Could be grosser: Review of Tony Moly Changing U Magic Foot Peeling Shoes

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After three months of Texas living, the majority of which time I spent in sandals, my feet were rough. I call them velcro feet when my soles are so scratchy that they stick to my socks and bedsheets. Shudder. Usually O'Keeffe's Healthy Feet (reviewed here) is enough to keep my feet soft, but this was beyond.

I considered buying the classic Baby Foot for a short time, until I noticed Tony Moly's version at Ulta for a fraction of the price. The reviews were similar, but I could get two packs of the Tony Moly Changing U Magic Foot Peeling Shoes for less than one Baby Foot. (The cheapest place I've seen Changing U Magic Foot is Hollar for $4.) Since my husband's feet were gross too, we both decided to try these out. The back of the envelope states that the product will, "transform an average-looking woman into an attractive lady," but I'm not sure either of us achieved that lofty goal, much to our mutual dismay.

Here's the full back of the envelope:

The packaging doesn't show the full list of ingredients in English, so here they are:

Alcohol, Water, Propylene Glycol, Lactic Acid, Urea, Glycolic Acid, Betaine, Isopropyl Alcohol, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Salicylic Acid, Hydroxypropylcellulose,Tocopheryl Acetate, Allantoin,Disodium EDTA, Menthol, Onsen-Sui, Nelumbium Speciosum Flower Extract, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Althaea Rosea Root Extract, Pyrus Malus (Apple) Fruit Extract, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Fruit Extract, Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract, Honey Extract, Ginkgo Biloba Nut Extract, Angelica Gigas Root Extract, Paeonia Lactiflora Bark / Sap Extract, Zizyphus Jujuba Fruit Extract, Laminaria Japonica Extract, Punica Granatum Fruit Extract, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Artemisia Vulgaris Extract, Yeast Extract, Fragrance.

As you can see, the main active ingredients are a mix of AHAs and BHA in high concentration, aided by a number of other ingredients, some of which may have a soothing effect, depending on how much is in there. There's also a lot of alcohol, which can be drying (and definitely was, in my case).

Here's what's inside:

You get two booties, plastic bags with fabric soaked in the solution lining them. They're sealed at the top, and you peel them open, side your foot in, and use the stickers to hold them in place.

I wear size 10.5 shoes, and my husband's feet are bigger, and neither of us had any trouble fitting these on. They feel a little cold and slimy, but I didn't notice any tingling or other sensations while I was wearing them. The instructions say to keep them on for 1 to 1.5 hours, and I went with the longer time. It was possible to walk with the bags on my feet, but not exactly pleasant, so I wouldn't recommend it. They're pretty slippery. After a couple of episodes of whatever it was I was watching at the time, I made my way carefully to the bathtub, took off the booties, and thoroughly rinsed my feet in warm water.

There was no immediately noticeable effect, but by the next morning my feet felt really dry. By the second day they started to look even more scaly than they had been, but they didn't start to peel yet. According to the instructions, they will begin peeling in 4-6 days, and the process will be complete in two weeks. The skin on my feet felt dry to the point of slight discomfort for the first several days, maybe because there's so much alcohol in these things in addition to the acids. I had to lotion them a few times.

Here's the part where I show you nasty foot photos. If you're not here for that, just close your eyes and scroll to the end for my final assessment. (And if you got here from a strange google search and you're going to get weird with it . . . um, at least click my affiliate links?)


Day 8:

It ended up taking over a week before I saw results that I'd describe as peeling, though that scaly dry skin that you can see in the middle of my foot arrived sooner. My husband's feet took about the same amount of time to peel. The peeling started on the areas with thicker dead skin, especially the ball of my foot.

Day 10:

Now the peeling was getting real. The package warns against peeling the skin yourself "forcefully," but come on. Of course I peeled away those giant flakes, but really a lot of it just sort of fell away with a light brushing of my hand. It wasn't the giant sheets of dead skin I'd heard about from Baby Foot (i.e. it could have been grosser), but it was still perversely satisfying.

Day 11:

Once the peeling started, it actually went pretty quickly, especially with my illicit assistance. You can see that by the next day, the areas that began to peel first (again, the ball of my foot) were soft and smooth, and it was mainly the edges of my feet that were still peeling.

I didn't take any more photos after that, but in just a couple more days all the rest of the dead skin had sloughed off and my feet were a lot less rough. I wouldn't exactly call the skin soft--more smooth, though, for sure. There were still slight callouses on my heels and big toes, but the velcro texture was completely gone. I don't think I want the skin on the bottom of my feet to be too soft, anyway, because I have to walk on them, you know?

It's been about a month since the peeling finished, and while my feet aren't perfectly smooth anymore, they are still much better than they were before I used the peel. My husband agrees (um, in case you need a man's opinion to know it's true?), and he's been wearing sandals a lot more often in the meantime than I have been. His feet were more leathery than mine, and he thinks that a second peel would have been really effective (though I wouldn't want to repeat the process for a couple of weeks after the first one, personally). I haven't had to moisturize my feet much at all since using the peel, despite the very dry weather we've been having lately and a lot of walking.

So I would say that so long as your skin can handle some strong exfoliating acids and alcohol, and you want smoother feet, these Tony Moly Changing U Magic Foot Peeling Shoes are certainly worth trying. Just don't expect actual baby-soft feet (these seem to be less aggressive than Baby Foot), and be prepared for those early days of scaly, tight dryness. You'll likely want to wear socks and shoes during the peak peeling period so you're not leaving a trail of flakes wherever you go. I'll probably use them again in the summer when my feet get worse. You can get them for $6.50 at Ulta and $4 from Hollar (plus a $5 credit with my referral link).

I am curious to hear others' experience with these or other foot peels. Has anyone tried both Baby Foot and the Tony Moly version--and if so, do you think Baby Foot is worth the expense?