With weather heating up, I’m getting excited to bust out all my summer shoes! As we break out the wedges, open toe heels, colorful pumps, and all the cute sandals, I want to share with you my secret weapons for making shoes more comfortable–AirPufs! And, in honor of this secret weapon, I’ll also share my four favorite styles of summer heels that have been really versatile and have had staying power throughout the years.
AirPufs are my favorite shoe inserts! I’ve been using them for over 3 years and they’ve made me addicted to not feeling pain on my heels or the balls of my feet!
Before finding AirPufs, I tried a number of different inserts. I thought those did the job just fine. So, when the owner of AirPufs, Chai, first contacted me 3 years ago to review AirPufs, I initially didn’t agree to it. I wanted to test them first to figure out if they were different than my regular inserts. She agreed, so I tested, compared, and scrutinized AirPufs against my regular shoe inserts. And since I’m still writing about them 3 years later, you know the verdict! I wrote an extensive post about the comparison test I did 3 years ago, which you can read HERE.
TLDR: With other shoe inserts, the cushion wears out and I feel the shoe’s hardness within a few minutes. After a few hours, the heels and balls of my feet hurt as if I wasn’t even wearing insoles. AirPufs are 20x more shock absorbent than other brands. The thing is, they don’t feel like anything special at first. But, when I wear them for hours, the heels and balls of my feet don’t get sore like they usually do. The cushion never gets matted down and it stays cushiony through out the day. I have danced for HOURS in very tall, very cheap, uncomfortable heels with AirPufs. All the other girls take off their heels, but I’m usually dancing the night away in mine! (Read my extensive review and comparison HERE.)
If you’re a long time PMT reader and have had issues with AirPufs ripping in the past, read this. While mine had never ripped, sometime ago Chai asked to collaborate again, and I told her I couldn’t because several of you reported ripping. Chai heard your feedback, worked to improve the quality, and then tested them rigorously. She sent me a few pairs of the new version, and while I can’t promise they’ll never rip, I can attest to them feeling much thicker and more durable. Thanks for your feedback, and thank you to Chai for taking the feedback to heart!
GET AIRPUFS w/ DISCOUNT + WORLDWIDE SHIPPING
Not only are AirPufs awesome, they come in a bunch of really pretty prints! And yes, you can switch them between shoes, which I do. However, I wouldn’t recommend doing that too often as the adhesive won’t be as effective.
If you want to try them, each pair is usually $16 + $7 shipping. But Chai is giving PMTers a discount on when you buy more than 1 pair! Here’s the breakdown with shipping included:
- 1 pair – $23 ($16 + $7 shipping)
- 2 pairs – $21 each ($42 USD total including shipping)
- 3 pairs – $19 each ($57 USD total including shipping)
See all the pretty prints on Etsy HERE (buy through one of the Bundles for discounted price) or directly on AirPufs’ site HERE (discount applied automatically). They ship worldwide!
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you purchase directly through AirPufs’ site, since Chai lives in Singapore, check out currency will show in Singapore Dollars (SGD), so amounts will show higher than what’s listed above. When you pay, with the exchange rate, you will be paying equal to what’s listed above. Discount is automatically applied. Apologies in advance for any confusion!
Now, since you know how to give your shoes more padding, let’s talk heels!
MY FOUR FAVORITE STYLES OF HEELS FOR SUMMER
With summer comes more opportunities to wear heels. Not only do you have the regular girls’ nights out, dates, and regular days at the office, but there are also summer weddings, parties, and graduations to dress up for!
While I am willing to pay more money for comfortable shoes, when it comes to heels, I tend to go for the cheaper stuff. I know that sounds like the opposite of what I should be doing. Given that heels are usually not comfortable, shouldn’t I be paying more to make sure they’re comfortable? Yeah, probably. But I don’t because I don’t wear heels that often. Plus, getting them in an array of colors that I won’t wear as often makes me not want to pay as much.
Pointy Closed Toe Pumps
This style is super classic and works the office as well as dressy looks for weddings, parties, and date nights. Super versatile! For summer I love, love, love this style in fun colors. Besides a classic nude, those colors that have been the most versatile for my wardrobe throughout the years are blush, lavender-ish grey, and cobalt blue! Oh, and leopard print of course!
Besides different colors, you can also try this style with some different twists, like this blush pair with a cute ruffle or this pair with one open side.
Since I don’t wear heels that often, I don’t spend a lot of money on this style, especially in all the different colors. Mine are all years old from H&M and Old Navy, and I wear AirPufs in all of them! AirPufs definitely help make cheap shoes wearable for hours (as long as the top part of the shoe doesn’t rub your toes painfully)!
SHOP MORE CLASSIC PUMPS:
click an item below to shop it
Heeled Sandals
Another super classic style. I have shoes like this in 6 colors, and they go with everything! I wear them with any of my dresses whether semi-casual or formal, to weddings, or with jeans and a cute top for a party, date, or to church. I love this style!
All of mine are, again, inexpensive from H&M and Amazon, with the exception of one pair from Sole Society (the yellow pair above) which is still not that comfortable on its own. I wear AirPufs in all of these as well of course!
SHOP THE OUTFITS & MORE HEELED SANDALS:
click an item below to shop it
Cork or Espadrille Wedges
I loooove my pair of cork wedges. They are lightweight, and look lightweight. Because of that, they’re what I throw on when I don’t know what else to wear, and especially when I don’t want to put on any type of heavy shoe or statement shoe to drag the outfit down.
SHOP CORK OR ESPADRILLE WEDGES:
click an item below to shop it
Wedges or Heels With Thick Straps
Lastly, I’ve had this wedge with thicker, simple straps for several years and continue to get compliments on them! I have this style in two colors and love wearing them for dressy casual looks. Whereas the heeled sandals above look a little too dressy for jeans + a cotton tee (I usually wear those with a nicer top), these wedges go well with either a cotton tee or a nicer top.
My cognac wedges are from Old Navy and I haven’t seen them restocked ever since I got them, but I found a pretty similar wedge on Amazon HERE that comes in cognac, grey, and black.
Another similar looking thick strap wedge that I own in white is by BC Footwear. You can find some in various colors on Amazon HERE and eBay HERE. That one is pretty hard on my feet, but AirPufs takes care of that. (So many shoe options open up with a good insole!)
SHOP THE OUTFITS & MORE THICK STRAP HEELED SANDALS:
click an item below to shop it
I’m confident that if you add any of these to your closet you’ll be wearing them for years to come! So, grab some fun heels in any of these styles for upcoming weddings, graduations, girl’s nights, or dates, and remember to add some AirPufs so that you can have fun and not worry about your feet!
Huge thanks to AirPufs for sponsoring this post
NEVER MISS A POST!
