The Best Foot Cream to Fix Even the Worst Cracked Heels (2024)

Your feet carry your entire body around all day, every day, which can take a huge toll on them. Whether you're walking around in cramped shoes, sandals that expose your skin, or (ouch!) barefoot, one of the results is skin dryness and even cracking and calluses, especially in the heel area where dead skin cells tend to build up.

Since the skin on the feet is thicker than that on other areas of the body, you'll need a specialized foot cream to soften and heal cracked heels and very dry, hard patches. Foot creams generally are made with heavier, richer textures than face creams or body lotions, making them perfect for tackling rougher-than-normal skin.

How to find the best foot cream

To soften feet and soothe cracked heels and callouses overnight, follow these shopping and application tips:

• Look for exfoliating ingredients like glycolic and salicylic acids. These help slough away tough dry patches, explains Good Housekeeping Institute Beauty Lab senior chemist Sabina Wizemann.
• Seek out proven hydrators and humectants like ceramides or hyaluronic acid to soften skin, and occlusives like shea butter, squalene or petrolatum to seal in moisture.
• Apply at night. To silken rough feet quickly, slather on a thick layer of foot cream at night before bed, then slip on a pair of socks to seal in the moisture overnight and smooth skin as you sleep.

These are the best foot creams and foot care products to soften very dry skin, cracked heels and calluses, according to GH Beauty Lab experts and reviewers:

This heavy-duty Burt's Beesfoot salve, aGH beauty editor favorite for over a decade, is based on a plethoraof nourishing botanical oils including olive, coconut, oat, and soybeanfor deep nourishment. It immediately softens toughskin and dry patches when massaged into skin or worn with socks. Even better? The balmsmells like warm, sweet coconut — an escape for worn-out feet (and senses).

AmLactin's fragrance-free creamislaced with lactic acid,an alpha hydroxy acid exfoliant often used in anti-aging skincare products that works toincrease cell turnover, sloughing off dead skinto leave it soft, smooth,and younger-looking. "This stuff is amazing!It will make even the worst feet super softin just a few days," areviewer raved. "I put it on ... and wake up with feet that feel softer than they do after a pedicure."

Small pot, big benefits:This O'Keeffe's formula, packed with skin-replenishing fatty acids and conditioning paraffin,isthetop-rated foot cream onAmazonfor tackling calluses.It's racked upover 33,000 reviews, including dramatic photos of users' heelsbefore and after treatment with the cream."My feet have been cracked non-stop for probably the last 10 years—I've tried literally everything and was incredibly embarrassed by them," one reviewer reported. "After 4+ weeksmy feet have never been better...there are zero cracks."

This affordableDr Teal'sfoot cream is loaded with high-quality hydrating ingredients likeskin-repairing fatty acids and softening shea butter. And it really works:"My husband uses this cream for his diabetic feet," a reviewer said. "I buy two at a time —it works on his dry, cracked, and painful skin."

Tackle stubborn cracked heels(and elbows, too!) with this targeted Glytone cream, which contains high levels of skin-sloughing glycolic acid. "The only thing that will truly make a difference on dry cracked heels,"a Dermstore reviewer said. (Note that the potent formula is made to be rinsed off, per packaging instructions.)

Take a load off fatigued feet thanks toAveda's cream, which refresheswith cooling menthol and mint, plus alaundry list of other natural plant oils and extracts (castor, jojoba, rosemary, lavender, sunflower, tea tree, apple, green tea, willow bark, orange, and more!). It's top-rated atNordstromwith almost 1,000 reviewsfor a reason:"I can’t say how much I love this foot cream!" one reviewer enthused. "It literally feels like my feet can breathe after using it! You really can tell a difference in just one use. My feet feel spa fresh."

From a GHBeautyLab gold-standard brand for body skin moisturization, this Eucerin formula made with smoothing urea and lactic acid earned high marks on Walmart for its almost-instant results in softening dry feet. "We have tried every cream, even some prescription creams, and Eucerin Intensive Repair Foot Cream out-lasted them all," one reviewer noted. "It made my feet feel silky smooth in just one day! Itdid away with the rough, cracked calluses and dry, flakyskin."

Weleda's cult classic cream truly works from your head to your toes:Wizemann uses the botanical oil and beeswax-based formulaon both her feet and her face. "Thissaves my skin from feeling dry and itchy and works wonders on my feet and elbows, but I have known to apply it anywhere my skin feels dry — my face included," she says."It smells incredible: energizing yetrelaxing at the same time."

Made with the dead skin-sloughingingredient salicylic acid often found in facial skincare products, this fragrance-free CeraVe foot cream is also top-rated with consumers. It's infused with the brand's signature ceramides, lipids that naturally occur in skin, making it a great choice for smoothing roughness. "I have notoriously rough feet...and it has drastically changed my feet,"a reviewer marveled. "They are so much softer."

A novel moisturizer plus exfoliator hybrid, Arm & Hammer's formula gets rid ofrough, flaky foot skin with glycolic acid to help turn overdead skin cells and a hands-free massaging brush applicator to further smooth. "The little soft scrubbing nubs help get the cream into any cracks around your heel and feels great," one Amazonreviewer said.

Made withcalming aloe,cooling menthol, antibacterial tea tree oil,and exfoliating salicylic acid, Ahava's foot cream, a best-seller, is like a spa treatment for your feet. Two reviewers called it the best foot cream they've ever used. "We have hard water, hence very dry and cracked feet," one raved. It"smooths the skin so they feel like a baby's."

A line of skincare products created just to treat feet, Footnanny's collection offers foot creams in an array of scents, from florals like jasmine and rose to calming aromas like lavender and tea tree. The formula is made with skin nourishers like cocoa and shea butters and vitamin E, and the tea tree oil in this variant also has antibacterial properties.

Like a sheet mask for your feet, Aveeno's disposable single-use paper booties are infused with moisturizers like glycerin, oat oil, and shea butter, making them a great way to revive the look and feel of your feet in between or in place of a pedicure.They've earned more than 300 5-star reviews on Ulta: "I used this foot mask and after my feet were softer and more moisturized than they have ever been in my entire life!" a reviewer marveled. "I've gotten spa pedicures that haven't had my feet feeling this good."

Good Housekeeping Seal star Aquaphor really is the ultimate skincare multitasker:The salve, rich in glycerin, petrolatum, and provitamin B5, even works to soften and heal the skin on the feet. The ointment is thick, so try applying it before bed, then slip on socks so it can smooth rough heels while you sleep.GH Beauty Lab data evaluation confirmed91% of consumer testers agreed that it repaired extremely dry, cracked skin.