The Best Foot Creams

The Best Foot Creams

Move over, sandpaper soles. Welcome back, silky smooth skin. When it comes to our skincare, the easiest area to neglect is often our feet. What's left is rough, dry, patchy skin and the feeling of grit moving across your sheets as you sleep. If that sounds familiar, never fear — you've got options. With the proper foot cream, scaly feet can be transformed into softer, smoother, hydrated skin that you can feel good about. We've rounded up some of our favorite foot creams to help you heal up those heels.

Kerasal Intensive Foot Repair

For Intense Healing

This powerful lotion is clinically proven to help dry, cracked feet.
Best Overall

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You know you need a serious lotion when your dry, cracked heel begins flaking off and leaving behind remnants in your socks, sheets, and clothing. That’s especially true in colder weather when our skin is extra parched and in need of attention. You’ll find no judgment here, just simple solutions. This clinically proven, intense foot repair lotion helps loosen up all of the hard, scaly skin and gently exfoliates while it penetrates, leaving behind smoother, moisturized feet.

Pros:

  • Visible results in just 24 hours
  • American Podiatric Medical Association approved
  • Unique exfoliating and hydrating formula

Cons:

  • Meant for intensely rough, dry foot skin
  • For best results, use after showering and wear socks

O’Keeffe’s Healthy Feet Foot Cream

For the Fleet of Foot

For on-the-go hydration, this travel-friendly pack is a sure bet.
Best for Travel

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When you’re in a solid self-care routine, there’s nothing like a little travel to throw a wrench in it. That’s why having travel-friendly products is key — they help to hold you accountable. This travel-friendly container pops right in your bag, so you’ll have no reason to revert to your scaly, hard feet while away. This cream is formulated to keep your feet happy and hydrated, making it a go-to for penetrating beyond the rough patches to leaving behind softer, smoother skin.

Pros:

  • Gentle yet invigorating tingling sensation after application
  • Works to heel intense cracks with first use
  • Ultra-thick, rich formula

Cons:

  • For best results, make sure to apply to freshly exfoliated skin right before bed
  • This lotion is very thick and a bit greasy until fully absorbed

Gold Bond Ultimate Healing Foot Cream with Aloe

Bang For Your Buck

This four-pack of healing foot cream will keep delivering for weeks to come.
Best Bulk Buy

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Containing seven intense moisturizers and three must-have vitamins for healthy, glowing skin, Gold Bond’s foot cream is the ultimate in healing lotions. It provides 24 hours of clinically proven moisture to help scaly soles with even one application, leaving it feeling soft and supple with each subsequent use. Aloe vera is a plant that contains high levels of both vitamins A and C, which are frequently used to treat burns, skin issues, and severely dry, chapped skin. Add it to the other ingredients included, and you’ve got a formula here that is pure gold.

Pros:

  • Fresh, light scent
  • Non-greasy formula
  • Instantly rehydrates skin

Cons:

  • For those with scent sensitivities, this does include perfumes
  • Make sure to slough off dead skin before application

Ebanel Intensive Moisturizing 40% Urea Cream

A Healing Combination

This concentrated cream is designed for intensely cracked heels and scaly skin,
Most Intense

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For truly problematic foot skin, Urea cream is an intensive solution. This cream infuses your skin with urea, oils, salicylic acid, and more to work wonders on even the hardest, toughest soles. The combination of ingredients works to support cellular turnover, helping not just to hide skin but to repair it. Coconut oil, aloe vera, and tea tree oil can all help reduce inflammation and irritation, as well.

Pros:

  • Dramatic results for severely dry skin
  • Works on other dry problem areas such as hands, elbows, and knees
  • Dermatologist-tested and proven safe and effective

Cons:

  • Urea can cause skin irritation
  • There is a strong scent in container, but it won’t transfer to your skin once dry

Curel Skincare Foot Therapy Soothing Cream

Your Daily Dose

For everyday moisturizing, this healing cream helps keep cracked, dry skin at bay.
Best Everyday

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If you’re more in need of an everyday kind of foot therapy cream, then this Curel lotion will do the trick. It contains rich shea butter, coconut milk, and vitamin E to hydrate dry, tired, sore feet instantly. Although foot cream is best applied after bathing and exfoliating and right before bed, this cream absorbs into the skin so well that it’s possible to use this twice per day. Fair warning, however, that this cream is a bit greasy until it soaks in. If you apply this and don’t wear socks, you might slip around a bit.

Pros:

  • Many notice a difference within 48 hours
  • Works for other problem dry skin areas
  • 3.5 oz. travel-friendly bottle

Cons:

  • This lotion is completely unscented, so it’s not ideal for masking foot odor
  • Contains urea, which can irritate skin

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I look for in a lotion to heal intensely dry feet?
To lock in moisture and heal cracked feet, look for ultra-rich ingredients such as cocoa butter, shea butter, or olive oil. Aloe vera is another key ingredient, as is urea.

What does a complete foot routine look like?
The best way to heal dry feet is to begin by exfoliating your entire foot and ankle area — and to do so frequently. A foot pumice stone, scrub, or even an external exfoliating lotion is a good idea. Soaking your feet is another important step, especially if you add some hydrating oils to the water. Use an exfoliator here, too, and be sure to soak for at least 15 minutes or so. When you’re done, pat your feet dry and apply your preferred foot cream. Apply a silicone foot bed or put on a pair of clean socks to lock in moisture. Then crawl into bed and let the magic happen.