Customer Reviews

Diamancel Tough Buffer # 11 1 ea

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I saw this buffer in Allure magazine, where it was highly recommended. I initially balked at the price, but decided to splurge. (I bought it on macys.com) This buffer is truly excellent. I have calloused feet, and I always forget to lotion them. I also pick at & peel skin from my cracked heels (yuck!). After using the buffer only ONCE, my feet look tons better than they did after my $45 pedicure a few weeks ago. It's great, and you use it on dry feet, so they are smooth right away. It is definitely worth the money!!

Since my husband promptly stole my last foot file, I had to order myself another one and decided to try this brand. This is honestly the best foot file I've ever used and the idea of using diamonds in a file adds an entire new dimension of luxury to this item.

The price seemed somewhat steep in comparison to other items, but then I figured maybe it would last longer than files that needed replacement files and maybe it wouldn't break as easily as cheaper plastic files. So, the advantages are a longer lasting item that works at least twice as well and the results are very apparent within five minutes of using this product. My heels could now be described as "silky." They are as smooth as satin sheets, almost unbelievably smooth.

If you are a Spa Girl at heart, this product will completely impress you. You will also save money by creating your own little spa at home. This doesn't just remove dry skin it polishes your feet. The file rinses very easily, it's nice and sturdy and is very easy to use.

This may be a 100 star product!

~The Rebecca Review

I bought mine about 2 years ago from Bliss and they're still the same as the day I received them in the mail, and that's pretty good considering how my feet get. Sadly, I paid $20 more a piece, so now I'm a bit bummed! Ah well. I was surprised by some of the negative reviews, so wanted to throw my 2 cents in. Basically, it comes down to common sense and understanding the difference between the three.

This is the same as the foot buffers you'd get from Dr. Scholl's or similar. In fact, I found these when I went on the mad search of trying to find the old-school Dr. Scholls buffers that were white and had an oddly shaped head with fine grain on it, because nothing else worked on my feet. What they offer now, such as the type with the pumice-like head and blue handle (least back then) tore up my feet, while others only lasted a few weeks, if I was lucky, and barely made a dent. The difference between these and the other types is that they don't wear out (seriously), are very well made, can be cleaned and I feel they're much more effective as well.

Because these are similar to a regular buffer, that does mean it'll take some elbow grease, especially if you have rough feet. They're not a shaver and they feel exactly like a traditional buffer. However, there are three different types that do different things. I bought all three, because my feet will go from nice to downright blah, depending on the time of year. I also tend to slack and don't buff regularly, which inevitably catches up with me (like now, which is what fueled this new review).

Here are the differences between the three:

--The #10 Classic--
This buffer has the finest grain, which covers the entire buffing area, and is ideal for smoothing. This reminds me of fine grain sandpaper, such as what you might have seen with the Dr. Scholl's flat, white buffer that had a black sandpaper-ish buffer. It can be ideal for smoothing or for individuals who don't have a tendency to get overly rough feet and thickened heels. It will eventually tackle roughness, but it'll take a lot more work to do so. I use this when my feet are feeling spiffy and after the other buffers, if need be. My mother uses this one, but she rarely has problems and takes good care of her feet.

--The #11 Extra Strength--
This one has a slightly thicker grain and one that's more dot-like, giving it a little more oomf. This helps to tackle regular-type dryness and thickness, and I tend to compare it to the old-school Dr. Scholl's. I use this the most, even when my feet are so bad during our arid, Santa Ana weather that they crack and become painful. This may be ideal for those who have slightly thick heels and feet that are scaly, flaky and cracked. In fact, I find this works better than the #20 when it comes to severely cracked or flaky skin. Although it will get through somewhat tough skin, it still leaves your feet soft.

--The #20 Callus Conqueror--
The name pretty much says it all. If you are looking for something to treat very thick heals or calluses, then this one is for you. It's not going to miraculously cut through everything in a single swoop, mind you, and you'll have to put some work into it if your heels are bad, but it's been the most effective thing for me to date. It will also achieve the task much faster than the #10 or #11. It has a very similar-looking grain to the #11, but with more diamond stuff on it. It doesn't hurt and won't tear your feet up, unlike some of the roughly grained pumice stones, but it won't hurt you like a shaver might. Just don't go nuts and buff to the new skin right away, or you might have some tender feet afterward. It doesn't mar your feet, but rather smooths them, similar to the other two, just not as effectively (still nice, though).

All in all, if I were to pick two of these bad boys, I would do the #11 and the #20, because I am prone to thick heels and calluses (when I'm not up on buffing), but also like #11 for regular maintenance and some of the tough stuff that the #10 won't get as quickly. The #11 is sort of the middle man, so to speak. If I had to pick one, I would stick to the #11.

Tips:
- Must use on dry feet. I always do it before I shower on clean feet (I wear socks, so not as dirty). It will not be as effective if you do it after a shower, when the feet are still softened.

- Have a towel or do it over the tub, because powder-like dry skin will be everywhere and will keep coming, even if you think you're about done.

- Make sure to clean it. This will prevent possible foot infections and it helps to keep it working like new. I run mine under hot water and will scrub with a cheapy toothbrush and some antibacterial soap, although you could also just soap and rinse. If I'm in a real germaphobe moment, I'll steam clean them.

- If you're feet are really bad, it may take a few tries to get them to look their best. When I first used this, I did it every day for about a week and a half, but also made sure to use a good cracked heel lotion. Now, I find that doing a nice, warm foot soak with coconut oil and warm water helps more (coconut is also anti-fungal/bacterial, etc. and it penetrates into those hard-to-reach cracks), followed by a good lotion. During super-dry times of the year, I'll use Burt's Bees Coconut foot cream (more of a gel) and slap on a pair of socks after my soak.

I'll try to post pictures when I have time, but definitely recommend these. Yes, they're expensive, especially for my part-time, slave-labor earnings (I'm a typist who works at home), but very well worth it. Plus, you don't have to run out to buy more. If anything were to wear down, it would be the handles and well before the actual buffer portion. However, I don't see that happening - not even with the #20 which, for some reason, is made of a strong plastic-type material. The other two have metal handles that are covered in a comfortable, padded, rubber-like material.

Enjoy!

No more soaks, pumice and you name it. This is amazing. I couldn't imagine buffing DRY feet as pumice etc. would feel horrible. Save your money and buy this wonderful product. We wear sandals year-around in Arizona and this is the best.

I just received the #11 and #20 Diamacel files...I was pretty skeptical - but I am incredibly impressed! I tend to have terrible calluses - and every year my heels crack despite daily scrubbings with a pumice and heavy moisturizer - and regular pedicures. In fact the only time I haven't had cracked heels was during a brief time when my pedicurist would scrape my heels with a razor blade to keep the calluses down. I bought these files HOPING they'd help - I just received them today and spent 5-10 minutes working on my heels. Cracks virtually gone - my heels are totally smooth. I can see using these regularly and finally not having heels/feet I'm embarrassed by.

I have to say this is the most impressive product I have purchased - and is the only one I ever felt the need to come back and review.

Worth every penny if you too have callus problems!

This product is absolutely amazing. I was skeptical at first, as I have battled dry and cracking heels all of my adult life and have tried just about every product I can get my hands on. Soaking products were temporary, as were the softening socks by Bliss. This product actually files away the dead skin right before your eyes and leaves your feet feeling smooth and soft to the touch. I wear flip flops 7 days out of the week and my feet get really dry and look it too. I use this product once a week and lotion my feet once a day. I loved it so much, I immediately bought one for my mother, the same week I received mine. Worth every penny. You will love this product.

Agree with other users - you would think it might be uncomfortable using this on dry feet but it is not - it actually feels great. My wife has extremely dry feet - so much so she sometimes gets cracks in her heels. Shes tried to work it out in the shower with a wet buffer and scrubs but it does not do the job and you can't really see if you've done a good job when your feet are still wet. She sat down and used the Bliss and it took off all the dry skin painlessly leaving her feet soft with no cracks. Very easy to use, you just have to wipe of all the skin dust off of it from time to time to keep its effectiveness. You can fix your feet in one session. It's durable and not going to fall apart like other cheap buffers that have stickers of sand paper that fall off.

Like most of the other reviewers, I was finally convinced by the many rave reviews to try this, and I'm so glad that I did. It's well worth the price, and how much money have we spent on related products? I can only say "amen" to what's already been said. Just one use is about all it takes. I had thought from the dramatic results described in the reviews that the buffer might be very coarse or tough on the skin, but in fact the diamond chips are so fine that it's quite gentle and if used lightly does no harm to normal skin. I'm a little concerned about the one review that said it lasts only a year. It should last much longer than that, and I expect it to!

I'm going to try the nail file eventually. My mother had a nail file many years ago that had diamond dust chips in it, and it did such a good job that it actually enabled her nails to grow longer and stronger . . . I think because it was so fine the nail edges would be very smooth. Kind of like using the ultra-fine #0000 steel wool to do the last pass over the refinished furniture, right?

I live in a very dry climate, walk a lot, garden a lot, and have very, very calloused feet to show for it. To save on household expenses, I give myself, my husband, and my elderly mother pedicures. I have always used Flowery Fot Files (Swedish Clover), which are also available on Amazon. I chose the Flowery file, many years ago, because it works well and was (maybe still is?) made in Sweden (i.e., the company has not out-sourced manufacturing jobs to China). I just received my bliss Diamancel buffer, and have used it once on my own feet. It is so much better than my Flowery. BUT, in all fairness, I am comparing my used Flowery file to my brand-new Diamancel. With that caution, I have to say that the Diamancel easily removes a lot of callous, and leaves a very smooth finish. Interestingly, Diamancel recommends that you "USE ON DRY FEET." It's possible that the Flowery, which is much, much cheaper would work better if I used it only when feet are dry, but I had always thought that these files should be used on wet feet. Even given that uncertainty, I will probably stick with the Diamancel.

None of the reviews here at the time of my purchase really answered what I wanted to know. I'm reading about "rough heels" and thinking "I think I need something more powerful than something that makes one's heels smooth."

Still, I was torn between this, the Diamancel #11 and the #20 callus device. The ball of my foot has a major callus that I've tussled with all my adult life. The #20 looked like it might be akin to a cheese shredder and I already have devices like that- they do work, but leave your skins ripply and ripped up looking. Maybe #20 was not as unkind as that, but maybe the #11 would be quite enough.

For those who want to cut to the chase, yes, this baby was able to work on a serious callus in pretty short order. The UPS truck dropped it off and I literally sat right down and got to work with it. Honestly, 5 minutes later and both calluses (the other on the outside of the foot, below the pinkie toe) were about halfway gone. I can plainly see this works very quickly and will have these painful thick spots gone with a little more work, and leave my skin in much better shape.

If you have a ball of the foot callus, you might want to read on below for more thoughts, but if you just want to know if this buffer will work on a terminal stage callus, the answer is heck yeah.

- - - - - - - - - -

The recurrent callus on the ball of my one foot is the result of a Morton's toe. Not to bore you, but when you walk, the pressure gets transferred forward from your heel up to your big toe. If that transfer doesn't happen correctly, you end up moving the pressure to the ball of the foot. The foot then responds by building up dead skin, and mine gets thick quickly. Left to its own devices, that callus would allow me to tap dance barefoot if it didn't hurt so much. Since the transfer is sending pressure away from the big toe and outwards, I've also developed a callus on the outside of the foot below the little toe, like a little tripod balance. Isn't nature wonderful?

I have a freaking collection of files, rollers with blades, a flatter thing with a Solingen steel blade in it, a PediEgg, a knockoff of a PediEgg, acid laced callus discs and so on. All have their merits and failings. Most of the stuff files your skin, or acts like a cheese shredder. For efficiency, the bladed items couldn't be beat. Yes, the blades have cut me a few times, but they have been the go-to tool to cut off thick skin quickly. Unfortunately the ball spot had gotten to the point where the skin was so smooth and hard that even the blades couldn't get ahold of anything, and slid right off. That's why I turned to this "buffer" - which is an innocuous name for a file that works seriously well.

If you get calluses on the ball of your foot, you might have a Morton's toe too. A lot of places incorrectly say it's when your second toe (next to the big one) is longer than the big one, but this is wrong. It's an internal thing that has to do with bone lengths and is not always visble.

The ball of your foot hurts, so your instinct is to put padding where it hurts, as I did for a long time myself. The answer actually is to put the padding NEXT to the callous - along the big toe down to the side of the ball of the foot. Then that part of your foot hits the ground before the ball and takes the pressure in the right path. I did this with thick moleskin and couldn't believe what a difference it made. The thing is, it's easy to get lazy about doing this, as the moleskin gets wet with daily showering, doesn't stick properly, and is unsightly. It's also expensive enough that you may not want to replace it daily. I think the answer for me might be to get a full foot length insole and cut away most of the toe area, leaving just the big toe area down to aside of the ball, and shift it from shoe to shoe.

Anyway, if that doesn't work well, no biggie, because this buffer is going to do a terrific job keeping the ball callus away. Best wishes to fellow sufferers!

[If any issues arise regarding the longevity of the buffer, I'll come back and edit.]