REVIEW: Bath & Body Work's Exfoliating Foot Mask with Peppermint

This is the Exfoliating Foot Mask with Peppermint Oil from Bath & Body Works. It originally retails for $8.50 CAD but I got mine during their Semi-Annual 75% sale. This is one of those Korean brand foot masks that you put your feet in these little booties, rinse off with water then in the next 3 days or so your feet are supposed to peel. This claims to leave your feet soft and supple by the end of the ordeal. I’ve been seeing these masks every where and wanted to give them a try myself. Here’s what I think of this Peppermint Exfoliating Mask.

First Impressions

The first thing I’ll say about this mask is that it smells amazing. It has this Christmas candy-cane peppermint scent which is so intoxicating (in the best sense of the word). Hours later your feet still smell so fresh so truly amazing if you’re someone whose feet sweat a lot (no judgements here). But what I will say is that because it is infused with peppermint, you get this minty almost burning feeling on your feet. It surprised me a bit a first because I was not expecting it to feel so strongly. 6 hours or so after wearing the mask, my feet went through this hot and cold sensation where it was constantly deciding which temperature it wanted to feel. It was so weird. I went out for a run later in the evening and my sneakers are the Nike LunarSolo so they have that mesh covering to allow air in when you’re running. Let me tell you, the breeze I was feeling on my feet made them feel like they were on fire! Not the most comfortable.

Packaging

Where was I, oh yes, packaging. The mask comes nicely tucked away in two very large foot shaped pink bags with sheet mask cut outs inside of them (if that makes any sense). I have seen a lot of foot masks that are just the sheet mask component meaning they drip everywhere if you God forbid need to use the bathroom. So I really enjoyed that they were sealed off, where you have to cut the opening off, slide your feet in, and still be able to move around because its covered in plastic (although the instructions do say not to move about).

My Experience

You’ll get the most out of this mask if you first shower or soak your feet so I dipped my toes in a foot soak and pat dry before using. There is so much product inside of the mask which is amazing because you really feel like you’re getting a band for your buck. Because the booties are rather large, I was a bit concerned that I wasn’t covering my tiny 6.5 feet thoroughly since I do enjoy a mask that fits snug. I moved my feet around a bit in the booties to ensure I was covering my feet.

After the longest 60 minutes of my life, I removed the mask and rinsed my feet off. To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect since I had never tried them before. I didn’t know if it was supposed to moisturize my feet or peel them because when I washed the serum off they did not feel very soft at all. They felt kind of dry really. I mean, shea butter couldn’t even moisturize my feet dry.

Here Comes The Peel

I did the foot mast on Wednesday August 7th. For some reason I was expecting my feet to peel, and be soft and smooth immediately. And they weren’t. Like I mentioned my feet were so dry and parched that nothing I used could quench the paper feeling beneath my feet as I walked around. It was then I read the back of the product correctly. It says it will begin in peel in about 4-7 days. So I was relieved because I just had to wait. And wait I did.

Days when by and I saw nothing. Nothing but dry, uncomfortable feet. Until finally Tuesday August 13th, exactly 7 days later, I examined my feet once again and noticed something different.

As you can see, my feet are starting to look disgusting! Why am I so happy about this you might ask? I have never been happy to see my feet look so… rough but since I spent a good 5$ to get this peel, I wanted my feet to peel. My feet started to peel at the heel first, then the palm of my feet, most likely because it gets the most pressure when I walk.This is when I started wearing socks to cover my gross feet.

This is a photo from Thursday August 15th and you can really see the separation of dead skin on my heel. The Package says not to touch it, but these pieces of dead skin were making be so uncomfortable when I was walking. It felt like I was stepping on oatmeal, soft when in the shower and crunchy when it was dry. I don’t even think words can explain the feeling. Nothing bothered me as much as my toes which started peeling too. So now I basically had oatmeal between my toes. It’s a weird feeling. I wanted to speed up this process so I decided to slather my feet in Vicks and put some socks on. I did this for a few nights when I went to bed. I usually don’t sleep in socks since it makes me feel really hot at night, but I had to suck it up, throw on those ankle socks just so my foot peelings wouldn’t end up between my sheets. But my nights of uncomfortable socks did eventually pay off.

Judging from the big chunk of dead skin that began to flap off my feet, my Vicks hack worked and sped up the peeling process. And just in time too, since i was so ready to be done with my shedding feet.

A few days later, August 19th , the top of my feet began to peel finishing up the shedding experience. I was very pleased to see the top peel because I was worried about a line of demarcation between the sole of my feet and the rest of my foot.

Overall

I think peels are an awesome way to get some deep exfoliation all over. It does take some time though and it is definitely not for the feint of heart. But if you feel comfortable with wearing socks constantly over the next two weeks, and are okay with the feeling of dead skin between your toes, and the feeling of walking on a flat of dead skin, then you may want to give it a try. The results are great. My feet feel so smooth and soft so it does do what it promises to do. I would try this maybe in the Spring before the hot weather season since I do want to wear sandals and don’t want to feel self conscious about my stripping feet. Maybe before travelling or a special event but give yourself enough time in advance. I don’t think you need to incorporate this is your weekly or even monthly routine but its nice to do if you want a good peel. Given that fact, I am okay with the price. As much as I love a good bargain (cheap cheap gang gang and all) I am a firm believer that you pay for what you get and when it comes to something that will be peeling my skin, I don’t want to take any changes with a chemical burn. In hindsight I would steer clear of the Peppermint scent as it was not a comfortable experience.

I can’t find them anywhere but Amazon US at the moment as I believe they are special stock in store. But you can find foot peel like this one online. This has been a very long exposee on my feet but I really do enjoy the results. I mean you can get a pedicure at the salon but I find the degree of “polish” / grater used on your feet tend to look good for the day, and then not even a week later, your feet look cracked and dry. This won’t give you instant results but it only takes off a thin layer of skin, the right amount to reveal smooth feet. I have read reviews where people have used them with calloused feet and they have had good results too. Grab yourself a foot peel for a special occasion and enjoy smooth feet in 2 weeks!