The Beauty Diary: $9 Skin Republic foot peel review

It’s quite possibly one of the most disgusting beauty products you’ll ever use, but despite being “gross” it has celeb fans and rave reviews.

Warning: If you find feet a bit weird – you may want to stop scrolling

Summer is fast approaching which means open sandals and bare tootsies at the beach.

But with winter this year coinciding with a global pandemic, you better believe my trots are not prepared to be put on public display.

When perusing the beauty aisle in Woolies recently, I spotted the Skin Republic Foot Peel and decided THIS was the answer to my problem.

In case you’re not familiar with it, the $9.60 product is essentially a pair of biodegradable booties filled with a formula of plant-derived alpha hydroxy acids to soak your feet in.

Skin on our feet is some of the toughest on the body, but this formula is designed to break down the outer layers of hard dead skin and encourage the skin to shed.

But be warned, the outer layer of skin will crack, flake and peel for anywhere between 7-14 days before it reveals fresh, soft skin.

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After months of wanting to try a foot peel, I finally slipped my toes into this Skin Republic Foot Mask. Picture: Supplied

Now if you think that sounds like a scene from a horror film, you’re not wrong. The process is as feral and disgusting as it sounds.

I knew this going in because I’d seen multiple posts on social media of people sharing the shedding of their dry skin.

On Twitter, one person described the DIY home treatment as “the best and worst thing I’ve ever done” while another said it “looked like feral animals gnawed on your body”.

I did a foot peel & it's the bestworst thing I've ever done.

As in chemical peel. As in all the dead skin from my feet has been coming off for the last week.

Constantly grossed out, but also getting silky skin so I can't complain.

— K.Dot (@kenadeee) October 1, 2020

Used the skin republic peel of foot mask and my feet have started to peel, yho what a horror movie😭😂

— Nefertiti (@LuthoLuke) May 17, 2020

Update: the foot peel mask worked!! My feet are so soft and dry skin is gone! 🙌🏼 gross process but worth it

— GR (@gabbyrod_xs) September 28, 2020

Last year Jules Sebastian raved about the results to her 200,000 followers, labelling the process “gross” but still giving it a “thumbs up”.

So popular are these foot peels (there are multiple brands on the market) that I’ve actually struggled to get my hands on one. Every time I looked in my local supermarket, they were always sold out.

Not this day though, so I snagged three and decided to give it a whirl.

In November last year, Jules Sebastian shared her foot peel journey with followers. Picture: Instagram/JulesSebastian

She described it as ‘gross’ but gave a ‘thumbs up’ at the end. Picture: Instagram/JulesSebastian

Just to prepare myself, I had a look online at some “during” shots, and OH MY. That’s a lot.

But I wasn’t deterred, in fact, the awful photos only spurred me on to do it. Just imagine how satisfying it would feel once all the skin was off?

You’ll need a strong stomach to do it. Picture: Instagram/babyfootusa

The process was surprisingly simple. You take the booties out of the sachet and you have to cut down the middle to separate and open each one.

Then you slide your feet in, making sure your foot goes inside the inner layer (which is filled with the skin-separating formula) and tighten it at the ankle with the sticky tab on its side.

Next, you wait. For 90-120 minutes to be precise – so make sure you give yourself plenty of time.

I did mine with a friend while drinking wine and watching Mean Girls. Fifteen minutes before reaching the two-hour time cap we started to feel a tingle and freaked out our feet were going to drop off, so we took the booties off early, rinsing our feet in the shower.

For the next few days, neither of us had any peeling. Then I woke up on day three to a snowstorm.

“I have skin all over my house,” my friend texted me on day four. It was not a text I’d ever imagined receiving but I could definitely relate.

Here we go. Picture: news.com.au

Yeah, that’s fully feral. Picture: news.com.au

In case you’re worried, it is completely painless and doesn’t feel uncomfortable at all. I’d had visions of my feet wobbling in my running shoes when at the gym, but you literally can’t feel a thing.

And if you really hate the loose skin flapping on the soles of your feet, you can gently buff it away with a foot file. I picked up one for $12 in Chemist Warehouse, the Manicare Pedicure Ceramic Stone Foot File, and it’s been really good.

A gentle foot file will help with annoying loose skin. Picture: Supplied

After 10 days, my feet were finally flake free and silky soft. Sure, it looked like a snake had slithered into my home and shed a few times over in the process, so the experience isn’t for the faint-hearted.

But it’s nothing a pair of socks and a vacuum can’t solve. It’s definitely worth it to fix up those terrible toes in time for summer.

This column is not advertorial content. Every review is independent, honest and ad free.

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