to want to tell people to cover up their cracked heels and acres of hard yellowing skin?

[mrsmerryweather]

now that we have all gone tightless and sockless....

it is just revolting when you see a made-up woman then get to her feet and see acres of white/yellow/grey hard skin on her heels.

Have they never heard of footfiles and foot cream?

I moisturise my feet at least once a day and remove dead skin twice a week - no effort at all and saves a fortunte on pedicures. I was spurred into action a couple of summers ago when I noticed in my book group that the 50-soemthings had pretty wrinkled/ scaley looking feet. My feet are one of the few areas of my body I will want to keep exposing when I'm older (no sensible shoes for me) so I decided I was going to look after them.

Mrsm, RubyRuby and others - I do have to agree with you.

Basically, it seems strange to see women who have clearly spent time on other aspects of their appearance forgetting about their feet when they wear sandals. it really doesn't take that long to use an exfoliant (Scholl rough skin remover is great, I just use it once a week & it gets rid of all dead skin) and a bit of foot lotion. Really only takes 2 mins once a week, 30 secs in morning to rub in a bit of cream.

If, however, you do not have time to do ANY primping that is another matter. Just seems odd to spend ages doing your makeup in the morning only to go out with revolting feet!
Personally, have never worn makeup in the daytime, prefer to spend time on skincare so I don't need it. (Or so I tell myself! )

I don't mind people having yellow cracked heels and fungal nail infections as long as they don't stand 3 or 4 steps in front of me on an escalator. Or rest their feet on another bench or chair in the beer garden. I can recommend nightly application of nivea intense mosituriser last thing at night, just before you switch the light out. Takes about 60 seconds.

talbot - "I was spurred into action a couple of summers ago when I noticed in my book group that the 50-soemthings had pretty wrinkled/ scaley looking feet. "

Do you think that might be because previous generations didn't make such a fuss about grooming. It seems as if as time goes by we are obliged to do more and more things just to make our bodies acceptable. Mum ran a big house, brought up two DC, looked after a huge garden, made our clothes, baked bread, baked cakes, did voluntary work, spun wool from her sheep, harvested honey from her bees, picked blackberries, nuts, mushrooms etc, made jam, pickles, marmalade, fed chickens, fed, worked and sheared sheep.. you get the idea. Foot fiddling was not high on her agenda strangely.

I'm sure you're right Orm. But, I love shoes and gorgeous shoes make me happy (yup I'm that shallow) and I just know that if I get to 50 and put on a pair of high red sandals and suddenly realise that my feet are old and horrible, then I shall cry. A lot.

I couldn't give a monkeys about other people's heels tbh.

I pay somebody to strafe mine, but that's my choice.

I have horrible feet atm, covered in excema and so I'm not wearing flip flops etc as I know rude people like the OP spend their days staring at peoples flaws, judging them.

lo and behold- what was the Beauty Question and Answer in Saturday's Times magazine? ( just read it now but that's another story)- yes, you've guessed- how to get rid of hard skin on feet.

Evidently Scholl do pads that you stick onto the hard skin and it basically dissolves them- it contains salicylic acid which is used for verrucas and warts.

I don't buy this "I haven't had time.." lark.
I take about 1 minute, maybe two ar three times a week to use my foot file while my bath is running. Either you care about how you look or you don't- I am not forcing anyone to carry out grooming, I am simply stating that I don't like looking at ungroomed feet. Call it judgemental if you like, but I'm not apolgising!

Anyway, the whole post was slightly tongue in cheek and I am truly amazed at some of the caustic responses, some of them rather personal, - some MNs lack a sense of humour and are a tad overly sensitive.

I was sanding down my heel and sides for two minutes before I had a shower this morning. It really does not take a lot of effort to keep ones feet in good condition.

I must admit, I cannot bear to look at unsightly feet and the number of people with badly conditioned feet wearing flip-flops is staggering. I hate flip-flops and don't really understand why they are so common place now. If you are going to wear them, at least make sure your feet don't look dragonesque.

Well, I am not sure this is just an issue of personal grooming though, it is an issue of health!

I have a genetic condition which means (amongst other things), that I have got misshapen feet that develop hard skin really quickly. It is so bad that I get free podiatry treatment from NHS every 10 weeks to remove the hard skin, otherwise I struggle to walk (I am in my early 30s).

Of course mine is an extreme situation, but every podiatrist/chiropodist/doctor/physio I have seen in the last 10 yrs (and I have seen many) keeps going on about how everyone should look after their feet, as that does affect the way you walk and stand for the rest of your life (think bad backs, strained muscles, ingrowing toe-nails, misshapen toes...).

So I really cannot see how putting make-up/moisturiser/deodorant on can be compared to good footcare - I rather have a few wrinkles or a smell a bit than end up unable to walk properly or have back problems!

Never mind cracked heels, I just saw a 'lady' of post-retirement age, figure like the Michelin Man (and the same colour!), wearing a tight, white, semi-translucent cropped top, nips like erasers on show. I heaved so badly I almost crashed the car.

Mrs MW, I notice you're ignoring all of us who have been saying we DO spend time on trying to sort our feet out - but it doesn't help in the slightest in the long run. They revert to ugly/hard skin/yellow.

Btw, You don't do tongue in cheek very well imho.

Oh I am sooooo sorry not to do tongue in cheek well enough for you- I will try harder.

Of course it keeps coming back! What on earth do you expect? Unless you don't walk anywhere. Like you have to keep trimming your nails, and getting your hair cut, and shaving your legs. Do you really expect it to be a once-off procedure that gives you smooth feet for life?

I give up at times...............

Orm, you are funny - did your mum also live in a shoebox in the middle of the M1?

MrsMW your OP and subsequent posts didn't 'sound' in the slightest bit tongue in cheek and I think it a little rich for you to suddenly declare it in the manner of a small child saying 'but I didn't mean it' merely because some people dare to tell you that yes, you are being unreasonable.

Anyway, you wouldn't get as far as my feet as you would be too busy judging the un-tarted-up nature of the rest of me. Fine. So be it. I have better things to do with my life than to worry what people like you think of me.

Serious sense of humour bypass, people!

I'm with MrsMerryweather.

Grooming is not something you do once, it is something you do all the time. Most men shave daily for example.

Keeping the sole of your feet in a presentable condition does not take a lot of time. Once you have filed away the hard skin and moisturised your feet intensely, it is just a matter of maintenance.

I use Scholl Exfoliator cream, then file, then shower and then moisturise with Scholl moisturiser. Exfoliating and filing only takes a few minutes once a week. I also run and work out in the gym. My feet are presentable and soft.

If you can find time to MN, watch TV, read trash magazines etc, you can find 5 minutes to look after feet if you want to.

Hear, hear Spokette!

Presentable to who? Who really cares? I have never looked at other womens feet to see if they are maintaining themselves!

The OPs original post is about the incongruity (ooh i love big words! ) of spending ages doing your makeup, but then ruining the effect by having scaley horrid feet (and it does look YUK especially when people put their feet up on chairs etc and they are right in your face!

Not really about people who have no time AT ALL for any kind of primping.

OK everyone?

I don't believe it when one says that they do not look at people's feet. In my expereince, women always notice the shoes that other women wear which means that they ae look down at their feet.

YR- thank you- I am pleased that someone has the intelligence to see what I was saying!

SS- Crikey- do you always react so aggressively as this? Calm down. It's only feet- I'm not exactly holding a gun to your head with a foot file in the other, am I?

As with all MNs AIBU threads, I am quite entitled to post an opinion- no need to be so rude if you happen not to agree.

True spokette - if you never notice other people's feet you nose must be pretty high up in the air!

Ooh, are we still in tongue in cheek mode now or have we moved on?