Off the Eaten Trail: Kocostar Foot Therapy Review

WARNING: This post contains photos of peeling feet that you may find gross and wish to avoid.

I was late to the game on foot peels and wish I had heard of them sooner. With all the walking in NYC, my feet are cracked and rough unlike when I lived in suburbs. I've tried foot lotions that are intended for cracked, dry feet and filing rough skin. But they never really worked and thick, rough skin remained.

Kokostar Foot Therapy

So when I heard about foot peels, specifically Baby Foot, I was willing to try it. Unfortunately, the Ricky's location that I went to was out of Baby Foot. But a salesgirl suggested Foot Therapy by Kocostar and swore that it works just as well and only costs $9.50. (Baby Foot is around $25.)  I was skeptical that it could work as well given the significant price difference, but I was willing to try Foot Therapy just to see how a foot peel would work.

I also did some online research about foot peels and found Refinery29's tips to be very helpful. I soaked my feet once or twice after the peel, but not every day.

I did my foot peel in April this year. I highly recommend doing a foot peel as the weather starts to get warmer and a couple of weeks before you plan to wear shoes that expose your feet. Your entire foot will peel up to the ankle and it can be unappealing and embarrassing.

It didn't take very long after using Foot Therapy for my feet to get a good peel going by the fourth day. Nothing much happened for the first few days and I didn't soak my feet. But when I walked around the city in sneakers and socks, I was surprised at how much my feet had peeled when I took off my socks at home. I think the moisture and sweat really helped things get going.

From there, I soaked my feet a couple of times which helped along the peeling as well. What impressed me about the foot peel is how effective it is in shedding any hard, calloused skin around my heels and balls of my feet. Once the dead skin had shed, those areas felt soft and were not calloused or cracked anymore. It's amazing and Foot Therapy worked really well for me.

My feet stayed soft and smooth for a short while before I started to notice any roughness starting to occur. I wasn't surprised by this since it's just the normal process of what happens when walking around the city. But because foot peels are chemical peels, it's not something that should be used frequently. I think waiting at least 2-3 months between treatments is a good idea. (Note, I am not a doctor and this is just my opinion.)

Here are pictures of my experience. My feet weren't in as bad a shape as I saw in some other people's pictures. Personally, I don't think the pictures are that bad. The pictures are a teeny gross and unsightly, but they didn't make me feel sick or need to look away.

Bottom of my feet before I applied Foot Therapy:

Bottom of my feet right after soaking in Foot Therapy booties (not much noticeable change):

Once the peeling really began:

Flaking around the ankle

I want to try some other peels on Refinery29's "Best Foot Peels For Under $20" to see how effective they are, such as TONYMOLY Super Peeling Liquid. But I would use Foot Therapy again with no hesitation.

Bottom Line: Highly recommend

Off the Eaten Trail: Makeup Primer Substitute

Ok, so I'm veering off food posts with this one. I'm always interested in alternatives or substitutes for pricey products like makeup. But there are a lot of cheap or hokey suggestions out there and it's hard to know what really works.

One day, I saw a makeup artist's tip from a lifestyle talk show on using chafing gel as makeup primer because they have the same main ingredients. So I was very intrigued about using chafing gel as a low-cost primer substitute. I use Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer but I don't use it everyday because I don't like a lot of steps in my makeup routine and it's expensive at $36 for 1 oz. (at time of this post). I love the silky and smooth feel of the primer, and I could see how it would work for chafing. But I would never waste expensive primer on my body! 

I haven't used chafing gel and a Google search primarily turned up two products. Other anti-chafing or anti-friction sticks and powders show up but aren't going to work as primer.

1. Lanacane Anti-Friction Gel, 1 oz. - may also be labeled as "Anti-Chafing Gel"; price range $5-8. Ingredients from Lanacane's Anti-Friction FAQ page: cyclopentasiloxane, dimethicone crosspolymer, dimethicone / vinyl dimethicone crosspolymer, zea mays (corn) starch.

2. MONISTAT COMPLETE CARE® Chafing Relief Powder Gel®, 1.5 oz. - price range $5-7. I didn't find ingredients easily on Monistat's site so here are the ingredients listed on Target.com:

Active Ingredient: Dimethicone (1.2%)

Inactive Ingredients: Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Silica, Tocopheryl Acetate, Trisiloxane.

Now, the Smashbox primer ingredients are: 

CYCLOPENTASILOXANE , DIMETHICONE , DIMETHICONE CROSSPOLYMER , TRISILOXANE , SILICA , DIMETHICONE/VINYL DIMETHICONE CROSSPOLYMER , ETHYLHEXYL SALICYLATE , RETINYL PALMITATE , TOCOPHERYL ACETATE , CARTHAMUS TINCTORIUS (SAFFLOWER) SEED EXTRACT , PROPYLENE GLYCOL , WATER\AQUA\EAU , VITIS VINIFERA (GRAPE) SEED EXTRACT , COLA ACUMINATA (KOLA) SEED EXTRACT , CAMELLIA OLEIFERA LEAF EXTRACT

After comparing the products, I'm actually inclined to try chafing gel as low-cost primer substitute. The Smashbox ingredients listed first are identical to the chafing gels. Both products are used on the skin, and at $5-8, I would have no problems using chafing gel for actual chafing. 

Now, the Smashbox primer does have other ingredients like a number of plant extracts, but they are listed at the end and I doubt the amounts are significant to justify a price that is 450% or more than chafing gel.

Once I've tried this substitute, I plan to update this post.

Almond and Sweet Cherry Galette

With cherries in season, I got inspired to make some kind of cherry galette or crostata. I sought out my copy of The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook and lucked out that it had an Almond and Sweet Cherry Galette recipe.

Of course, Deb's recipe involves making pie dough. I have little experience making pie dough and it was not successful. Many years ago, I tried to make a pandowdy with homemade pie dough and the fruit mixture turned out too watery and the pie dough wasn't great. I haven't tried making desserts involving pie dough since.

So, I considered cheating and buying pre-made pie dough to eliminate any anxiety of messing up the dough, and ultimately the galette. But the home cook in me decided to suck it up and make the pie dough.

Despite my inexperience, one thing I always hear about pie dough is to use cold butter and ice water. So I was nervous about my dough getting warm and used refrigerated water from my Brita pitcher, added ice, and let it sit in the fridge to get ice cold right until I had to use it. I even chilled a glass mixing bowl in the freezer beforehand to keep the dough as cold as possible while I formed the dough after the food processor. (Sorry, no pictures to share of making the dough as I moved quickly to get it into the fridge to chill.)

In the end, I was so happy with how the dough turned out! The dough browned nicely and had a flaky texture that I liked. I think some pie crusts can become gummy but this was not. I would definitely use Deb's pie dough recipe again.

Once I got past the pie dough, the rest of the galette recipe is very easy. Prepping the cherries just involved washing and removing stems. The cookbook mentions that some people believe that leaving the cherry pits in imparts an almond-like flavor. So I chose to follow the recipe and leave in the pits because it made prep easier. I actually think there was a slight almond taste from the pits, so I didn't mind it.

The almond filling is quick to make. So simple there's not much to say about it.

Almond mixture, finely ground before wet ingredients added

I kept the rough edges when I rolled out my pie dough and like the rustic look. But you could trim off any rough edges to make perfect round shape or fold edges under for cleaner lines. I didn’t have turbinado/raw sugar and just used granulated white sugar to sprinkle around the edges.

I enjoyed how cherry and almond flavors went together. The pie dough had a nice crispy crust on the bottom and top edges and was flaky. The cherries did not release much juice which I think helped keep the crust from becoming gummy. Another great Smitten Kitchen dessert that isn't too sweet.

I really like a galette because it’s fairly easy and looks impressive.

My Rating (out of 5): 5 for the pie dough; 4 for the galette

Luke's Tail Cart

I'm loving the little Tail Cart by Luke's Lobster in Battery Park next to the Seaglass Carousel. Grilled lobster tail skewers are a perfect bite for hanging out by the water. It's my new favorite food on a stick.

Two regular tail skewers (and a shadow claw)

Luke's Lobster launched Luke's Tail Cart earlier this summer selling grilled lobster tails, which is not on the menu at their regular shacks. (If you still haven't heard of Luke's Lobster, check out more about them and their sustainable practices. I've been a fan of their simple, delicious lobster rolls since they opened their first shack in NYC's East Village.)

The Tail Cart menu is short and simple...grilled lobster tail skewers, free sauces, and a couple of desserts for your sweet tooth. They offer regular size skewers (1 for $6/2 for $11) and large size skewers (1 for $10/2 for $19). Each skewer is half a lobster tail, which makes it easier to eat from the shell. There's even an infographic on how to eat your tails.

Dipped in Maine blueberry balsamic sauce

Both of my regular skewers were perfectly cooked through but still tender. I tried both the lemon butter and Maine blueberry balsamic sauces. While lemon butter is classic, I highly recommend the blueberry balsamic sauce. It was delicious.

Grab some tails and enjoy views of the Statue of Liberty or the park's gardens.

Lady Liberty looking further away that it did in real life

My Rating (out of 5): 4

11.11.2016 Update: The Tail Cart has moved locations a few times since I visited and is changing what they are offering, perhaps for seasonality or limitations on how food can be prepared at the location. After Battery Park, the cart went to the new Whole Foods in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and is now moved to the Whole Foods in Tribeca. So check out their site to find out the cart's latest location and menu.