My mother goes through handcreams like a Hummer through gasoline so I have been brought up with gorgeous, scented lotions and creams abounding. So what contemporary handcreams – and foot creams – are out on the market now?
You can tell a lot by someone’s hands.
Their age, their marital status, their taste in jewellery, their level of income – or at least how much of it they put into their maintenance – and even their job perhaps.
If you looked at my hands, you might say they need a bit of work. I have been developing a vegetable garden to grow food for the table and stacking old red bricks and lugging soil around. But this, coupled with the drying Auckland weather and harsh sun, is why I adore handcreams so much.
My mother goes through handcreams like a Hummer through gasoline so I have been brought up with gorgeous, scented lotions and creams abounding. It’s also been one of the most popular gifts she gave her friends, and to any women once they were called ‘ladies.’
So what contemporary handcreams – and foot creams – are out on the market now? We take a look at what’s new…
.jpg)
Hands
Speaking of lovely gifts, this first one would make a gorgeous present and you give twice by buying it and giving it as it benefits a worthy cause. Trilogy Helping Hand Wash – a creamy, rose geranium and lavender scented handwash – gives all profits to ‘Child’s i Foundation’ helping end child abandonment in Uganda with projects to care for babies and vulnerable mothers and finding homes for children. It is $24.90 for a very large size pump bottle, and is available from selected Farmers, pharmacies and health stores, or see www.trilogyproducts.com.
Q Silica Repair Strengthening Hand & Nail Cream is my pick of the handcreams, with its thick consistency that soaks up into dry skin fast. It is made in Australia and infused with mineral silica for youthful skin, and jojoba and cocoa butter to moisturise. It retails for $19.90.
Sukin Hand & Nail Cream is an extremely good value paraben-free product. It contains soy protein for nails, and aloa vera and vitamin E for skin. It’s a lot lighter formula and could work as an all-over body lotion as well as a hand cream. It has lavender and citrus fragrances and also contains jojoba and cocoa butter, as Q Silica does, above. It costs just $12.20 from selected Farmers stores, pharmacies, and health stores or see www.sukinorganics.com.
Grown Hand Cream Nourishing Vanilla & Orange Peel is my favourite overall. It has the best packaging too, with its vintage text design and dark brown bottle enclosed in a matte grey cardboard box in gold foil lettering. It has seriously good credentials, made using bio active certified organic ingredients and free of Lauryl Sulphate, petrochemicals, parabens and silicones. I adore the mandarin scent and its formula of natural oils such as macadamia, grapeseed, jojoba, sweet orange, wheatgerm, and almond. It is $69.95 for 500 ml. See www.grown.com for stockists.
Natruel Nourishing Hand & Body Lotion with manuka honey was the lightest and most fluid of all I tried so I’d prefer to use it as a body lotion rather than a hand cream. The lotion ($24.50) is formulated from manuka honey with shea butter and olive oil, and is totally free of synthetic chemicals. It comes with a distinctive honey scent. See www.mossops.co.nz for stockists.
Not strictly a handcream per se, The Organic Skin Co. Calming Calendula Cream can be used on any irritated or dry skin needing its healing properties. Created by Megan Douglas alongside her premium River Veda line, The Organic Skin Co. has everyday products for a myriad of uses. I’ve long used calendula on irritated skin including on my babies, so I was rapt to find this mutli-tasking cream that you apply for any minor skin problem. It is $38 for a 50ml metal tube. See www.theorganicskincareco.com for stockists.
Feet
The ‘Footcare’ range from fabulous New Zealand skincare company, Linden Leaves, includes this tub of Foot Scrub and this spray, termed a ‘Foot Reviver’, it does just what it says on the tin. I soaked my work-weary feet in warm water and applied the grainy, apricot kernel foot scrub ($30.50), which smells and feels delicious! It also leaves feet feeling super smooth. The foot reviver ($20.50) was a bit like a toner; a refreshing spray that you spritz over tired feet. For stockists see www.nz.lindenleaves.com.
It has to be said, having words in German on your product makes it look quite serious and effective, as opposed to having French which makes it look romantic, or Italian which makes it look expensive! These next two products are both made in Germany and true to type, are both effective.
Weleda is a brand that is reasonably-priced yet free of synthetic fragrances, colours and preservatives. Their Weleda Foot Balm comes in the signature metal ‘paint tube’ that I also really like about Weleda products. This was my favourite foot cream for its consistency, overall feel, and beautiful fragrance. It is $21.90 available from health stores and pharmacies or see www.weleda.co.nz for stockists.
Gehwol Universal Foot Cream is the most ‘heavy-duty’ product; a very worthy-looking intensive foot cream for cracked, itchy, or callused feet that is made in Germany. It’s basically a daily prescription for troubled feet; you massage one to two cm of the cream into the feet including between the toes to deodorize and care for feet. Its primary ingredient is parafin (a mineral oil) and it contains botanicals lavender and thyme as well.
So there you have it. Hot foot it down to the shops and get some of these products to hand.
By Megan Robinson, 7 February 2012.
Leave a Reply