Sweaty, swollen feet and shoes that rub can cause blisters to form. Even though sandals may seem more comfortable than other options in your shoe closet, they aren't the best for your feet. According to Martin, strappy shoes and flip-flops move with every step you take, causing blisters, chafing and other foot pain.
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Post-Summer Savior: Tender Loving Care
The most obvious way to make blisters do a disappearing act: Take a break from the shoes that are giving you blisters or chafing. The best approach is to let a blister heal naturally, says Martin. Clean the chafed area with water and dry it thoroughly before applying a natural, soothing powder without talc or other chemicals, such as Burt's Bees Baby Bee Dusting Powder, or a pain relieving cream like Topricin Foot Therapy Cream. "Wear a sterile gauze pad that allows the area to breathe until it's healed," says Martin.
But if you really, really need to wear those strappy sandals for one event or another (sometimes beauty really is pain), Elle suggests Band-Aid Advanced Healing Blister Cushions. A short-term numbing product like Sole Serum can also relieve pain temporarily. Our New York editor used the product throughout Fashion Week to cool and refresh her tired feet.
Sandals -- they're stylish, they're easy, they're so much more comfortable than a pair of stilettos. But a long summer of open shoes and flat soles can leave your feet in need of serious T.L.C. We spoke to celebrity manicurist and Dermelect's color curator Elle (who's prettied the feet of celebs like Blake Lively and Jennifer Lopez) and Patricia Martin, director of marketing for Topical BioMedics, Inc., to get the details on caring for our not-so-cute, end-of-summer feet.