With temperatures set to hit 40°c this week, I've been doing everything in my power to sleep through the heat. Fan on full blast, windows open, ice water on the bedside table - you know the drill. But the thing that's actually made the biggest difference? A £9 foot cream from The Body Shop that I've been applying every night before bed.
While it might sound unlikely that your best foot creams can be for anything other than helping your pedicure last a bit longer, here's why it works. For me (and I suspect most people), my feet are basically a thermostat for my whole body - so when they're hot, I'm hot, cool them down, and my whole body gets the memo to drop a degree or two. So once I started treating them as part of my sleep routine rather than as an afterthought, everything changed.
The product doing the heavy lifting is The Body Shop Peppermint Intensive Foot Cream - and it's currently reduced from £12 to £9 at Lookfantastic, which makes it an even easier sell.
This delivers an instant cooling sensation the moment it hits skin, making it a heatwave essential as much as a foot care staple. The thick, buttery formula melts in within seconds, with just a tiny amount needed to nourish and soften both feet. Wake up to noticeably smoother heels, with results that last for days.
The cooling effect kicks in the moment the cream makes contact with skin. That's down to the peppermint extract, which triggers the same cold-sensing receptors in your skin as an actual drop in temperature, without anything cold actually touching you. It's a sensory trick your body falls for completely, and honestly, on a sweltering night when the air feels thick and heavy, that initial hit of cool is genuinely blissful.
But what makes this more than just a fancy foot lotion is the formulation around it. The cream is thick and buttery - the kind that looks like it might sit heavy on the skin, but is actually super lightweight - and you only need the tiniest amount.
A pea-sized squeeze covers both feet comfortably, melting in within seconds and leaving no greasy residue on the sheets. The peppermint keeps working as you drift off, maintaining that cooling sensation throughout the night rather than fading after five minutes like some lighter formulas do.
And the kicker? I wake up with noticeably softer heels that keep their smoothness for days after application. I've been applying it on and off for months now, and the difference in the texture of my feet is genuinely significant - smooth in a way that usually only comes after a professional pedicure.
Formulated with glycerin and Community Fair Trade shea butter - sourced by The Body Shop from a women's cooperative in Ghana - it delivers deep moisture that keeps feet soft and smooth for days after a single application. Alongside it, peppermint oil does double duty: cooling on contact, but also known to have soothing, anti-inflammatory properties that help tired, overworked feet recover overnight.
I came for the cooling effect and stayed for the soft feet. At £9 in the current Lookfantastic sale, The Body Shop Peppermint Intensive Foot Cream is one of those rare beauty buys that overdelivers on every front - and right now, with a heatwave bearing down and another uncomfortable night ahead, it might be the most useful thing I own.
More cooling body products to get through the heatwave
The foot cream is doing the heavy lifting, but if 40°c temperatures have your whole body staging a revolt, it's worth building out a proper heat-survival toolkit. From a spritz-and-go foot mist for mid-day relief to a luxury muscle gel that works just as hard on tired legs as it does on tension headaches, these are the cooling body products worth adding to your basket right now.
Calm, cool and nourish your skin with this soothing body cream from Neal's Yard Remedies. A skin-loving blend of organic honey, aloe vera, plantain tincture and lavender essential oil works to hydrate and refresh all skin types. Cruelty-free, family-friendly and perfect for daily use.
The no-faff option that does exactly what it says. This medicated, antiseptic foot spray cools and deodorises hot feet on contact, with natural herbal extracts and a formula that's dermatologically tested. At a fraction of the price of premium alternatives, it's the one to stash in your gym bag, desk drawer, or anywhere else a heatwave might catch you off guard.
This is the product that earns its place in the medicine cabinet all year round but becomes genuinely essential in a heatwave. A fast-absorbing gel combining arnica, birch, and witch hazel with the cooling power of camphor and menthol, it tackles muscle tension and tired, swollen legs in seconds, and also works a treat on temples and the forehead when the heat has given you a low-grade headache.
