Hot Mama Tip: Banish the Crocodile Hands
Winter is coming, and we all know what that means.
Dry, flaky skin. The stresses of being exposed to dry heat inside the house and then outside in the cold are enough on their own to cause your skin to freak out. Add to that all the extra handwashing we tend to do during cold season, and you’ve got yourself the makings of a possible skin disaster.
It can creep up on you quickly, and before you know it, you’ve got red, irritated skin that’s starting to crack. Ouch!
What can help heal your hands lickety split?
The consensus seems to fall on L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Creme as being the best out there. It’s a tad pricey at around $25, but a little bit goes a very long way. It’s thick but not too thick and has a light, pleasant scent.
On the value side of things, the winner is Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream. It can be had for around four dollars a tube, and each 2 ounce tube contains 200 applications! It’s fragrance-free and although it goes on a bit heavy, it absorbs quickly and does indeed deliver a high dose of hydration.
Care to share your favorite hand lotion?
I bought my husband Kiehl’s Ultimate Strength Hand Salve. It is also somewhat pricey, but it doesn’t look or smell girly, a requirement for getting him to use lotion. And I have become secretly addicted to it and use it whenever he isn’t looking.
Apparently you can tell the true age of someone even if they’ve had “work done” on their face by looking at their hands.
I like L’Occitane’s results, but I hate the smell. I’ve found that rubbing zinc on my hands and topping it off with Aquaphor at night makes my hands really soft. The zinc heals dry skin and the Aquaphor seals in moisture (but it’s messy). Aveeno makes a good 24-hour hand cream that doesn’t wash off when you wash your hands.
On bathroom counter: Lubriderm
In handbag: Vaseline brand “Deep Moisture Creamy Formula with vitamin .” Almost as good as the Norweigian formula above.
At bedtime (during the dry season): Vaseline petroleum jelly, then mittens. Cheap, odor-free, and effective though greasy. Also good for under the eyes.
Avon makes a lotion called Silicone Glove, and it is phenomenal for those who work in fields where their hands are always getting wet and then drying. It’s amazing.
But I’m also addicted to this lotion from Skoah that smells like coconut. I’d use it even if it were crap, because it smells so fantastic, but it’s a really rich, nourishing cream that you can put on scaly skin and within five minutes your skin will be soft again.
In general, it must be admitted that Neutrogena products rock. I’m always impressed with their value for money.
Mr. Henry’s dermatologist friend advised him to use Neutrogena Norwegian formula (which contains lots of good old-fashioned lanolin) claiming it was the one widely available cream that actually soaks into the skin and doesn’t sit on top of the skin like olive oil or other nostrums.
The Hand Cream works equally well for foot callouses, by the way.