There are two major qualifiers for a beauty product to earn cult status: (1) how many Reddit threads are dedicated to it and (2) how many beauty editors have whispered to one another, “I would actually buy this with my own money.” Thanks to a quick internet search and the fact that I work in the industry, I can let you know for sure that the Baby Foot Exfoliating Peel meets both benchmarks—no questions asked.
In case you’re out of the loop, the Baby Foot Peel is an exfoliating peel that claims to work magic on the crustiest of toes and the most stubborn of callouses. Here’s the basic gist: It comes with two plastic booties that are filled with a clear gel that helps slough off dead skin and destroy odor, leaving your feet smoother than a baby’s bottom.
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And even though I’ve heard everyone and their mother sing the praises of the Baby Foot Peel on IG and IRL, I was still a little skeptical. I don’t have dainty feet with a barely-there layer of dead skin—my size 9 feet have been through it, and I have the stiff, thick skin to prove it. (Shoutout to years of running track and playing competitive tennis.) But I was curious if this shit was legit, so I decided to put the Baby Foot Peel to the ultimate test.
Keep reading for my full review—which, I hate to say, doesn’t include any pictures of my feet (sorry, you’ll have to pay extra for that).
How does the Baby Foot Peel work?
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The Baby Foot method is super similar to the exfoliating peels you use on your face. Inside the slippery booties is a combo of salicylic acid, fruit extracts (like lemon and orange), and alpha hydroxy acids (think: glycolic acid and lactic acid). Together, the skincare 11 angel number avengers break down the glue that holds your dead skin cells together until they fall off, leaving behind velvet-smooth feet that smell like the lavender detergent you always steal from your roommate. I didn’t have to worry about the whole scented thing though, because my feet obviously smell like freshly picked roses.
You keep the booties on for at least one hour, rinse off the magical gel, and then, after a couple days, the shedding begins. The shedding process–AKA when pieces of your skin come off in huge hunks—lasts you about a week. After that, you’ll have feet smoother than Gigi Hadid’s baby bump.
Is the Baby Foot Peel safe?
Yup, the Baby Foot Peel is safe and painless—it’s just, IMO, pretty freakin’ disgusting. That said, if you have any open wounds, cuts, sores, or infections on your feet, I would definitely stay away from it. It’s filled with acids, remember? And if any of those active ingredients make their way into a cut, no matter how small it is, it will be extremely painful for you and/or could lead to an infection. And no one wants that—not a cute look—so just skip the peel until you’re all healed up, okay?
What’s the Baby Foot Peel process like?
My Baby Foot experience can be broken down into three phases:
Phase 1: “Is this a scam?”
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While the directions suggest you wear the booties for an hour, my Baby Foot guru friends told me I’d see better results with at least two hours (and who am I to go against their very scientific research?). I started by soaking my feet for about 20 minutes beforehand, just to loosen up all that lovely dead and crusty skin, wiped them dry, and slipped ’em on. Two hours meant I could get in at least 2.5 episodes of Selling Sunset (aka my favorite, and most definitely scripted, reality show) and the time really flew by.
I rinsed off my feet and closely inspected them after 30 minutes (what is patience?) and was surprised to see angel number 11 absolutely nothing. There was still zero signs of activity after two days—no peeling, no glue-like substance rubbing off my toes. I didn’t want to call it a scam (I knew it would be a few days until the shedding officially started), but I still texted my friends at the end of night two, “I think this is a scam.”
Phase 2: “This is maybe definitely a scam.”
Day four came around and I was still lounging around my house, waiting for my feet to shed its winter coat. I thought about all the dreams I had for my post-peel life: walking around carefree in sandals, sliding into my bedsheets without feeling any friction, playing footsie on a date. All my dreams were unfulfilled. Maybe there was something wrong with my feet? I tried to talk myself down from the ledge and hoped that for the sake of the story (and for the sake of my toes), the Baby Foot gods would take care of me.
Phase 3: “Oh, shit—this actually works.”
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On day six, the levee broke. (And if I had read the directions, I would’ve realized that it can take up to seven days for the process to begin.) There were literal chunks of skin coming off of my feet. Like, I get that I was on my knees praying for this to happen, and beggars can’t be choosers, blah, blah, blah, but woah—I was not expecting this level of theatrics. This peel is most definitely either a Leo or an Aries.
I immediately reached out for a few tips from my friends who had already been there, done that. The most crucial one? Don’t peel off any skin that doesn’t come off easily. Nature is healing and you can’t rush the process—no matter how tempted you might get. It’s not like anything super bad would happen, but you might end up peeling off more than just the dead skin (which, ouch). Also important: The peel leaves behind a snakeskin-like trail in its path, so unless you want pieces of skin laying around your house (so gross), slip on some fuzzy socks.
The peeling lasted about seven days—yes, a whole damn week—so my fantasy of wearing sandals out in public was put on hold for a bit. The whole process was pretty long; it took six days for the shedding to begin and seven days for it to completely finish, which, if you can count, adds up to 13 days for the entire journey to unfold.
But even though it took what felt like forever, let me tell you: It’s worth it. Were my feet as soft and unscathed as a newborn baby? No, but they have legit never felt smoother. I actually couldn’t stop touching them (like, I even tried to get my roommates to touch them. They politely declined). I liked it so much that I might just do another round in a couple of weeks to really level up the silky, velvety feeling.
How long does the Baby Foot Peel last?
Full-disclosure, I’m still in the middle of the after-peel period, but according to my wiser friends who’ve done this before, the smooth, callous-free feeling lasts around two weeks. So the level of input is basically the same as the output you get in return. Once you stop shedding, start wearing shoes and, you know, living your day-to-day life, the dead skin will eventually make its way back to its original home. Unfortunately, there’s nothing that’ll get rid of your gross, dead skin forever. (NASA, can we get on this?)
The final verdict
IMO, even though the whole process is a test in patience, I think it’s undeniably worth it. Like, no foot cream or pedicure has gotten me these kind of results. And it’s only $25? I mean, it’s basically robbery. If you’re not down to wait two weeks to get smooth feet, or you don’t want to deal with the excessive shedding, I’d recommend doing a DIY spa day instead.
Soak your feet in a relaxing bath, go in with a foot file to get rid of dead skin, follow with a deeply hydrating lotion, and then lock it all in with some almond oil. Just remember: At home pedicures are nice if you need a quick touch-up, but they won’t give you Baby Foot results—the exfoliating peel is in a league of its own.
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