I’ve constantly had issues with dry skin on my feet, so when I spotted the Express Pedi in the beauty aisle on my regular weekly trip to the supermarket I was intrigued. I must confess I spent a good several months weighing up whether to purchase this before I bought it; at $54.99 it’s quite pricey for an impulse buy. It took some premeditated online research combined with a decent sale for me to give it a go, and I haven’t regretted it!
The sales pitch
The Scholl Velvet Smooth Express Pedi is a battery-powered foot file which spins a Micralumina roller at high speed to exfoliate hard, rough skin. It claims to give you beautifully smooth skin after one use.
Road test results
I’m probably one of the best people to road test this product as I always have dry skin on my feet and cracked heels – especially in the summer time with all the barefoot outdoor excursions, jandals and sandals.
You need to ensure your skin is dry for it to work correctly, which means you shouldn’t use the Express Pedi just after a shower or bath, and hold off on moisturising your feet until after exfoliation.
To use the Express Pedi, you unscrew the base to insert the batteries, remove the protective cover over the roller and twist the silver ring towards the top of the handle to turn it on.
As I read some online reviews prior to purchasing, something that repetitively came up was users saying the roller would stop when downward pressure was applied to the foot. I didn’t have this issue but I can see how this happened for them; when you’re using the Express Pedi you need to gently slide it over the dry skin to buff it away, if you push down too firmly the roller does stop turning.
Continue applying in bursts of 3-4 seconds as per the instructions (no longer) until the skin on your feet becomes as smooth and soft as you’d like. Once finished rinse your feet or wipe away the removed dead skin with a damp cloth, dry your feet and apply moisturiser to finish.
As my feet were in pretty desperate need of some TLC and I don’t have a lot of time to sit around for a DIY-pedicure, I road tested the Express Pedi over several days for 5-10 minutes each session to treat my feet. These daily test images show one of my feet prior to getting started, then after using the Express Pedi followed by moisturising each day (I just used a regular body moisturiser).
Pros
- The Express Pedi is very easy to use and runs on four regular AA batteries.
- It does work, which can save you some decent money on professional pedicures, and if you have a tendency towards dry skin on your feet, this means you can have a pedicure as often as you like.
- The detachable roller heads can be removed and washed if need be. They do eventually wear down, but you can easily purchase new replacement ones (RRP $19.99 for two) – typically from the same shops that sell the Express Pedi unit.
Cons
- It can be messy. Do this in a bathroom and/or have a damp towel handy to wipe away the dead skin that is exfoliated off (I placed one under my foot as I used it). Little bit gross but it goes everywhere if you don’t manage the situation!
- Not really a ‘con’, but just after I bought this I noticed a new rechargeable version hit store shelves. It’s almost twice the price of the battery-powered version but I probably would have preferred to buy the newer one (or maybe I wouldn’t have, given I didn’t know if it would work or not to begin with!).
Where to get it
The Scholl Velvet Smooth Express Pedi is available in either pink or blue from Countdown, Pak ‘n Save and New World supermarkets, Farmers, Life Pharmacy and Mighty Ape for RRP $54.99. I bought mine on sale for $44.99 from my local New World.
For more information visit the Scholl website. Make sure you follow the included instructions and it should work well!
Images / NZ Real Health