratin as quickly as others. If you suspect you may be one of these people, “use a heel file in the shower to slough away dead skin and soften calluses [before reaching for foot cream],” advises New York City-based nail artist Rita Remark. Exfoliating first with a pumice stone and following up with a moisturizer is the best way to ensure the hydration needed to keep your feet soft isn’t blocked.
Once you’re pumiced and primed, you can slather on one of these 13 luxurious foot creams, as recommended by professionals.
L’Occitane Shea Butter Foot Cream
Remark loves L’Occitane’s Shea Butter Foot Cream for more than just its chic packaging. “[The formula] absorbs quickly, deeply moisturizes, and doesn’t leave a sticky residue,” she says. Along with moisturizing shea butter and herbaceous lavender essential oil, it’s laced with arnica, a natural skin healer, Remark notes.
CeraVe SA Cream for Rough & Bumpy Skin
For when you want to keep the whole “having thick skin” thing strictly proverbial, New York City-based podiatrist Emily Splichal, DPM, loves CeraVe’s SA Cream for Rough & Bumpy Skin, which she notes is great for busting through calluses and tough skin. “This was voted one of the best foot creams by my patients,” she adds. “[They often] prefer it over most prescription foot creams.” The skin-softening properties in this formula are all thanks to moisture-sealing ceramides, hydrating hyaluronic acid, and exfoliating salicylic acid.
Gold Bond Softening Foot Cream
What do you get when you combine the nourishing, moisture-replenishing powers of shea butter, coconut oil, vitamin E, and jojoba oil? Gold Bond’s Softening Foot Cream, an intensive lotion that soothes cracked feet and dry skin instantly, resulting in a velvety-smooth feel.
Peach & Lily KP Bump Boss Smoothing Body Lotion
The Peach & Lily KP Bump Boss Smoothing Body Lotion is technically a treatment for keratosis pilaris, but Allure commerce editor Sarah Han says its glycolic acid-infused formula works just as well for shedding dead skin cell buildup on rough heels. This intensive body lotion also targets cracked skin with moisture-replenishing urea, calming cica, and hydrating hyaluronic acid.
O’Keeffe’s Healthy Feet Foot Cream
O’Keeffe’s Healthy Feet Foot Cream does a number on highly distressed, super-dry skin on feet and heels with a combination of glycerin, allantoin, and paraffin. Because feet are more prone to dryness and getting calloused, look for urea, an ingredient that simultaneously moisturizes and exfoliates the skin. “Urea is an essential component of skin maintenance, serving as a natural moisturizing factor that binds water and pulls it into the skin (where it belongs) and kicks cracked, dead skin cells to the curb,” board-certified dermatologist Adam Friedman, MD, previously told Allure.
Sol de Janeiro Samba 2-Step Foot Fetish Cream
Elevate your foot-care routine with Sol de Janeiro’s Samba 2-Step Foot Fetish Cream. This two-piece set comes with a smoothing board to gently buff away dry patches along with the brand’s Samba Foot Fetish Cream, a rich moisturizer containing conditioning skin saviors like coconut oil, açaí oil, and cupuaçu butter.
OPI Pro Spa Moisture Whip Massage Cream
Los Angeles-based nail artist Sigourney Nuñez waxes poetic about the OPI Pro Spa Moisture Whip Massage Cream. “It has a really nice balance between slip and absorption,” she tells Allure. The decadent, souffle-like cream is made with hydrating glycerin and avocado oil, as well as shea and cocoa seed butters, to restore moisture. The formula also features collagen-building peptides that keep the skin looking soft and supple over time.
Tenoverten The Sole Mate Skin-Softening Foot Balm
On the run? Don’t forget to take Tenoverten’s The Sole Mate Skin-Softening Foot Balm with you. This compact stick easily fits in your tote or carry-on so you can smooth and condition your roughest parts with vitamin E, manuka oil, jojoba oil, and coconut oil anywhere, any time.
Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula Foot Magic
Dr. Brenner swears by cocoa butter as a softening, hydrating ingredient for dry feet. We’re really into Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula Foot Magic, a creamy cocoa butter-based formula that truly lives up to its name. We’re not complaining about the infusion of cooling peppermint oil, either, which feels like a sigh of relief for fatigued feet.
The Body Shop Intensive Cooling Foot Rescue
We’ll be damned if we let dry cuticles rain on our pedicure parade. Remark recommends The Body Shop’s Intensive Cooling Foot Rescue for softening toes up, stat. She’s also into the formula’s cooling effect, which soothes achy feet on contact.
Eucerin Advanced Repair Foot Cream
Remark attests Eucerin’s Advanced Repair Foot Cream can tackle dryness, cracked heels, and tough calluses in one fell swoop, thanks to a combination of exfoliating lactic acids and 10 percent urea. We love how the formula has a lightweight, non-greasy feel to boot and a fragrance-free formulation that sensitive skin types can enjoy.
AmLactin Foot Repair
The lactic acid in AmLactin Foot Repair hydrates and breaks down ultra-dry, callused feet. Layer the soothing formula on your feet before bedtime, throw on some socks for good measure, and you’ll wake up to significantly softer skin.
Vaseline 100% Pure Petroleum Jelly
You probably have a tub of Vaseline’s 100% Pure Petroleum Jelly — a.k.a. Dr. Splichal’s “favorite post-shower treatment” — somewhere in your bathroom. “Vaseline is a sealant, which means it locks in the water and skin’s moisture,” she explains. “I recommend patients either wrap the feet in Saran [plastic] wrap or socks after applying Vaseline to maximize its [softening] effect.”
