Moisturizing spa socks have always seemed like the height of advancement to us. I mean, consider the alternative (which some people still do): Greasing up your walkers with heaps of Vaseline or lard, wrapping said tootsies in plastic wrap or cellophane and wearing that leaking fun fest overnight and even possibly repeating that process several times a day. You get the (disgusting) idea. (Yeah, someone should have informed John Turturro’s long-suffering character in The Night Of about spa socks. Was there really a character whose gross feet issues were subplot fodder for a hit show or did I nightmare that?) Then there’s the la-di-da creams that never actually work, visits to the pedicurist or the spa—pricey and/or inconvenient. Nope, thank goodness our feet possibilities have come along way, baby.

We now have handy, and in some cases adorable, pre-made packets of moisturizing goodness you can wear over day or night on your own time to smooth, soften and supple-ize your dried and cracked feet. (Try our Argan Infused Sweater Slipper Socks, our Altos Slipper Boots, our Double Layer Corduroy Shea Butter Slipper Socks and our Snowflake Shea Butter Slipper Socks.) Nope, no more embarrassment at the beach, locker room, yoga, new boyfriend’s or wherever else you perform pedal promotion activities.

It's all about the time-release microcapsules. These capsules are embedded in a polymer gel (a cross-linked three-dimensional network that uses surface tension to trap the oil capsules, to be kind of exact and smarty-pants about it) which is coated onto the sock material. This oil-infused gel softens your skin as you wear them in a couple of ways: The combo of the warmth of the sock and your body activates the capsules, helping the oils penetrate into the thick skin of your soles, and the texture of the socks helps massage the oil into your skin as you move.

Still, you can help this pampering process along by doing a little prep work. (Is beauty ever that easy?):

First, wash your feet in warm water and a gentle, non-drying cleanser. Then, get rid of the outer layer of the dry, calloused skin on your heels and soles (our Kissables Exfoliating Mitt works wonders for this) and gently pat dry. This helps the healing oil penetrate deeply into your skin for maximum moisturizing. 

Now, as for the care and feeding of your miracle socks or slippers, it’s best to hand wash them and hang dry. But the exciting news, fresh off the scientific presses, is: Your socks’ moisturizing and softening action will last through said washings, meaning great results for your feet and great bang for your buck. In one test of microencapsulated cosmetic agents, the capsules were stable throughout washing, rubbing and even ironing, with a “slow and gradual” release of the therapeutic oil over time. In fact, after 20 washing cycles, only 6.4% of the microcapsules were lost!

That’s excellent news for your socks, for your feet, for the world.

Just as we suspected: Spa socks, truly a giant step forward for womankind. ;)