If your hands, feet, elbows, or [insert body part here] are not happy with you right now, I feel your pain. Colder temperatures generally result in a never ending blast of dry air on your skin from overly aggressive indoor heating. I think we’ve all heard and tried the glove / sock trick – you know, the one where you slather your hands and feet in lotion and sit motionless while you let your skin marinate in gloves or socks. I don’t know about you, but even for someone as beauty obsessed as me, I just don’t have the patience to do that every night. So what now? Just give up and learn to live with flaky or crackly hands and feet? I don’t think so.
Enter Weleda’s cult favorite: Skin Food. Come November, I always have this cream in my bag. It actually attains lip balm status, which is a pretty meaningful commitment – for me, at least. But I have very good reason to go into panic mode when I realize that I didn’t stash any Skin Food in my purse when I made the switch from work tote to cocktail clutch – it never fails me. Skin Food is extremely rich yet my skin absorbs it super quickly, so I don’t have to avoid my phone or keyboard because I’m too scared to cover them in grease. I also love the decidedly unisex, herbal scent – so feel free to share this with the men in your life. You know, the macho types who usually avoid hand creams to avoid smelling “like a girl” for less than 30 seconds (someone please remind me why that is the worst thing in the world?). At 2.5 ounces, it doesn’t sound like it will last you very long, but when you are using a dime size at time, it lasts forever and ever.
Another reason for crackly hands? Frequent hand washing and overuse of hand sanitizer. No, I’m not recommending anyone forgo cleanliness for the sake of soft hands, but instead focus on finding other sanitizers that won’t make your skin even more parched than it already is. For a more moisturizing option, I’ve found myself turning to the Honest Company’s Hand Sanitizer. For a hand sanitizer, it is surprisingly rich and also does its job – keeping you germ free. Not to encourage anyone with OCD (me), but feel free to use it as many times as you want throughout the day. I have a big bottle for my desk and smaller bottles in my gym bag and purses. Suffice to say, I never want to be without it.
