Make it a habit to use a pumice stone or foot file on damp heels and calluses. Doing so will keep your feet looking good in open-back shoes. jullian hough pics First, soak your feet in water or a foot bath for 10 to 15 minutes to help soften the skin. Then gently remove the thickened skin with a pumice stone. New York podiatrist Isaac Tabari, DPM, recommends a warm foot bath made of black tea (tannic acid). Tannic acid, he says, is a natural antibacterial agent that may reduce the chance of getting athlete’s foot.

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Moisturizing foot scrubs made from botanicals such as crushed fruit pits, sugar, or chemical exfoliators also help remove dead skin. After you scrub, apply a rich foot cream or balm containing shea butter or cocoa butter.

If your heels are very dry and cracked, see a podiatrist or dermatologist for a prescription treatment. If they’re not that bad, there are plenty of moisturizing products from which to choose. First, you might try some medicated heel pads, which don't need a prescription, to soften calluses while you walk. After you’ve exfoliated the calluses, use a heavy cream to moisturize tough skin on your heel.

Look for creams containing petrolatum, an emollient, or a humectant such as lactic acid, which draws moisture into the skin.The husband jealously wants to protect his wife’s knees from the eager gaze of other men, while the wife claims that she has nothing to hide. If the appearances are against you, a popular Yoruba proverb advises, it may take more time and energy to prove your innocence than to accept the blame: “A woman who admits guilt will not spend time on her knees”.

One proverb about knees is quoted in the context of work: “Resting does not graze the knees”. A hardworking woman thus criticises a lazy one: in the Berber culture, women work mostly on their knees when they are busy with laundering, cleaning, and even kneading dough.

Finally, feet are associated with old or young, beautiful or ugly women. To express that no conclusion is justified before one has finished, or to exhort those who lack perseverance, some African proverbs use the image of old women’s feet to comment critically on those who are full of enthusiasm in the beginning, but whose activities soon fizzle out.

The Rundi say, for example: “Old women’s footsteps start firmly but don’t last”. A woman who behaves as if her age does not count but who is unable to really manage is made fun of in a Frisian joke: “Skating makes thirsty,” said the old woman, and she stood with one foot on the ice”.