This was my first foray into one of Deciem's other brands outside of The Ordinary. It sadly doesn't have the same attractive price tag. I was, instead, captivated by its promise to target the most unnoticeable yet biggest body issue I have: dry, calloused, and tough feet skin. The Chemistry Brand's Heel Chemistry claims to approach the issue without the removal of skin like the beloved foot peels does and in only 2 weeks time to boot. Something about a special active complex that hydrates deep layers of skin to put a stop to the skin hardening cycle?
Deciem's description:
pH 5.00-6.00, alcohol-free, nut-free, vegan, & cruelty-free
Unlike traditional heel creams which focus on removing the hard skin, our 19.5% active complex hydrates the cracked skin topically whilst supporting below surface hydration to avoid the traditional hard skin cycle. Contains a marine complex clinically proven to improve visible skin texture and hydration, while counteracting extreme dryness. This formula contains no urea and no acids.
Heel Chemistry contains an extraordinary 19.5% active ingredients. Our Antarctic Marine Complex increases skin health and moisturization, showing a significant increase of skin hydration of 90% in 14 days. Calendula provides a healing and regeneration effect for both immediate and long-lasting results. Our active complex includes: Pseudoalteromonas Complex, Tremella Fuciformis, Purified Calendula Extract, Hydracool and Maize Propanediol.
Directions
Apply twice a day to dehydrated areas for 14 days. Continue application as needed. Can be used on heels, hands, elbows and other areas suffering from extreme dryness.
Ingredients
AQUA (WATER), PROPANEDIOL, CAPRYLIC/CAPRIC TRIGLYCERIDE, CETEARYL GLUCOSIDE, CETEARYL ALCOHOL, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, CETYL ALCOHOL, GLYCERIN, ALANINE, PROLINE, SERINE, TREMELLA FUCIFORMIS SPOROCARP EXTRACT, PSEUDOALTEROMONAS FERMENT EXTRACT, CALENDULA OFFICINALIS FLOWER EXTRACT, GLYCINE SOJA (SOYBEAN) OIL, TOCOPHEROL, BETAINE, DIMETHICONE/VINYL DIMETHICONE CROSSPOLYMER, ACRYLATES COPOLYMER, SODIUM POLYACRYLATE, HYDROXYPROPYLCELLULOSE, CELLULOSE, XANTHAN GUM, MENTHOL, MENTHYL LACTATE, METHYL DIISOPROPYL PROPIONAMIDE, ETHYL MENTHANE CARBOXAMIDE, PROPYLENE GLYCOL, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, SODIUM HYDROXIDE, POTASSIUM SORBATE, ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, PHENOXYETHANOL, CHLORPHENESIN, PARFUM (FRAGRANCE), LIMONENE, LINALOOL
Cream 100 ml / 3.3 fl oz
Deciem: USD $15.00
Packaging
Highly flexible, transparent squeeze tube with a flip-top cap—basic but gets the job done and I appreciate that the tube is see-through. A new lotion comes sealed with a security sticker.
Color, Texture, Finish, & Scent
Heel Chemistry is a lightweight cream with a strong minty scent that lingers for a very long time. It is white in color but spreads invisibly. The cream dries to a matte finish but leaves behind a silicone-slipperiness.
The Before and After photos were taken during a 2 week period where I only applied Heel Chemistry on both feet. The picture below that is of a period, maybe a month or so after that 2-week timeframe, where I applied Heel Chemistry to the right foot only and Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion on the left foot only for 2 weeks. Outside of those two 2-week sessions, I did not do anything extra to my soles other than wash with soap and water daily.
How I Apply
Squeeze a generous dollop onto my palms and smooth all over one foot, top and bottom. I apply more and focus on the heels where it is the driest. Repeat for the other foot. Immediately wear socks after to keep the lotion contained.
Repeat above steps twice daily, once in the morning and once in the evening, for 2 weeks.
Thoughts & Recommendations
I didn't know what to really expect with a "specialized" lotion. I kind of hoped it would work some kind of magic to make my heels look baby soft in 2 weeks. But that is usually a bit of a stretch unless it is an exfoliator. Anywho, I just knew I had a lot of trust in Deciem because of the success I had with a couple of their The Ordinary products. With all that said, I am a bit ambivalent about the Heel Chemistry.
Does it work as claimed in 2 weeks time? Sort of.
Did it make my feet softer? Sure did!
Did my heels look as smooth as the after photo on their packaging box? Not at all.
Does it work better than any other lotion? I am not so sure.
It is really difficult to notice a change in the images. The real difference has to be felt. The parts where my feet skin were thinner (everywhere but the heels) felt soft and showed the only noticeable changes—less ashy and wrinkly. Otherwise, the tough calloused skin barely budged.
I tried using a more accessible and affordable lotion for the same 2-week treatment period, just out of curiosity and found both to work more or less the same. Heck, I think the Cetaphil may have worked a little faster and better.
The Chemistry Brand makes the tube of cream sound like an end-all-be-all product that "stops the hard skin cycle" with just 14 days of use. Perhaps that is why there is so little product in the tube for a foot cream—they think it works so well and is that concentrated. A new tube is also only filled about 60% of the way. Why?! However, to be real here...no effect will last if it isn't consistently applied every day even after those promised 14 days. I know my skin started to feel less soft each day immediately after I stopped using the cream (regardless of the brand).
Then there was the issue I personally had with the scent. I am not a fan of mint and anyone that knows me well can attest to it. If it only lasted for a while like toothpaste, I could handle it. The strength of the minty "fresh" scent is too overbearingly strong and continues to linger long after application.
To no fault of Heel Chemistry, but just a matter of personal preference, I could not find myself getting into the routine of applying lotion on my feet. The two weeks felt like a dreaded chore than something I enjoyed doing to potentially get soft skin. I also hated the fact that I had to wear socks all the time because the lotion made it too slippery to walk on wood floors barefooted (and I imagine tiled flooring would be even worse).
For the results that I had and the active effort it required, I am not going to repurchase this particular product again. Foot peels are messy but I can get better results with having done just one day of "work" (sitting in the exfoliating serum), the rest is a battle with time. Heel Chemistry may be good to help keep exfoliated skin baby soft; for me, it isn't a replacement product like I was hoping for.
Sandal season might be over but foot care is a reoccurring "To do" task for me. Even though I love the ease and convenience of my sock-less shoes, I have long traded them in for sneakers and boots now that the colder temperatures have set in. I would love to forget about foot peels, as I do with shaving in the winter, but memories of painfully deep cracked heels say otherwise. Prevention is my motto this season!
Since it would be an extremely boring and redundant to do the same routine I've done for previous foot peels again, I chose not to do any extra feet soaks to help speed up the peeling process. Unsurprisingly, It's SKIN Self Care Foot Peeling worked just as well as the SAEM's, The Face Shop's and Etude House's versions—it was just a much slower shedding this time around.
It'S SKIN's description:
Herbal extracts help soften and peel away dead skin for smoother feet.
Directions
1. Wear the self care foot peeling socks on both feet.
2. Put liquid from each pouch into the socks.
3. Soak feet for 1.5 hours and remove.
4. Wash feet gently with water.
Cautions
- Do a patch test if you have skkin allergy or sensitive skin. Put a small amount of liquid from the pouch onto the soft part of feet and leave it for 20-30 minutes.
- Do not use if you have a wound, swelling, or eczema.
- Do not use if you are diabetic or bleeding.
- Stop using if there is any redness, swelling, or itchiness.
- Do not scratch feet after using the product.
- Old skin with fall off naturally in one to two weeks.
- Do not forcibly remove dead skin when peeling begins.
- Foot baths in warm water helps the peeling process.
- Recommended frequency of use is once every 2-3 months. For more extreme cases it may require a second application at intervals of 28 days.
- Do not drink.
Ingredients
WATER, ALCOHOL, LACTIC ACID, SODIUM LACTATE, GLYCOLIC ACID, GLYCERIN, ARGININE, PHENOXYETHANOL, PEG-60 HYDROGENATED CASTOR OIL, SALICYLIC ACID, FRAGRANCE, DISODIUM EDTA, VITIS VINIFERA (GRAPE) FRUIT EXTRACT, CITRUS AURANTIUM DULCIS (ORANGE) FRUIT EXTRACT, PYRUS MALUS (APPLE) FRUIT EXTRACT, CITRUS MEDICA LIMONUM (LEMON) FRUIT EXTRACT, CITRUS AURANTIFOLIA (LIME) FRUIT EXTRACT, UREA, CAMELLIA SINENSIS LEAF EXTRACT, GINKGO BILOBA LEAF EXTRACT, BUTYROSPERMUM PARKII (SHEA BUTTER), ROSMARINUS OFFICINALIS (ROSEMARY) EXTRACT, LAVENDULA ANGUSTIFOLIA (LAVENDER) EXTRACT, THYMUS VULGARIS (THYME) FLOWER/LEAF EXTRACT, PELARGONIUM GRAVEOLENS EXTRACT, MELISSA OFFICINALIS LEAF EXTRACT, MELALEUCA ALTEMIFOLIA (TEA TREE) LEAF EXTRACT, MENTHA PIPERITA (PEPPERMINT) LEAF EXTRACT, EUCALYPTUS GLOBULUS LEAF EXTRACT, MENTHA SPICATA FLOWER/LEAF/STEAM EXTRACT
It'S SKIN (Korean retail): ₩7,000
RoseRoseShop: ₩7,000
*Availability and price of this on K-Beauty online shops vary.
The skin on my soles felt very thick and rough since the last peel was a good 3+ months ago. My heels, in particular, got so scaly that no amount of pumice stone scrubbing could get through the surface. These kind of masks are the only things I have found so far that works painlessly and almost effortlessly (I would much rather soak my feet in liquids once a month than rigorously scrub at it every night). The results this time weren't as clean but keep in mind the weather is much drier and my skin, as gross as it sounds, has been accumulating layer by layer for a long time.
Packaging
It'S SKIN Self Care Foot Peeling looks exactly like the previous road shop brands I've tried. The foot-shaped pouches come with ready-to-use serum and the plastic booties are double-layered and need to be secured via tying (versus a sticker).
Ingredients
The list of ingredients seem longer compared to the previous ones I've used but has the same general components: AHA's + BHA's + a bunch of essential oils.
Color & Scent
The serum is colorless and relatively odorless despite containing essential oils and fragrance. Again, I did not experience any sensitivity to the acids this time around either.
Before
Soaked my feet for 30 minutes in water prior to soaking it for 90 minutes in the peeling serum.
Day 1-5...even 6
Saw no changes. Didn't do any extra soaking.
Day 7-8
Feet finally started to see glimmers of the peeling process beginning: skin felt tighter and looked even ashier. No extra feet-soaks.
Day 9-12
Dead skin started to flake off; first where the skin was thinnest (between the toes) and then the arches and balls of my feet. The calluses were struggling but it slowly came apart as well over those few days. Still no extra soaks.
Day 13-14
80-85% of the skin completely shed off. The remaining 15-20% was all the heel calluses—that area had the most trouble and just didn't want to budge. After 2 weeks of patiently waiting, I accepted the fact that the acids didn't reach the remaining bits. A tried to pumice the stubborn skin off and finished the process with maybe 5-10% of dead skin remaining?
Thoughts & Recommendations
When the skin on my feet is thick enough to be clipped off like fingernails, these heavy-duty chemical peels are the only trustworthy products I can rely on. I am glad to know that all 4 of the different Korean road shop brands I have tried, It'S SKIN included, have in fact worked well...enough. It seems impossible to get every last bit of crusty skin with the rate calluses form on me. Heck, it has only been a week since the skin finished peeing and it's already starting to get ashy and scaly. Maybe I need to find something else to help maintain the baby soft skin post-peeling without the labor-intensive work that pumice stones require?
When everyone says lasering is a "permanent" hair removal option, I was imagining the results to last a good year at least...even without having to continuously re-laser body parts I wished to be hairless in. I could accept the fact that it isn't a one-session-and-all-hair-begone method. I can accept that it takes multiple attempts to fully "kill"/pause the hair follicles. But I was not expecting the results to revert, nearly, 100% after going laser free for 3 months when I completed 13 sessions (6 months) of bi-weekly treatment using the at-home tria Hair Removal Laser 4X system.
Click to see the progression of hair loss: 1 month. 2 months. 3 months. 4 months. 5 months. 6 months.
Granted, tria doesn't say anything about how hair would grow back if the user stops lasering altogether. All they promise is that there should be a significant difference in the amount of hair after 3 months of bi-weekly usage. However, if we apply some logic here...the laser does what it is supposed to and deactivates the hair follicles from growing at the roots, it should theoretically not reactive once the laser isn't applied anymore—right?
Here are the possible reasons I can think of to explain what happened:
- hair follicles reactivated.
- tons of new follicles formed.
- the laser wasn't strong enough for the follicles to stay dormant long term.
- hormones are to blame. (I do have a history of PCOS, which tends to elevate male hormones. It's supposed to be under control but I guess it could still be affecting my hair growth.)
Upper lips.
Nothing to really update here. There hasn't been any loss or new growth of hair. What was there 6 months ago when I first started lasering and what was there 3 months ago right before I stopped lasering is what is there right now. When I shave it off, it grows back at about the same rate as well.
Knuckle hairs.
Just like with the 'stache hairs, the knuckle wispies situation is also the same.
Armpits.
The area that showed the most drastic results during the lasering also did the same after halting the treatment. I noticed the hairs growing again even during the first month after I called it quits back in June. Over the last 3 months, the regrowth after each shave regained the dreaded aftershave itchiness sensation. It seemed to get more intense with each corresponding shave as well. Hairs slowly grew in darker and coarser. The only thing that hasn't come back, yet...knock on wood, are the terrible in-grown hairs I was so prone to before.
3-Months Laser-Free Thoughts
I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed in the tria Hair Removal Laser 4X. At this point, I cannot say for sure if it is my human error's fault, my uncontrollable internal issues, or tria's issue.
Given my results while consistently lasering...I do stand by my conclusions from the last post: worth it when compared to the effort needed for manual plucking (my preferred method) and when compared to the cost of professional services.
Home lasering isn't worth it for the time required for self-treatment. Professional lasering costs a lot but the wait-time in between seems to be longer. No matter what the reason is for my regrowth if I see the best results only when I continually laser, I would have to do commit myself to 26 sessions/year plus or minus some with shaving in between. I cannot ever pluck, wax, or depilate any hairs since the roots will be then non-existent and the lasers would have nothing to zap. It is a big commitment to make to those two methods of hair removal, but one that I guess I have made already since didn't return the device.
The only options I have now are to lift my temporary lasering ban earlier than expected. I also have more freedom to leave the hairs be, especially in the armpit region, to grow out now that Fall is here and the weather should technically be cooling down. Until I decided to actually consult a dermatologist or other licensed professionals about the underlying issues, I guess this is the end of the written journey for the tria Hair Removal Laser 4X.
I may have unintentionally started a foot peeling mask series, well it was unintentional until the RoseRoseShop haul. The quest was never to try every version available on the market; my target was just to buy the most affordable yet effective version. It just so happened that I would find cheaper ones that were from a different brand. Even though they should theoretically all work the same, there is always the possibility that it might not...right?
the SAEM's Dear My Foot Power Peeling mask looks exactly like The Face Shop's and Etude House's peeling products: from where it is made, to the way everything is packaged, down to the directions. The only variance is in the ingredients list, yet even that is extremely similar. I had high expectations since I've seen success with something that is practically identical to it.
the SAEM's description:
A foot peeling mask infused with hero exfoliants like Salicylic Acid and cell turnover catalyst Lactic Acid. This foot mask powerfully peels away all your dead skin cells, revealing baby soft feet. Its citrus ingredients relax and rejuvenate your tired, stressed feet, while Olive and Argan oils moisturize ’til your soles are silky smooth.
Directions
1. Wear the foot sheet.
2. Cut the pouch along the dotted line and pour the contents (20 ml) along the lateral side of each foot sheet.
3. Tie the ankle area, fix the top of the ankle with the enclosed sticker, and wait until the contents are absorbed into the soles of the feet. (Recommended Time: 60~90 minutes.)
4. After the recommended time, take off the sheet, wash off any residue with water, and towel-dry the feet.
5. After 4~6 days of use, dead skin cells will naturally start to fall off. For softer, smoother feet, wait for the dead skin cells to peel off naturally.
Ingredients
SD ALCOHOL 40-B, WATER, LACTIC ACID, GLYCOLIC ACID, GLYCERIN, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, BETAINE, UREA, PEG-60 HYDROGENATED CASTOR OIL, SALICYLIC ACID, DISODIUM EDTA, ARGININE, CITRUS PARADISI (GRAPEFRUIT) FRUIT EXTRACT, ARGANIA SPINOSA KERNEL OIL, CHAMAECYPARIS OBTUSA WATER, OLEA EUROPAEA (OLIVE) FRUIT OIL, CITRUS AURANTIFOLIA (LIME) FRUIT EXTRACT, CITRUS AURANTIUM DULCIS (ORANGE) FRUIT EXTRACT, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, CITRUS LIMON (LEMON) FRUIT EXTRACT, FRAGRANCE
the SAEM (USA): USD $11.49
the SAEM (Korean retail): ₩7,000
YesStyle: USD $8.90
Jolse: USD $10.48
With this kind of a result, a foot peeling mask series might be very redundant...At least I can gladly say the Dear My Foot Power Peeling works! (I saw that there were some Amazon reviewers who saw no results. I wonder what that could have been due to?)
Packaging
Like I mentioned earlier, the SAEM's version looks identical to the other road shop brands. The mask is sold with a pair of serum-filled pouches and two plastic booties packaged in a box.
the SAEM, unlike the TFS and Etude House, includes an extra pair of stickers to help tape down excess plastic bag. I found it to be very weak. Since I know the booties without a sticker works fine for me, I didn't bother to fix it. I would suggest using regular tape if your feet are on the smaller side.
Ingredients
Again, the ingredients in this formulation are very very similar to the previous foot peels I have written about. The only things that are different are the order of ingredients and plus or minus some essential oils and extracts.
Color & Scent
The serum is colorless and relatively odorless (maybe slightly artificially fruity). I didn't experience any sensitivity to all the acids.
Before
Soaked my feet for 30 minutes in water prior to soaking it for 90 minutes in the peeling serum.
Day 1-3
Saw no changes. Didn't do any extra soaking.
Day 4-6
Still did not do extra feet soaking. Started to see some peeling around the toes, then the balls of my feet.
Day 7-8
Started to get a little impatient and took extended showers (a night of shaving, a night of exfoliating, and a night or two of extra hair washes, etc.) to keep my feet wet a little longer—the skin peeling process sped up a lot as a result.
Day 9
Was pressed for time (had to go on an overnight trip with friends the next day). Soaked my feet for about an hour. When the peeling layer of skin got very soft, I pushed the tip of my nails to scrape/shovel the skin off. Most of it came off without any issues, but then there were stubborn patches and flakey bits that were very much still attached to my soles despite everything.
Thoughts & Recommendations
I can't remember the last time I did a foot peel without having (accidentally) heavily soaking and rubbing my feet with water shortly after beginning the exfoliation process. I forgot how slow it was for the skin to naturally detach itself just from daily showers alone. While the box says dead skin falls off naturally in 4-6 days, it took about 6-7 for the skin to very noticeably flake. When the skin is constantly soaked for a long time, dead skin starts to fall off around the earlier predicted date. It also completely finishes peeling a lot sooner. The whole process takes can take about 9-11 days depending on how much extra help is given, whether intentional or not.
Even though shoveling the skin off with my nails sped up the process, it definitely wasn't a definitive solution. Not everything wanted to come off. What was underneath the scraped areas wasn't as clean and smooth as places where the skin fell off on its own. But hey, it works in a pinch. I would only recommend doing this towards the end of the peeling cycle.
The most important conclusion is this stuff works. It isn't a miracle in the sense that ALL callouses and thicker skin are removed, but it gets pretty darn close! (HG status worthy. Is HG still a thing in the beauty blogging world?)
If bought in Korea, it costs the same as other brands so there is no debating or guessing—just get whatever is on sale or whatever shop you first see it in. If bought outside of Korea, pick whatever is cheapest.
There isn't much left to say, without being overly repetitive, about the state of my feet when I don't give it any tendering loving care in the form of acid peels. FYI I shared an in-depth explanation in The Face Shop's Smile Foot Peeling review.
Long story short! My feet skin gets very tough very quickly. The Face Shop's version is considerably more affordable when compared to the ever-so-popular Baby Foot Exfoliant Foot Peel (~$10s versus ~$20s). Yet I couldn't help but wonder if there were even cheaper but effective versions on the market, which is how I found Etude House's BeBe Foot Mask.
Etude House's description:
Easy and comfortable foot care sheet that makes sleek and clean feet with the effect of removing keratin, relaxing the foot odor and others by wearing it.
Directions
1. Slip on foot sheets. (Each sheet is double layered)
2. Cut along enclosed pouch’s dotted line and pour contents into foot sheet.
3. Wait 1~1 hr 30 minutes atfer wearing sheet for solution to absorb into skin.
4. Atef r a certain amount of time, take sheet off, wash off remaining solution and dry feet thoroughly.
5. After 4~6 days, the dead skin cells will naturally peel off. Do not peel with hands.
6. Wait 2 weeks until dead skin cells completely peel off for smooth and clean feet.
Caution
1. For external use only.
2. Avoid contact with eyes.
3. Keep out of reach of children.
4. Discontinue use if signs of irritation and/or rash appear.
Ingredients
WATER, ALCOHOL, LACTIC ACID , SODIUM LACTATE, GLYCOLIC ACID, GLYCERIN, ARGININE , PEG-60 HYDROGENATED CASTOR OIL, SALICYLIC ACID, UREA, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, RETINYL PALMITATE, ASCORBIC ACID, ZEA MAYS (CORN) SILK EXTRACT, CUCUMIS SATIVUS (CUCUMBER) FRUIT EXTRACT , PINUS PALUSTRIS LEAF EXTRACT, CAMELLIA SINENSIS LEAF EXTRACT, LAMINARIA JAPONICA EXTRACT, ALGAE EXTRACT, SALICORNIA HERBACEA EXTRACT, GELIDIUM CARTILAGINEUM EXTRACT, VITIS VINIFERA (GRAPE) FRUIT EXTRACT, CITRUS AURANTIUM DULCIS (ORANGE) FRUIT EXTRACT, PYRUS MALUS (APPLE) FRUIT EXTRACT, CITRUS MEDICA LIMONUM (LEMON) FRUIT EXTRACT, CITRUS AURANTIFOLIA (LIME) FRUIT EXTRACT, SODIUM HYALURONATE, DISODIUM EDTA, PHENOXYETHANOL, FRAGRANCE
Etude House (international): USD $9.10
Etude House (Korean retail): ₩7,000
Amazon: USD $7-9 (varies)
BB Cosmetic: USD $6.79
Cosmetic-love: USD $9.38
Why did it take me 3 years to discover that other Korean road shop beauty brands (The Face Shop, Etude House, the SAEM, Holika Holika, etc.) also sell their own versions of the foot peeling mask? I guess I mentally decided to just stick with the one brand that I have tried and saw results with to play it safe. Formulations probably aren't that much different from one shop to another...but you never know if even the slightest things will affect the effectiveness of the product or cause sensitivities.
I am glad to say that Etude House's BeBe Foot Mask does indeed work just as well as The Face Shop's Smile Foot Peel for me and costs a few dollars (and won) less. With the rate I need to use these babies, every few dollars less per mask adds up.
Packaging
There isn't a whole lot different between Etude House's version and The Face Shop's: both peeling serums come in a foot-shaped pouch and have plastic booties. The biggest distinction between the two are the former requires tying a knot to secure the bootie and the latter uses a sticker.
Like TFS' bootie, this one also had two layers. The outer layer is made of plastic and the inner one is made of a cloth-like material.
The instructions are identical. Clean feet. Slip on booties. Pour serum into each bootie. Wait for 60-90 minutes. Remove bootie. Rinse off serum. Wait for the peeling to commence.
Ingredients
The ingredients are more or less the same as well; both have alcohol, water, lactic acid, sodium lactate, glycerin, and glycolic acid as the main components—only the order differs. Etude House and The Face Shop use salicylic acid but EH's lists the ingredient higher meaning the amount of the acid they use is potentially larger in comparison to TFS's formulation. The rest of the ingredients found are various plant and flower extracts.
Color & Scent
The serum is colorless and relatively odorless (maybe slightly artificially fruity). I didn't experience any sensitivity to all the acids.
Day 1
Soaked my feet for 30 minutes in water prior to soaking it for 90 minutes in the peeling serum.
Day 2
Saw no changes. Didn't do any extra soaking.
Day 3
Still did not do any extra soaking. Started to see some peeling around the toes after a shower.
Day 4
Drenched my feet for a few hours while washing a car in flip flops. Skin started to really slough off just from it rubbing against the shoes. Didn't physically peel off any skin myself. Had to sleep with socks on.
Day 5
Skin continued to peel and shed. Socks were necessary 24/7.
Day 6
Impatience took over—began to manually peel off skin that looked likely to detach soon on its own. Did not forcibly remove any that were clearly not ready.
Day 7
Old skin on the bottom of my foot nearly finished peeling. Skin on top and on the sides of my feet needed a little help; rubbed it off with my hands in the shower. Deeper callouses on my heels remained.
Day 8
Peeling completed. Scrubbed heels with a pumice stone in the shower and was able to file and smooth down quite a bit of the deeper & tougher stuff. Feet were baby smooth.
Thoughts & Recommendations
I am not sure if it was due to Etude House's formulation or the wet feet & flip flops combo, but this is the first time I have had actual skin peeling off in a layer. Of all the times I have used The Face Shop's version, my skin came off in flakes and it could not be peeled off in any capacity.
Regardless, I can say for sure that having wet feet does help loosen and soften the dead skin a great deal. Abrasion from walking further loosens and separates the dead skin from the soles. Even if there is no time in the day to sit and soak your feet in water for 30 minutes every day, keeping the bottoms of your feet in the shallow water while showering for even 10-15 minutes helps a lot.
While the BeBe Foot Mask wasn't tough enough to tackle the most stubborn cracks on the heels and balls of my feet, it did a damn great job at breaking down and loosening other thick skin my soles developed over the last few months. The flakes came off in multiple layers in areas where the skin was thickest.
Which one I would repurchase all depends on whichever is cheaper at the time, how urgently I need it, and what the availability is at the (e-)shop. Etude House's foot peel and The Face Shop's foot peel work similarly enough that I would gladly pick up either or; they are one-in-the-same to me in terms of efforts required and results returned.
It is more than safe to say that I gave the tria Hair Removal Laser 4X a fair trial with 6 months of bi-weekly usage. Even tria claims there would be visible results after just 3 months of lasering. I gave my pits, stache, and knuckles double the attention and received varying degrees of results in return.
Click to see the progression of hair loss: 1 month. 2 months. 3 months. 4 months. 5 months.
Do take my observations with a grain of salt. Everyone's skin and hair are different. Heck, even on my own body the hairs on different areas are not one in the same. My knuckle and arm hairs are thin and wispy. My armpit hairs are thick and course. My mustache hairs are thin & short and thick & long depending on which section of my upper lip it grows out from.
With that being said, I have come to the definite conclusion that the tria Hair Removal Laser works best on thicker, darker, and coarser hair. I won't say that it is completely ineffective towards thinner and lighter hairs; I just didn't see as noticeable results in the same treatment period.
Upper lips.
Case in point 1. There are minimal differences between the photo taken 2 weeks after my first lasering and two weeks after my thirteenth lasering. Maybe there are some hairs that haven't regrown. But on the whole, most of the stache hairs are still very much present. My biggest hope was to at least not see the longer wisps at the corner of my mouth. But alas, those continue to grow back a little longer every week that I don't shave them.
Knuckle hairs.
Case in point 2. Like I've mentioned this before, these hairs aren't my top priority when it comes to hair removal. The strands don't bother me if it's there. If the lasering could rid them, cool. If not, cool too.
These hairs are much thinner and lighter when compared those on my upper lip. I had a difficult time trying to laser this area because the surface is small compared to the laser's nozzle and the hairs don't all grow on the flattest part of the knuckle. Both reasons gave the device a tough time trying to detect the hairs and to activate the lasering.
Armpits.
The success story of the journey. True to their words, I definitely saw the most drastic results within the first 3 months of using the device on the pits. I was floored by the number of armpit hairs that didn't sprout back after just 1 month of zapping. 2 months in and there was only about a quarter of the original amount of thick pit hairs left. 3 months in however was when things started to stagnate. 6 months later, a few stragglers are still left behind; those few strands of hair seem very persistent despite after half a year of trying to literally destroy them at their roots.
Few hairs remain but the time it takes for them to grow back after each shave is much longer than before. My pits also do not feel unbearably itchy when the regrowth occurs. I have also noticed fewer in-grown hairs over the half year that I have been lasering and shaving instead of plucking.
Half-Year Conclusion
The tria Hair Removal Laser is truly an investment device in terms of cost and time dedication needed. Using this device is considerably cheaper than having to pay professionals up to thousands of dollars per session. Both require the same commitment to multiple sessions while the tria has one flat cost and unlimited usage.
Worth it just for the time I save by not plucking each individual armpit hair with tweezers manually. I am aware that epilating, waxing, and shaving are much faster options. But the preparation & cleanup time and other frustrations (in-growns, stubbles, itchiness, etc.) with those methods aren't as ideal.
Worth it for the cost when compared to professional services. If comparing to prices of other at-home hair removal options mentioned earlier, it cannot even be placed in the same league.
I haven't had any professional treatment done so I don't know what the size of those laser's treatment window is, but the biggest gripe I have with the tria is its small laser window. Zapping larger areas like the pits is a pain since the device does start to feel heavy after using one-handed for a while. I can't even imagine trying to tackle larger spaces like the arms, legs, and chest. I guess the good thing with a smaller treatment window is that it allows for precision and targeting of smaller regions without needing to buy a separate smaller device.
The SmootStart Calming Gel doesn't do the best job as a consumer-friendly numbing cream of sorts, it did help psychologically to know there is a slight barrier between my skin and the laser. While I am always tempted to slather on a thick layer of it prior to the zapping session, I found that this action only hinders the devices from being able to sense the skin and hair properly.
Now that I have used the laser for half a year, I am declaring my mustache, knuckles, and armpits to be laser-free for at least 3 to 6 months to see whether or not any of the current results revert. I have read that while the laser does stop existing hair follicles from producing hairs, it doesn't mean new hair follicles won't develop. Here's to hoping the changes aren't too drastic!
5 months have gone by on this experiment with the tria Hair Removal Laser 4X and surprisingly some of the disappointment I felt in the previous 4 months have been reversed. I hope it isn't just my imagination. Instead, I want it to have been just my lack of closer observation.
Even though I tossed around the idea of treating other areas of my body, I haven't actually gotten around to it yet. It is on my list but I want to focus on this last month of lasering on the current areas.
Recharging of the device is also a big deterrent. It takes around 2 hours to fully charge the machine and it only lasts for about ~300 zaps at Level 5 (just barely enough for a generous session targeting the upper lip + chin + knuckle hairs + both underarms).
While the Laser 4X is plugged in, it gets very loud, as what I am assuming is the fan, whirls to cool the gadget down. For heavy sleepers, recharging the laser overnight shouldn't be a problem. For light sleepers like me, it does get a little annoying. I can't even imagine how many times I would need to recharge if I want to tackle other body parts. It will probably be a multi-day affair considering how small the laser window is compared how large an area leg hairs cover.
Upper lips.
I am tempted to say that I am finally noticing some progress here. In previous updates, I based my comments on the regrowth at the corner of my lips alone since the wisps there are longer and most noticeable. This month I noticed how much less fuzz my eyebrow razor collected after I grazed over my uppers lips. It is a nice motivation to get through another month of laser treatment.
Armpits.
Stubborn patches of hairs, be gone! Since the armpits have shown the best results over this 5 months period, I am getting a little impatient to see the last bits of hair still stick around. I wonder if one more month of lasering will do much difference at this point. If not then how many more months would it take? Or should I just leave it be and just shave off the rest for a while and see if it will eventually fall off by itself?
Knuckle hairs.
I wish it was easier to see in the photos. In reality, it seems as if all my knuckles hairs have regrown. I can confidently say at this point this area has proved to be the least responsive to the lasering. It could be that the hairs were too thin or that the laser had a difficult time reaching the follicles since the area is so small and not flat. It always took a few attempts to get the right placement for the laser to zap.
