8 best foot creams for combating cracked heels

CeraVe is a go-to brand for budget-friendly beauty basics. Looking more medicinal on the outside, you won’t find any beautiful packaging, fruity fragrances or luxury-looking ingredients in these products. Instead, what you will find is hardworking formulas tailored to get the job done, and that’s exactly the case with this foot cream.

Glycerin hydrates, niacinamide works to help heal the skin barrier, salicylic acid sloughs away dead skin cells, and a blend of three essential ceramides defends against dryness and irritation. After one use, we were instantly impressed, and when using it every day for one week, our feet felt and looked incredibly healthy.

For sore, tired feet, this peppermint oil foot cream is sure to come in handy. Combining cocoa and soybean oil, it’s incredibly rich and coats the feet in immediate moisture.

Easy to apply – although best at night, lest you be left slipping and sliding over the bathroom floor – it slightly cools sore feet with its subtle minty fresh feeling, while slightly relieving aches and pains. We loved the scent and feel of this foot cream, and we’re sure to be using it on repeat once those sweaty summer nights hit.

Remember, as The Body Shop is a B corp, you can count on these products to be made to a great standard too, considering both the people and the planet.

The first thing to note about this foot cream is the packaging. Forget the medicinal-looking colours and logos like the ones found on some other products. Instead, this minty green tube would make a lovely addition to any bathroom shelf or bedside cabinet.

A lightweight yet deeply hydrating formula, we found it to be the perfect fix for keeping feet looking fresh, if used every day. It absorbs into the skin pretty quickly, meaning you can use it in the mornings too.

Cocoa and shea butter give it its moisturising properties, while cactus enzymes and syn-urea+ exfoliate dry skin and boost the natural peeling process. Microbiome+ has been added as a prebiotic for your feet, supporting the skin and removing any odour too. So, this foot cream really does do it all, and it’s vegan, too.

Made from 99.4 per cent natural ingredients, with glycerin, olive oil and oat-kernel flour as the three core components, this Burt’s Bees foot cream is for those who like to keep things nice and simple. With a sweet honey and coconut scent, it was one of our favourite, and it felt just as good as it smelt.

What comes out of the tube may surprise you, as, compared with the thick, white creams you might associate with this type of product, this Burt’s Bees pick is yellow with a gel-like consistency. This did make it a little greasy, so it’s best to use it at night, but it truly felt like we were giving our feet a good drink after applying this product and donning fluffy socks.

The glycerin, coconut oil and rosemary extracts deeply hydrate even the roughest of skin, while peppermint neutralises odour, and the oat-kernel extract smooths the skin surface for softer, suppler feet. So, it’s safe to say we’re pretty impressed, especially when looking at the ingredients list.

This foot spray won’t combat cracked heels, slough away dead skin cells or hydrate your feet. However, for those with sore, tired feet, it gets a gold star (4.5 stars, to be exact) for soothing them.

Coming in a spray bottle, it’s incredibly easy to use – making it a great pick for those who struggle to bend down – and works with the cryo method to deeply cool each area. A combination of 14 essential oils, including spearmint, rosemary and lavender, make up the all-natural formula, alongside menthol and water, so it’s suitable for vegans and those who like plant-based ingredient lists too.

The cooling effect lasts between 30 and 60 minutes, instantly relieving aches and pains. However, it can be quite greasy, so don’t expect to walk around straight after applying it, or you may end up with more pains than you started with. It can also be used all over the body, so spritz away at your shoulders, knees, neck and back to truly feel fighting fit.

A price of £42 for just 50ml is expensive for a foot cream, but for those who like the little luxuries in life, you’ll want to pay close attention to this one. Formulated with 98 per cent natural ingredients and made in the UK, this small pot is pretty potent. Naturally derived alpha hydroxy acids gently exfoliate; liquorice-root extract and urea soften; and vitamin A and bisabolol soothe skin in a rich and creamy formula.

Suitable for hands and feet, applying this provides a luxurious way to end the day, and we fell in love with the clean, botanical scent. The instructions say to apply between three and five times a day, which seems a bit excessive. We stuck to just one and still noticed a big difference in both the look and feel of our feet, with softer skin achieved almost immediately.

With reviews claiming it eases eczema, reduces redness and works wonders on nappy rash, this small-batch brand is certainly impressing a lot of people.

Handmade in Kent, and specifically designed for sensitive skin, the balm instantly melts when in contact with the skin, sending out a soothing chamomile and arnica scent. Key ingredients include shea butter to soften skin, chamomile to soothe, moringa to repair damaged cells, and arnica to help relieve pain and prevent irritation.

We loved the scent, the ingredients list and how easy it was to use. A little goes a long way, too, meaning you can use it almost anywhere on the body (including the face) to tackle dryness and red patches.

E45 needs no introduction. One of the nation’s favourite solutions for soothing sore or sensitive skin, it can be counted on for any occasion, including soothing dry, dehydrated feet.

Of course, as it’s not a designated foot cream, it’s not quite as heavy as most of the other options we tested. It absorbs almost instantly, meaning you can apply it whenever, wherever. Although it won’t slough away dead skin cells or combat odour-causing bacteria, it will instantly hydrate the skin and, over time, create softer, suppler feet. So, while you will have to manually remove hard skin with a foot file or pumice stone, for a simple, multi-use cream, E45 is hard to beat.