Monday, May. 31, 2004

This Little Piggy Wants Botox

By Alix Strauss

With summer just weeks away, women are prepping their feet for open-toe season. But this year foot care may cost you an arm and a leg. "The foot is the new face," says Dr. Suzanne Levine, owner of the Institute Beaute, where she gives clients foot facials. The $225 treatment includes a mineral-oil-and-Epsom-salt scrub, glycolic-acid peel, intensive tissue-repair cream (applied with an ultrasound wand) and callus-blasting microdermabrasion. Savvy strutters whose feet are sore from their Manolos are hobbling to doctors to get the balls of their feet injected with collagen, Restylane and Botox. The extra cushioning allows for hours of pain-free high-heel wearing. Salons too are stepping up to the plate, with fake nails for tootsies. Dashing Diva, a Manhattan-based nail boutique and spa, offers Tip-Toes, ready-to-wear nail falsies (kits are $10). You can order Levine's foot-facial kit ($50) at www.footfacial.com or, for less cash, try Burt's Bees ($10), a foot-care kit that contains Coconut Foot Creme, a pumice stone and yellow socks to protect pampered little piggies. --By Alix Strauss