Summer is here and sandal season is in full swing.
Since moving to Georgia 10 years ago, I’ve amassed a sizable collection of adorable sandals and peep-toe shoes.
This time of year, a stroll through the shoe department at a place like Target, for example, leaves me swooning. So, many trendy, chic summer shoes at uber-affordable prices.
Problem is — some of these shoes, while I swear they were the “most comfortable shoes I’ve ever tried on” before I left the store, turn out to be not-so-comfortable once I get them home and wear them in real life.
(Please tell me this happens to some of you, too.)
In fact, I have a few pairs of summer sandals that can rub such a blister (usually on my pinky or big toes), I’ve literally found myself in tears, dreading each remaining step I need to take until I reach home.
(The things I do for fashion…)
But despite the fact that these shoes inflict enough pain to bring a grown woman to her knees, the fashionista in me cannot bring herself to part with them.
In the past, my solution was to stick band-aids over the tender areas on my feet, hoping the extra cushioning would help ease the blistering pain.
And it did. For a couple hours, until the band-aids inevitably rolled up and fell off.
Then the pain would come back with a vengeance.
Oh, the humanity. What’s a fashion-conscious girl to do?
Just when I thought all hope was lost, I stumbled across this little gem of a product:
Band-Aid Advanced Healing Blister Cushions ($4.99) feature a gel pad that relieves pain while helping to protect the blister. The bandage is tapered on the sides, making it easier to wrap around toes, in particular, and also provides a super-duper seal to protect the blister from dirt, water and germs.
The folks at Band-Aid also point out that these “cushions” are waterproof and provide a “superior adhesive” that can be worn for several days before changing, even in the shower.
And, let me just say, they are absolutely right about that.
I had one over a blister on my pinky toe today and then spent three hours in the pool with my kids. I had forgotten I even had the band-aid on (it’s that comfortable) and, when I removed it, I noticed the skin had remained completely protected (the skin under the band-aid wasn’t all white and icky, like it would have been if I had worn a regular bandage in the water that long ).
Seriously. These are the best darn things for summer shoe survival. I keep a package in my car and a few in my purse because you never know when those supa-cute sandals might just start rubbing you the wrong way.
And really, who has time for that?
It’s summer, after all.
Time to be footloose and fancy free.
About Melissa
I am going to Target RIGHT NOW to buy these…. I have always been sure that they were going to fall off like regular band-aids.. but I am happy to admit defeat. Sign me up!
Oh I **NEED** these – I’m going to get a box today. I always wondered what the difference between my Target/PayLess knockoff style shoes and the $500 Madison Ave designer shoes were – comfort. I don’t know for sure because I can’t afford a $500 pair of shoes, but I can afford a $5 of Band-Aids!
I would like to bake a batch of cookies for the person that works for Band-Aid that invented these babies. Normally I keep a few regular band-aids in my purse for blister emergencies, just to keep a little extra skin on my foot. But these? Oh, I will be buying them right away and sticking a few in my purse
– my car
– Honey’s soccer bag (the blisters he can get playing soccer!)
Thanks for sharing about these!!
I am so with you on this post!! I’ll have to try these but lately I’ve just been bumming around in flip-flops… so no current blisters from cute shoes.
What a great idea!! Thanks for sharing . . . and no, you’re not the only one with this problem. The cute shoes that are oh-so-comfortable in the store end up feeling like a medieval torture device for the tootsies once you walk around at home!
I keep three boxes at all times: Home, Car, Purse…and I love, love them! But since working with my new job, I’ve learned to look for red flags on shoes before I buy them- a priceless secret that I’d happily share! ohhh the price we pay for fashion… why do we keep doing it?
Great tip–thanks for sharing!
Can I also tell you about Body Glide? It’s a product for endurance athletes that I use when I run (can we say sports bra chafing?), but I started using it on my feet where I tend to blister, and between the toes when I wear flip flops, and nada. It’s totally fantastic!
I read your post right before heading to a wedding with brand new shoes. (open toed sandals – heels – I NEVER wear heels) I wore them to the wedding, and then we went back to the hotel to wait about 30 minutes before heading to the reception. Well, even in that brief Methodist wedding service, the shoes started to give me blisters! I had preemptively purchased the band-aids, and put them on two places, and even shared with my mother-in-law! They worked great! Wore the shoes all night without incident (and I’d even brought a pair to change into just in case). I love how invisible they looked. I was really surprised how hard it was to tell that you were wearing a band-aid. Thanks for the rec!