I have used Sally Hanson cream for cracked heels and that seems to really help. It works far better if you soak/shower, use your pumice, then use the cream while your skin is still is soft and moist. I do this before bed, so I'm not walking around in socks or the carpet gets all the cream in it. If it's a bad case of cracked heel there is a "sock" type thing I got at Walmart that has a slick inside. You cream your foot and put it on and it keeps the cream from drying out or smearing in your sheets. THAT works GREAT!

I love Avon Intensive Callus Cream.

these are all such good suggestions...mine get pretty bad in the summer. (but i guess not bad enough to wear shoes!) i had been using that bee balm stuff the gardener's use on hands, just before going to bed.

I'm a big fan of regular pedicures. They aren't too spendy and they make my feet so purdy! Plus the upkeep in-between pedicures is much easier.

I like that this subject was brought up. Nothing ruins a performance for me more than looking down and seeing that the dancer has gnarly feet! Blarg! We go to great pains to make sure our hair and make up and costume are perfect, let's not forget our tootsies! :o)

Dr. Scholl's has a foot cream with glycerine that I highly recommend. I like to put it on when I wear socks. Right before bed is good, if it's warm enough to wear socks in bed. :-) Also, whatever they do to your feet at the nail salons really softens them up. That's the biggest treat for me, a pedicure.

If you're on a budget or can't spend much on feet product, you can scrub your feet with a creamy soap and regular sugar for 1-2 minutes each foot, then rinse and feel the difference!

Zim's Crack Creme is da bomb! It works on all really dry cracked skin, and even on parts burned by playa dust from Burning Man. I highly recommend using it in between pedicures.

I have horrible feet period because of work (I stand up all day running after kids). I soak my feet in a foot bath machine every night...they're about $25 at the drug stores Dr. Scholls brand. I pour bath salts in mine and the bubbles create a nice massage to get the blood flowing in your feet. After I soak for about 20 mins, I use a callous remover (its like a blade thing that the professional pedicurists use) - you can pick them up at walmart for about $3, but be careful not to use it too often. It removes a lot of dead skin but you need some skin to protect your feet-I use mine once a week. After that, I use this balm called "Heel to Toe" its meant to soften the skin. I use it everyday.

I have seriously dry, calloused feet. I started using Kerasal about a year ago and it is fabulous! I put it on right after I shower and it really helps make the calluses rub right off.

Mary Kay Night Time Emollient cures everything.
:)

For maintenance, I put it on my feet and then cover with socks to sleep. I do this with my hands as well.

MKNTE was the only thing that healed by lips when they were damaged from baking soda blasting at the dentist office. It also healed my dog's nose when she had an injury.

I love the stuff. At my house you never know where the tube is because my husband and daughter use it too!

Try it out!

wow this is a great post. i've just kinda grown used to my dirty hippie feet. so i guess when they unbearable i'll have to come back to this thread.

I have a regimen for my feet because they callous quickly and when those babies crack and fissure it hurts for a long time while they heal.
First, I use a dremel (yes, a handheld rotary tool) with a sanding disc on it, and I sand the crap out of my callouses. This is about a once a month thing. Next, when I shower, I put in the tub stopper so my feet soak while I bathe. When I get out the callouses are nice and soft and I can cut away thick sections using a callous trimmer. Once my feet are dry again, I'll smooth them with a foot sander--rather like a giant emery board, and then I slather on the extra thick moisturizing cream. Before going to sleep I put bag balm on my feet as well and let it soak in while I sleep. It never entirely eliminates the callouses since I am on my feet so much, but it does keep them under control and thin and flexible enough that they don't split and bleed. I've got to do that again soon--I had to take a break from my normal routine because I had my feet tats touched up and have had to just go with moisturizing only for the last five weeks. Once in a while I do treat myself to a pedicure, but I find that I actually do a better job with the callous control than they do with the pedicure.

I do a foot soak in Sea Salt I get the Sea Salt Pedicures as well to help out. I sleep with soaks on because it locks in moisture. I have dry feet due to the Arizona desert. I also use healing garden foot scrub to put on and a foot mask from the healing garden.

I only started to get cracked heels in the last couple of years, I suppose getting older my skin has dried out a lot more. I found that soaking in a hot foot bath softened with sea salt, then a good old scrub all over with something rough to get rid of the dead skin, dry and apply a good heal balm (there is an Australian one you can get from Boots which is excellent but expensive). Now these heal balms are a bit pricey so I buy a big tub of pure coconut oil and rub in all over night and morning (also cures athletes foot and nail fungus) pop some cotton socks on for a while and this has totally prevented any more stiff, cracked heels and the rest of my feet are kept smooth too.

I heard that cracking callouses can be symptomatic of a form of athletes foot...mine crack in the exact same spot all the time so I'm going to try lamisil along with my usual foot care: I use one of those black rectangle nail grinder emery boards from Sally's every few nights (dry works alot better) and then I rinse and massage in some body oil or bag balm. Smoooooooth!

This is a great subject. I have had problems with my feet getting too rough. I use Aquaphor Advanced Healing Ointment. It fills the cracks, protects them, and helps relieve the pain of chapped or cracked skin. It is very thick and soothing where intense help is needed. You all have such great advice on this subject! Feet are difinately important.

I use lanolin. You can find it in the maternity/baby section of your pharmacy (it's in a metal tube). I rub it on my hands and feet and wear gloves and socks to bed. I also use it on my lips when they're really dried out.

I'm cheap, so this is what I do. I use Vaseline with a few drops of chamomile or some other soothing essential oil every night, with socks. I do the foot pumice thing AND the sugar scrub once in a while (I like to use lime or orange essential oil, which both are cheap, with about 3 tspns of sugar - mmmmm! But you can leave out the essential oils if you like!).

But I find that the most important thing is to bring some sandals that match your costume so that you don't walk barefoot everywhere - just when dancing. I was at the Northland Belly Dance Forum last weekend and didn't wear my sandals as much as I should have, and it's callous city today! It happens quick! Here are the shoes I use - they're adorable, jingly, they'll match your outfits and you'll be supporting a fellow dancer - me!

www.thegypsykiss.com/GypsyShoes.html

Gypsy Love,

Raven

I've had embarrassing dry cracked feet for years. Friends tease me constantly. It's horrible. I would get pedicures almost weekly. This winter I stopped doing the pedicure route after reading one of those terrible articles raging about fungus. Within a few weeks my feet started to look better. Then I started using simple baby oil for my dry skin and naturally just took it on down to my feet. It works wonders! It’s cheap and very simple. And now I have baby soft feet! I wouldn’t believe it if it didn’t actually happen to me. For years I’ve been doing the thick heavy goopy creams wrapped in saran wrap and socks and it never really helped. And here simple baby oil is the thing for me.

Oh I apply the baby oil right after I take a shower before I towel dry. I don’t scrub my feet with pumice either by the way (like I used to do).

Just tried out a foot cream that i got in the Lloyds pharmacey, its called "Efasit" intensive moisture balm, it has natural jojoba, and rosemary oils, and i felt a real difference after just one use, it smells yummy!

Though i do want to try out the coconut oil suggestion futher up the thread, as i can imagine that it would be a very good intensive treatment.

I know this is old...but I just found it and felt the need to put my two cents in.

I concider my calossed battered feet a dancer's badge of honor.

And as much as this is gonna make some girls squimish...I actually dont pumice the bottoms of my feet...and for a very good reason.

Ever take a clinic and do a turn 20 times? My mentor once told us a story of a workshop she taught...and during said workshop managed to drill a hole into the bottom of her foot she turned so many times...and was very greatful for the hard skin she had built up. Ever since that story, I prefere the bottoms of my feet to be like steel.

This way, I figure I can pretty much dance on any surface and not go home with bloody feet. So far, it's working perfectly.