Sunday, April 25, 2010

Product Review: airplus™ shoe accessories

This past week I had a job interview. Yup! Finally, after all these months I had a call from an organization I had applied to asking to see ME! They were interested in my "diverse" resume, i.e. years of administration experience plus a design degree plus a former small business owner teamed with months of unemployment gaps.

In preparation for this job interview, I bought a business suit: a black jacket and black pants, a button down dress shirt in a baby blue shade, a new black handbag, and nude stockings - my least favourite kind. Yes, I know - very corporate. I also purchased some kind of new shoe inserts called "airplus™"... rubbery, gel cushion shoe insoles for my black pumps in order to avoid blisters. You see, I seldom wear high heels (no more than 2-inches) and when I do...ouch!


This product was a disappointment. The part that goes under the toes (the forefoot), cutely named "Gel Steppies" eventually became unglued from the shoe insole underneath and bunched up, and thus made walking very uncomfortable. I tried several times to fix the problem with no luck. The "steppies" just reverted back to their pre-disposed bunching. It made my one shoe much tighter. I hobbled home. I developed a blister as a result.

I also purchased the gel "heel cup" product from the same airplus™ line. The heel cup on the other hand was fine. I did not notice a significant improvement in my ability to walk in heels. In fact, I don't think that it did much. But thankfully I did not get any blisters!

Not only was I unimpressed with these products but it cost me around $22 for both the forefoot "steppies" and the gel heel cups. One more thing, the excessive plastic packaging REALLY annoyed me. When I got home, I kept thinking of ways that I could re-use the packaging rather than just discard it. Ultimately, I threw the packaging out after I realized how disappointed I was with their product.

One aspect that made this product somewhat redeeming was the pink ribbon symbol on the packaging, suggesting donations (or sponsoring) to breast cancer research.

What kind of product do you use to make your high heels more comfortable?