Skin that feels tight, rough heels that snag your socks, small cracks showing up around the edge of the heel: dryness is by far the most common foot concern people bring to us. It isn't inevitable. With a few regular habits and the right care, the skin on your feet gradually gets its suppleness back.
Why the skin on your feet dries out
The sole of the foot has the thickest skin on the body, and it has almost no sebaceous glands. It doesn't produce the oily film that naturally protects the rest of your skin. Add the weight of your body on every step, shoes that rub, hot showers and the dry indoor heat of a Quebec winter, and the skin reacts the only way it knows how: it thickens. That's hard skin, or callus.
The trouble is that thick skin loses its flexibility. Under the pressure of walking, especially at the heel, it eventually cracks. In summer, sandals and walking barefoot make it worse; in winter, dry air and closed boots do the rest. With age, the skin also holds water less well, which is why dry heels become more common after fifty.
The 3-step routine
1. Smooth, once or twice a week. Before you moisturize, you need to remove the excess thickened skin that keeps the cream from doing its job. On dry skin, run the foot file or the pumice sponge over the rough areas, without ever pressing to the point of making the skin tender. In the shower, a fine-grain scrub does the same work more gently over the whole foot. The goal isn't to remove everything at once, but to thin the skin down gradually.
2. Moisturize every day. This is the step people skip most often, and yet it's the one that changes everything. Apply a rich cream morning and evening, paying special attention to the heel and the ball of the foot, then massage until absorbed. Evening is the best time: the skin renews itself overnight and the cream isn't rubbed off by your shoes. Once a week, replace your evening cream with a thick layer of mask, put on a pair of cotton socks and leave it on all night.
3. Protect, day in, day out. Choose socks in natural fibres, avoid walking barefoot on tile and go easy on very hot baths, which dehydrate the skin. On areas that tend to crack, a clear insulating film forms a barrier against cold and moisture and limits rubbing from your shoes.
The right Akileine products
Dry Foot Nutri-Repair Cream is the flagship of the blue line: its rich texture, with shea butter and centella asiatica, nourishes very dry feet without leaving them sticky, and its formula contains 95.8% ingredients of natural origin. For pronounced dehydration, Hydra-Defense Foot Balm delivers 24 hours of continuous hydration in a single daily application, with a concentrated, non-greasy formula.
When heels are very dry and cracked, Cicaleïne Balm for hands and feet, enriched with vegetable glycerin, beeswax and D-panthenol, softens the skin and makes it supple again from the very first applications. The Overnight Foot Mask rounds out the weekly routine, while the Rubbing Cream foot scrub, the Pumice Sponge and the 2-Sided Foot File take care of the smoothing step. Finally, Cicaleïne Insulating Film protects fingers and heels exposed to cold and rubbing.
When to see a professional
A deep crack that bleeds, an area that is red, warm or painful, or skin that hasn't improved after three to four weeks of the routine deserves the opinion of your foot care professional. The same goes if you live with a health condition that affects your feet or your skin: ask for advice before starting a new routine. In every case, never apply a cosmetic product to an open wound.