SCAM OR REAL?: DETOXIFYING FOOT PADS

I was shopping in Santa Barbara and found myself in the beauty section at Marshall's on State Street. I get my hair and skin care at Marshall's and TJMaxx because they have really nice brand hair shampoo/conditioners, lotions and hand soaps for a fraction of their original prices. This time I came across something I've never even heard of: detoxifying food pads.

Being raised Greek, my mom would but oil on my chest and feet at night when I was sick because it's believed your illness can pass out the oil on your feet. From my perspective, the foot pads didn't seem far off. I bought three detoxifying foot pads to test out. Rose scented for my mom, Green Tea for my boyfriend, and Mint for me. There are 10 pads per bag for 5 nights, and about $6 each after tax. We'll see if it was worth it, or if I wasted 24 bucks that could have gone to new OPI nail polish.

When night came around and I finished my last Stranger Things episode and bite of homemade peach ice cream, I stuck on my and my boyfriends foot pads. The pads look like tea bags. They were supposed to be different scents, they both smelt like campfire smoke at first. Interesting, but we still went ahead. I slept with socks over the pads and my boyfriend didn't. Neither of us had been having adequate sleep due to bad dreams so I was hoping maybe this might help with that too.

In the morning, I didn't notice a mint or green teas scent. When we pulled off the pads, they were black, gooey, and smelt heavily of the campfire smoke from the night before, but x10 most intense. The packaging says the blackening is excepted during the first night of the detox. I didn't feel any different, but just like a diet, you're not going to see any huge changes on the first day.

Later in the day, I did some research online and found many sources (almost every one) I read, other than a site promoting their own foot pad brand, like this one from Livestrong.com conclude that:

1. Detoxifying foot pads aren't recognized by the USFDA. Why? because... (see #2)

2. Marketers of foot patches have no clinical studies to prove that their products work.

3. Multiple scientists have called out this type of product for making false claims.

4. The same blackening effect of the pads can happen just by pouring water on the pad.

5. Detox doesn't really mean anything.

All pretty much saying these foot pad products are a scam. I also learned to: conduct your own research before trying out a new skincare product. When "trying something out," don't buy three of them.

In conclusion, detoxifying foot patches are a scam. But hey, at least I debunked it for you so you can spend money on more valuable things, like actual roses for your mom, green tea packets for your boyfriend, and mint herb for your place.

#skincare