Whether you are male or female, if you have dry hands, the search for a good hand cream is paramount! My hands feel like sandpaper especially since the pandemic. The constant hand washing and use of sanitisers have stripped them bare of any form of oil even if they existed. I have suffered from ezcema since I was 17 years old but my hands were never affected although they have always been on the dry side. In the last two years though, I have experienced the worst form of ezcema on my hands. My fingers and palms blistered, itched, split open, healed and the cycle repeats. On some days they got so bad that I couldn’t do anything if I didn’t put gloves on. Honestly, I can’t remember a full week that I didn’t suffer some form of itch or pain on my hands in the past two years. Every single day was agony. I tried to stay off steroids as much as I could but even with my best, I was only able to last this long. For those of you who have experienced ezcema before, you know how unbearable this can be. So, to me, hunting for a good hand cream has become one of my ongoing goals. I have tried a couple of brands, which I will share with you below on the good and bad of each (will be updating this list as and when I try more).

I will also share some of the tips I have picked up in my journey of battling with this freakishly annoying skin condition. Hopefully my experience will be of some help to you. Please bear in mind that whatever works for me might not work for you. So, you will need to test it out for yourself, finding the best that works for you.

So, first things first. Some tips I realised about keeping hands moisturised which worked for me.

• Rotate hand creams
  • I realised that even with the best hand creams, they lose their effect if I stuck to one brand for too long. So, I keep a few different brands and use them on a rotation basis.
• Use suitable dish drops
  • My hands are ultra sensitive so using dish drops that are too harsh will cause immediate punishing results. My skin will feel dry, itchy and stretched.
• Use gloves whenever washing dishes
  • Doing so will protect your hands from being in contact with harsh chemicals.
  • You must make sure you wash and dry the insides of the gloves frequently if not bacteria will breed.
  • Find the correct type of gloves, certain material might cause your skin to itch.
• Put a thick layer of cream before sleeping nightly
  • If you only put a thin layer, your hands will dry out very quickly.
• Try applying rose water first before putting on your hand cream.
  • I feel that the rose water helps soften my hands and somehow it relieves the itch. Not sure if it is because of its anti-inflammatory properties. This is by far the best thing I have done. I can feel the deeper layers of my skin starting to heal.
• Try adding a drop of Frankincense essential oil to your hand cream before applying.
  • Somehow, ever since I started using both rose water and Frankincense essential oil, my skin stopped itching that much. When the itch subsided, I scratch lesser resulting in lesser wounds. My skin finally has a breather to allow healing to take place.
• Find a good, moisturising soap for your hands.
  • A harsh soap will strip your hands of its natural oils and make them dry so it is very important to find a good hand soap especially when you need to wash your hands more than once a day.
• Find the allergen(s) causing your flare-ups and try to avoid it as much as possible
  • For me, the dish soap and hand sanitisers are the main culprits for causing my hands to be dry and the ezcema flare-ups. I have completely stopped using hand sanitisers especially if they contain alcohol. If you must use hand sanitisers, make sure they are alcohol free because hell do they burn. If your hand gets red, dry and itchy after using alcohol based sanitisers, I strongly encourage you to stop before your skin gets damaged.
  • For the problem with the dish soap, I just used gloves each time to counter this.
• Trim your nails
  • If you have dry, itchy skin or even ezcema, I bet you are no stranger to scratching especially during flare ups. If your nails are long, even light scratching might tear your fragile skin. Damaged skin littered with wounds will make it more difficult to heal and you will only be damaging deeper and deeper layers of your skin. Keeping your nails short will reduce the chances of tearing your skin when you scratch (something you should not do).
• Do not scratch
  • I know you must be thinking how the hell not to scratch when your skin is so bloody itchy. Dry, ezcema prone skin is truly a nuisance when it itches practically 24/7. I used to think doctors who told me not to scratch know nuts about this condition. Until one day, I realised it is really possible not to scratch. Instead of scratching, ice it.
  • When your skin first starts itching, you will have this overbearing urge to scratch. If you give in to the urge and scratch, the part you scratched will heat up and the itch will increase to a point that you will scratch your skin raw. Therefore, the moment you feel an itch, grab an ice bag from the freezer and hold on to it. Make sure you are only lightly icing it. If you ice for too long, it will get even itchier when your skin starts to “thaw”. The perfect ones are the those you get for free when you buy cakes to help keep them cool. Save those in your freezer. They will come in handy one day.
  • I tried applying ice to it directly before, didn’t help, made it more itchy.

Aveeno Dermexa

Pros:

• Texture feels like petroleum jelly/Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream) but without the stickiness
• Very moisturising
• Relieves itch within seconds
• Slightly greasy but not sticky
• Softens hands instantly
• Even if you have wounds, this doesn’t sting.
• It contains ceramide which help to lock in moisture.
• Easy to rinse off. Slippery feel when you rinse it.
• Can be used on body as well (but you will feel hear your heart scream ”SO EXPENSIVE!!!” each time you use it on your body.)
• Fragrance free or at least I don’t smell anything

Cons:

• Rather expensive. This small tube costs SGD$20.90.
• Have to keep re-applying cause after awhile will dry out.
• Sometimes it stops the itch, sometimes it doesn’t. If my hands itch too badly, I will apply some rose water first before applying this. I’m not sure if I am supposed to mix them but they work for me so… yeah, gona keep doing that.

Worth Buying:

• I would definitely buy it again, in fact I have already bought another tube so that I can put in different places of the house, make them easily accessible.

Neutrogena Norwegian Formula

Pros:

• Non-greasy
• Quite moisturising
• Only a very small amount is needed each time to sufficiently moisturise both hands
• Fragrance free
• If you have wounds, this doesn’t sting.
• Affordable (SGD$8.35)

Cons:

• Does not stop the itch
• Loses its effect rather quickly, dry out quite quickly

Worth Buying:

• The texture of Neutrogena Norwegian Formula is very similar to Aveeno but I feel that it is not as moisturising for my hands. Although Aveeno is alot more expensive than Neutrogena, but it feels more effective for my cracked skin.
• Comparing both, I would go for Aveeno instead.

Palmer’s Cocoa Shea Butter Hand Cream

Pros:

• Very creamy and buttery, very moisturising
• Smells like chocolate
• Does not sting
• Slightly greasy only, not sticky
• Softens hands instantly
• Fast acting relief, if your hands hurt from the cracked skin, this cream will immediately soothe the pain by moisturising the skin.
• Soothes the pain from cracked skin but does not stop the itch
• Has vitamin E which helps skin to heal faster
• Very reasonable price (SGD$5.90)

Cons:

• Some people might not like the chocolate smell as it smells a little like chocolate that has been kept for too long.
• Cream is a little thick so it takes awhile to spread
• A little difficult to wash off

Worth Buying:

• Definitely worth buying.
• It is one of the best hand creams I have tried.

Basic Paralin (White Soft Paraffin BP)

Pros:

• Retains moisture
• Soften hands instantly
• Does not sting
• Fragrance free
• Wounds usually close up by next morning after applying cream overnight

Cons:

• Very thick and sticky
• Have to apply a very thick layer if not it is not effective as it dries out pretty fast
• Supposed to be fragrance free but can still smell petroleum smell

Worth Buying:

• If your skin is in a very bad shape with split wounds, scaly and chapped, then this is worth buying. If it is only slightly dry then perhaps the others I mentioned above should work just fine.