I’ve been paying a lot more attention to looking after my hands this past year and find that they need different forms of tlc depending on the season. I used to quite like my hands and am sad at how they’re starting to show their age…. when I was younger I thought hand creams were for moisturising your palms, maybe that’s where it all went wrong! Hands often show signs of ageing even faster than the face and are much more difficult to hide (ever noticed Madonna’s?).
These are the three products I’ve been reaching for recently to care for mine…
Dove Spa Close at Hand
Described as ‘a pair of invisible gloves’ this contains Vitamins A, E and B3 and water lily extract to help reduce signs of ageing and apricot oil to moisturise and help elasticity. It does feel lovely and nourishing and has a fresh, slightly apricot smell, but it tastes quite bitter. Not that I ate it (!!!) but have a dreadful habit of putting my hands in my mouth - not good - and so for me the taste is genuinely a bonus, as it reminds me not to do so! Just don’t apply this when you’re about to eat and you’ll be fine!
£5 for 50ml at dovespa.co.uk
Natio
Sadly, there is a serious shortage of hand creams with SPF, in fact it’s ridiculous how few of them there are around, so I often end up using my Natio sunscreen SPF30+ on the backs of my hands. I’m not religious about it, but I try to remember. It’s very light, slightly moisturising and non sticky, so it actually works quite well as a hand cream. Originally bought (& still used) for my face, I reviewed it in full here.
£9.20 at Debenhams
Miss Polly Intensive Hand Treatment
When my hands are in need of serious pampering, this is what I’ve been turning to - and it’s so darn beautiful sometimes I just use a tiny bit of it anyway. I’ve wanted to try it for quite a while and finally treated myself - it’s made with 100% natural ingredients and great for treating dry skin (including psoriasis or eczema).
“The high organic shea content repairs any rough or broken skin you may have, while the meadowfoam and Rice Bran oils work their magic by being easily absorbed and quick to nourish.”
Mine is Pink Grapefruit fragrance and I can’t begin to tell you how amazing it smells… the shea butter softens any sharpness, but there’s still a proper sweet pink grapefruit freshness if you inhale it closely, which I can’t stop doing. I’ve just stopped and applied some now as I couldn’t resist, which was stupid as it’s not very conducive to typing.
The high shea content means that this is set almost solid in the jar, but easily softens to the touch and melts into a glorious oily buttery finish on the hands that feels soooo soothing and just like nothing else I’ve ever tried.
Miss Polly (herself as sweet as her products) is currently rebranding and repacking her range, so sadly the full collection isn’t available at the moment, but will be back very soon. The good news is that some products in the former packaging are available at 25% discount and I’d encourage you to try them. I previously reviewed the Nourishing Serum here, and still hail it as one of my favourites - a total steal at the price.
EDIT: Intensive Hand Treatment is now available in 3 fragrances: Lemon & Mandarin, Pink Grapefruit, Lavender & Rosewood
Miss Polly Intensive Hand Treatment £12.50 at misspolly.co.uk
Anyway, this was meant to be a quick post (will I ever learn?!) and that’s way too much ranting about hand creams so I’ll go to bed now… thank you all for reading, as always! x
