Healthy feet are important to every athlete. We must not forget to take good care of our feet. Sometimes, we forget to take adequate precautions to keep our feet healthy or take it for granted that our feet will be “fine”. But that’s unwise: it can lead to blisters, athlete’s foot, and other foot problems. It’s always better to prevent the foot issues at the beginning than to have to deal with them later.
After testing 2Toms Footshield for more than a full month, from May 18 to June 25, I am happy to review it for you today to share my experience. First, a brief disclaimer: I received a free 2Toms Footshield roll-on to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!
First of all, what is this product? It is a natural product with healthy ingredients that help keep our feet swelling a little more sweet than they would be normally. It is very easy to apply and use. There is a light fragrance to it but not too strong (tea tree fragrance is most noticeable). I’ll show some photos giving you a better idea.
Put simply, the footshield is similar to a roll-on deodorant for your feet in a sense (*it is more than that, though). It comes in a small cylinder and it is very simple to apply: just shake before opening and roll gently on top and bottom of toes, then wiggle feet to spread shield between them. Then roll around sides/bottom of feet. The shield applies a little moisture which acts to block and prevent sweaty feet. Usually after applying it, I slide my running socks right over it. One benefit I wasn’t expecting from the footshield is it makes it much easier to pull on my compression socks (less friction, less effort). However, the shield works well with and without socks. I tested it with sandals with bare feet too. If you tape your feet, it’s best to keep the shield away from the tape so your tape remains adhesive.
My feet tend to sweat a lot and also overheat when I run. I noticed the cooling effect of the footshield seemed to make my feet more comfortable during and after runs.
Although I am sensitive to many scents due to allergies, I found the footshield scent to be pleasant (tea tree scent is dominant, might smell a little mint too). It did not bother my allergies. The scent did attract our dog Misty’s attention. Dogs have very good senses of smell.
Runners and athletes struggle a lot with periodic blisters and Athlete’s foot as well. Blisters for me are quite common. During the entire time that I used and tested the shield, I had zero foot/toe blisters while running daily. I’ve had athlete’s foot before in college when I was younger and it was rough: it doesn’t go away quickly or easily. It is always better to prevent athlete’s foot with antifungal ingredients that are in footshield that will fight bacteria that tend to accumulate.
Another problem most of us have who run or exercise a lot is sweaty, smelly feet and shoes/socks. I noticed a remarkable decrease in the sweat and smelliness of my feet during the time I tested footshield. My shoes didn’t smell as bad either. Nor did my socks.
The first time you apply footshield, you may be inclined to roll on too much. But a little goes a long way: just apply it gently and let your feet air dry if you wish. Or add socks (especially compression socks if you struggle to slide those on at times).
While using the footshield, I noticed that my footing seemed stronger and I was also able to stop more quickly when necessary due to having dry feet. There was one occasion where our dog slipped suddenly when we were running together and I started to slide, but was able to stop almost immediately without falling down because my feet were dry on the inside.
I tested the product with all thicknesses of socks, from compression socks to lightweight thin socks, with tape and without tape, in running, dancing, and walking. And it was an impressive performance throughout.
The most challenging part of using the product for me was just keeping the shield far away enough from KT Tape that was applied to my feet to not loosen the adhesive. Sometimes, I got too close and my tape peeled off a little bit. But once I learned to not use the shield near the tape, I didn’t have any problems after that.
If you use the footshield, you probably will not need to use moisturizers or lotions quite as much as there are moisturizers in the product.
My feet remained comfortably dry throughout the period of testing the footshield. It’s just when you apply it that you really notice the moisture. After that, the moisture is absorbed by our skin so it can do its duty to help prevent stinky, smelly feet, keep bacteria away, and help us remain on healthy feet. And healthy feet are happy feet.
Although the instructions say to let the feet air dry a little, I found that really wasn’t necessary except maybe after the first application when we are all inclined to apply a little too much shield to give the product a good solid test.
When I tested the product with my UnderArmour sandals (barefoot), I was a little concerned that it would leave my feet slippery. If you are testing it with bare feet like that, it might be more important to let your feet dry before walking. But I found the footshield quickly was absorbed and it had no negative effect on my footing. We waited about 5 minutes from application before walking.
Nebraska has very high humidity and so we tested the product in heat, humidity, and also in rain. Even on the most humid and/or rainy days, I found that the footshield kept my feet dry even if my shoes and/or socks got wet from rain/humidity. The external moisture did not seem to reach my feet. Also, the sweat accumulation seemed to be much less. I smelled my socks/shoes after running several times to check the odor and many times I couldn’t smell any negative distinctively sweaty odor.
Previously, I’ve written about the odor of effort and how that affects us with stinky running clothes. For our feet, we can prevent much of that by using footshield daily (or as often as needed).
I tested the product both running/walking on roads and on trails and it performed well on both. I tested it in Norfolk, Nebraska on the Cowboy Trail while visiting my parents/family.
Before I forget, there is a discount code I would like to share with you if you would like to try the footshield. Use “2Toms20” for 20% off online purchase only. The code expires Sept 30, 2017. Here is a link to the 2Toms website if you need it to check out this product and/or any of their other products: 2Toms.com.
In summary, I’m extremely impressed with this product. My feet and toes are very impressed and are much happier with this experience. For someone who has struggled with blisters, excessive sweating/moisture in my feet, strong foot odor (the odor of effort) and athlete’s foot, to be able to prevent and keep all that away is remarkable. I think the product gives me more confidence when running/walking, makes me more surefooted, and helps me thrive better in my very active athletic lifestyle.
Would you like to try the 2Toms Footshield? Don’t be shy. Come learn more about it on #BibChat on Tuesday, June 27 at 8pm Central time on Twitter. 2Toms will be giving away some free footshield during the chat during that chat.
If you have any questions or would like to ask me more about my experience with the product, please contact me. Thank you very much to 2Toms, Medi-dyne, and BibRave for allowing me to test this impressive product. Try it, you’ll love it!
Leaving with some footer pictures to show the product and its uses that worked for me. Happy healthy running and don’t forget to treat your feet. Your friend and family will thank you! And so will your feet (including all toes). Remember if we fail to take adequate care of our health including our feet, our healthy habits are incomplete. In order to better compete as a healthy athlete, let’s take better care of our feet.
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