Walking on cherry blossoms: My Baby Foot Sakura experience

Full disclosure: I do not have the best-looking feet in the world. Due to a bad habit of walking around barefoot any chance I can get, the bottoms of my feet are rather rough and tough. I also used to be a religious stiletto-wearer, so I have more than my fair share of callouses. And, because I favor leather sneakers now, after a long day... they kind of smell. (Too much information? Too much information.)

I'm too lazy to do regular foot scrubs, and would rather spend on other luxuries (like my sacred Korean skincare routine) than regular pedicures and foot spas to get my feet in baby-soft shape, so I'd pretty much gotten used to having not-too-pretty feet. That is, until the world discovered Baby Foot (P830 at Beauty Bar).

For the uninitiated, Baby Foot is a cult Japanese brand that's been making all the major beauty headlines. The AHA-infused foot mask/chemical exfoliant has inspired reactions of both horror and fascination but one thing that anyone has ever tried it can agree on: it works. I decided to try it myself to see what miracles it could work on my un-pretty feet but because my feet also have, well, olfactory issues, I figured that the new Baby Foot Sakura might be a more promising option .

A relatively new variant on the market, Baby Foot Sakura has all the legendary effectiveness of the original formula but with the addition of a cherry blossom fragrance. The package comes in a baby pink (as opposed to the original tomato-red) with a floral print all over the box.

The contents of the box itself don't differ much from the O.G. Baby Foot. There are two plastic "socks," which come sealed in a foil package, along with some special tape to seal the mask around your ankles. There's also a detailed set of instructions, including an English translation to guide you through each step.  

Saying goodbye to my ugly feet before I use Baby Foot!

While using the product is technically as simple as putting the foot masks on and allowing them to soak, there are tips for getting the best results possible. Before masking, I cleaned my feet and let them just soak in plain water for 15 minutes before drying them off. This is supposed to help your feet absorb the fruit enzymes of the mask better.

The foot mask had a strong floral scent when I opened it up, but application was relatively painless. What was harder was adjusting the plastic masks to close around my ankles; it took me a while to get the right sizing! Thankfully, Baby Foot comes with quite a few pieces of "special tape," so I had room to make mistakes.

Petals are optional, and really just look nice.

The instructions suggest you put actual socks over the foot masks while the peel sets in, so I shoved on some free airline socks and wobbled around for thirty minutes. Fair warning: don't expect to be walking around much while you're doing Baby Foot. Even with socks on, the plastic wrap means you have less traction, so unless you want to win a sock-sliding contest stay seated. Read a book. Chill.

The process took about thirty minutes, after which, my feet felt pretty normal. They looked a little wrinklier than usual and felt like I had just stepped out of a very long bath but seemed fine. I'd been warned that my feet would feel "tight" but maybe my skin was too thick for me to notice? I didn't even feel the need to use any moisturizers but if you do or just regularly apply lotion to your feet, the brand recommends using an oil-free moisturizer that won't disrupt the peeling process.

The glorious peel

After the initial chemical odor dissipated, the floral sakura scent stuck around for a few hours after I'd completed the mask process! I wished the smell lasted longer. It didn't seem to have much of an effect on my foot odor issue but it made the masking process feel more like a treat

Though most people say it takes them about three days to start peeling, it took my feet a bit longer before I saw results. By day four, I had actually begun to question if the mask actually worked but by day five, I finally understood the rave reviews. When Baby Foot finally showed results, they were dramatic! I gave my feet another soak, to help speed up the process, and within a few hours the bottoms of my feet were indeed baby-soft. The top of my feet took a bit longer to finish peeling and all but the same amazing transformation had me marveling at what I thought were hopeless feet.

Baby feet, achieved.

Would I do this whole thing again? Definitely! The few hours of floral-scented feet and days of gross yet satisfying peeling have convinced me that the Baby Foot plunge is definitely worth taking. I highly recommend this special mask!

Have you tried Baby Foot?  What was your experience like?