Pumice – Helps or harms skin?

Everyone would want to have smooth skin of feet. That is why we go to beauty parlour for a pedicure, we use foot files, perform peeling, apply masks and creams. Some of us use pumice to make sure that feet will be velvety smooth and soft. However, is pumice safe for our health?

Pumice is nothing else than solidified lave, i.e. volcanic rock. Large deposit of this rock is present on Italian island Lipari, on Madagascar and Greek islands. Pumice has porous and fine grain structure; consists also large amount of quartz. Thanks to those features, it perfectly exfoliates dead skin cells and removes unaesthetic protrusions on heels, metatarsus and toes. Pumice found its use in beauty parlours and podiatrist clinics for feet treatments. We distinguish two types of pumice: synthetic and natural.

Synthetic pumice is made of materials with properties similar to those of volcanic rock. It isn’t difficult to figure it out that artificial products are much cheaper, lighter, smaller and coloured; they loose their properties much sooner. But are those safe and effective? Natural pumice lasts for longer, is much heavier and costs much more. Volcanic rock effectively exfoliates dead skin cells and protrusions of feet. It also consists of anti-allergic properties, does not cause irritations or allergies. On top of that, natural pumice is available in dragstores in shades of beige, grey or black. Although, some brands colour it into red, blue or green.

Is pumice, synthetic or natural, safe accessory for skin care of feet? Yes and no. If you take proper care of synthetic or natural pumice, you have nothing to worry about. After each use, pumice should be cleaned, sterilised and dried. Otherwise on its surface start create bacteria and fungus. How often should you use pumice? Perform removal of protrusions once a week. Then you will be sure that you will not damage epidermis and pumice will be free of germs.