When somebody mentions wrinkles, most people immediately think of facial lines rather than wrinkled feet, but you can be rest assured, feet are just as prone to wrinkling as what facial skin is. In fact, the skin on a person’s feet very often begins to age before facial skin, but with a little bit of effort, you can certainly keep your feet looking lovely and youthful.

The first thing you need to take into consideration when it comes to looking after your feet is the fact that the skin on your feet is vastly different to the skin elsewhere on your body. Don’t forget, your feet are under a tremendous amount of stress virtually every single day. A person’s feet are also subjected to a great amount of perspiration, even if you usually wear open shoes, and these are the types of things we need to consider when caring for our feet.

Applying a good quality moisturizer (chemical free) is of course always highly recommended, but before we go there, let’s look at a few other foot maintenance techniques:

Dry Skin Removal

Some beauty salons advocate the use of a blade to remove stubborn dried skin, although I personally don’t agree with this approach. Instead, I would recommend that you rather removed any dried skin gradually with a pumice stone while you’re in the shower, or immediately after a warm bath. Alternatively, you can half fill a suitable plastic basin with some water, add a little apple cider vinegar, and then soak your feet for about fifteen to twenty minutes. A little bit of regular table salt can also be added if needed, as this will also help to soften the dried skin. After soaking, start removing the skin gently with your pumice stone, taking care not to remove too many layers at once.

Fish spas, while unheard of in many western countries, are incredibly popular in some parts of the world. Visiting one of these spas, you sit with your feet in a smallish “pond” while small fish nibble away at the dead skin cells. The fish (Garra Rufa) only consume dead skin cells, leaving healthy skin to continue growing. Interestingly enough, these little helpers are increasingly being used to help treat certain skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis as well. If you have a fish spa nearby, I would seriously recommend giving it a try since it’s more than likely the gentlest approach to removing dead skin.

Basic Hygiene for Feet

As I mentioned earlier, everybody’s feet perspire, and even more so if you usually wear closed shoes. While you cannot stop this, you can at least keep perspiration to a minimum. For example, if you have to wear closed shoes to work, and most of your day is spent at a desk, try removing your shoes whenever you get a chance. Many people favor the use of foot powder, by in my opinion this is counterproductive because once the powder has absorbed as much perspiration as it can, it will then simply end up clogging the pores, and this in itself can lead to wrinkled feet.

Good Quality Skin Moisturizer

While you should never use a moisturizer containing chemicals, this is particularly true when it comes to looking after your feet. Even many of the so-called natural moisturizing lotions contain a certain amount of chemicals, including petroleum based mineral oil. This is to be avoided at all cost since petroleum based oils are guaranteed to clog skin pores. If the ingredients list on your lotion mentions mineral oil, and doesn’t specify what sort of mineral oil, you’d be better off finding an alternative product, and preferably one which makes use of grape seed oil instead.

If you don’t want wrinkled feet to give away your age, try incorporating the above advice into your day to day life. You may not be able to avoid those wrinkles for ever, but you’ll certainly be able to keep them at bay for many years to come.