Hey there, Be In The Glowers,

Every New Year's, I always set some pretty ridiculous goals for myself.  I find that setting goals versus making "resolutions" is a bit more successful for me, personally.  This year I am determined to, once again stay in a hand stand, and to dance en pointe again!  Yes, that is correct and why not?  Crazy?  Maybe!

So I did it for the first time in a loooong time, and the immediate pain and struggle of having to stand on the very tips of my toes was felt immediately!  Toes crammed inside a box doesn't seem like something you would be an eager beaver to do…But, I am eager and doing so! 

What I’ve known all of my dancing life is that I have what you call "Grecian feet," where my second toe is much, much longer than my big toe.  I was told that that meant I was to be filthy rich, head of my household, or the smartest one in the family… Still waiting on all three of those to come true.  Biscuit feet are really what I have, or creature toes, or whatever monstrosity you can think of.  You can imagine cramming those puppies into pointe shoes was never the funnest thing for me to do.  And, oh yeah, in those intervening years since I last did this – 3 kids!  Pain.  There was so much pain and why I on earth would I try to do it again some years later?

To alleviate some of the pain and gain better support, I began to look for a better toe pad.  Using the magic of Google, I came across a company called the PerfectFit pointe shoe insert.  It's a company that sells kits for dancers to make and create the perfect mold of their tootsies to go into their pointe shoes.  It is a reusable insert to alleviate the pressure areas around the toes and promote relief for dancers as they can spend hours in class en pointe. 

Sounded kind of nuts to me, but read on or watch the vid to find out how to make the product and what my overall thoughts are on the PerfectFit pointe shoe toe pads.