By Hannah Sivak, PhD
Biochemist
Skin Actives Scientific LLC

Lye is a caustic solution used on TV to dispose of bodies after a gruesome "murder".

Lye is also the main ingredient in a callus peel that is used by some estheticians. It is advertised as a 15 minute skin softener that will allow you to peel the callus "as orange peel".

Don't use it. It is a sodium hydroxide solution, the same thing used to unplug clogged drains.  Drain cleaner by any other name is still drain cleaner.

Fish pedicures anybody?  Clients would submerge their feet in a fish tank and the fish would eat the dead skin in the calluses. The problem is that fish tanks cannot be sanitized so infections can be spread from client to client, so this novelty treatment is a bad idea.

What I suggest is alpha/beta exfoliator followed by Dream Cream.
After applying the alpha/beta, leave on for about 10 minutes and then rinse well. Use a pumice stone or equivalent to polish. Then apply Dream Cream and massage. Slower?  Yes, but also safer, nicer and healthier, and it gives your skin the nutrition it requires.

And don't forget EMUlator: it will protect your nails and make them stronger (and prettier). And don't over-cut your toe nails (or let the pedicurist do it): ingrown toenails are painful, require medical treatment and may even cause the loss of the nail.