Editorial
Front Page - Friday, May 14, 2010
What'll they dream up next?
Ped Egg
Misty S. Brown
The Ped Egg is a great grooming tool for getting rid of calluses and smoothing dry feet, but be careful about getting it mixed with your kitchenware, as the microfile looks similar to a cheese grater.
I may not be the fashionista of the family, but I still abide by some basic rules my grandmother taught me as a child: no white shoes before Easter or after Labor Day, match your belt with your shoes, no sandals when it is still cold and never, ever wear socks with sandals — ever. I tend to cringe when I see these rules broken, but I guess modern fashion is breaking all those traditional rules nowadays anyway.
Though we have strayed away from the huarache sandals that the Beach Boys mentioned in one of their famous songs, and have now replaced them with the aptly named flip-flops, many southerners rock out in sandals almost year-round.
With swimsuit season quickly approaching, those non-year-round-sandal-wearers will be sporting them soon. And with more sandals in circulation, that means more people will have to pull off their socks and expose their pale, callused feet. That is unless, of course, they wear knee-high thick, white socks with their sandals and shorts, heaven forbid.
Aside from being around kids who are roughly playing with balloons or seeing hairy spiders dangling in my face, one thing that will give me the heebie-jeebies in an instant is a dry, crusty foot exposed for my viewing (dis)pleasure. Although I am an infomercial fanatic, I just cannot stomach to watch all those commercials about bunions, calluses, foot creams and so on.
But secretly, I love those products because it means I will not have to see as many of those feet in public. A gadget I have owned for a long time is one I think anyone who is going to wear sandals should purchase – the Ped Egg.
What it is
The Ped Egg is an ergonomically shaped foot file that is designed to help eliminate calluses and dry skin on your feet.
How it works
The Ped Egg comes in an egg shape to fit in the palm of your hand. It has three parts – a top part that is rounded like an egg and provides storage space for the skin shavings, a middle part with a stainless steel microfile similar to a cheese grater, and a bottom protective cover that also has a replaceable emery pad for further softening.
Once the Ped Egg is assembled, the user will slide the microfile slowly back and forth lengthwise on the thickest part of the foot and not side-to-side or in a circular motion. With thicker areas of the foot, it will take more pressure to remove the dead skin. The skin shavings are collected in the top portion and can be discarded when finished.
After the initial filing is completed, the emery pad on the bottom portion can help smooth out and soften more areas for a finishing touch.
Once the user is finished, all three parts must be cleaned according to the instructions and put away in a dry place.
Pros and cons
People with ticklish feet might have a hard time with this product, especially since the feet are often one of the most ticklish areas on the body. With more pressure, however, the ticklish feelings will subside, but caution should be used with the amount of pressure one uses, as it can cause injury if not done properly.
The Ped Egg is not good for people who are diabetic or have poor blood circulation.
It also should only be used on callused, rough skin of the feet, so you will have to use something else on your elbows and other areas of the body that get dry.
The stainless steel microfile can bend or become rusted, which could cause injury, so the use and care instructions must be well-followed.
The emery pad will not last as long as the microfile, but since it is an adhesive pad, it can be replaced.
A really disgusting negative aspect of the product is that it can easily be confused with kitchenware if stored near a kitchen. Imagine grating your cheese with a Ped Egg or spreading what you thought was Parmesan cheese onto your pasta. Yuck.
Also, if you hold the Ped Egg with the microfile side down when you are not working on your feet, the shavings will fall out of the holes, causing a gross, little mess to clean up.
Since the Ped Egg is a personal care product, more than one person should not use it.
Where to buy
The Ped Egg comes in a few different options – one with a handle, the standard blue and white style or a pink one with the breast-cancer symbol on the box.
I purchased mine for $9.99 plus tax at Walgreen’s where it came with three replacement emery pads. Additional replacement emery pads and microfiles can be found for about the same price as a brand new kit.
Submissions
Have a gadget you would like for me to review? Send the information to misty@dailydata.com.
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