My hands. Sometimes good for jazz and flashy haptic flashes. But often not good at bending. My fingers crack and bleed. Skin struggles to stay connected.

As an eczema sufferer for over 10 years, I’ve tried almost every hand cream available from cheap supermarket own brand lotions to high-end luxury hand balms. I’m frequently asked for advice when it comes to hand care simply because everyone knows I’m never without a tube of hand cream on me! So here are my favourite hand creams and I’ve explained my hand care routine that I’ve created over the last few years to help treat my severely dry, inflamed and irritated skin.

Atrixo Enriched Moisturising Cream £2.05 If your hands sometimes feel slightly dry, apply this cream liberally at night. Problem solved.
Aveeno Hand Cream £5.45 I absolutely love this hand cream. Made with colloidal oatmeal, it has a very comforting consistency and pleasantly ‘oily’ which your dry skin will really appreciate. A very good price for the amazing results. I’m wearing it right now as I type!
Kiehl’s Ultimate Strength Hand Salve £14 If you’re convinced your hands are beyond help then introduce them to this thick magic cream by Kiehl’s and within a few days (or sooner depending on severity of dryness) they’ll be like new. It’s very good for anyone who regularly washes their hands or uses hand sanitiser. A real hand cream hero!

The Routine
If your hands are peeling, cracked or bleeding on your knuckles or up the sides of your fingers, use a good basic moisturising cream like Boots Derma Care all over your hands and with a clean tissue dab off the cream from the areas that are bleeding and apply a very thin layer of Sudocrem to the chapped skin. If you can still feel rough patches of skin persisting on your hands, add some Vaseline before carefully putting on cotton gloves over the top of the creams. Do this routine as often as you can.

Boots Derma Care Daily Moisturising Cream £3.89 I keep this next to the sink and apply throughout the day (you can also get a small tube for just £1.69)
Sudocrem Antiseptic Healing Cream £2.99
Vaseline Petroleum Jelly Original £2.18
Boots Pharmaceuticals Cotton Gloves £2.59

Washing
E45 Dermatological Emollient Wash Cream £4.29 Get in the habit of washing your hands with this emollient wash cream. It relieves itchy red skin and you can even use it on your face and body.
Johnson’s Baby Oil £2.60 After you’ve washed your hands pour a small amount of baby oil the size of a 10p piece and massage into your skin.

If symptoms persist you must see your GP.

I have used Kiehl’s hand cream for ages and Kiehl’s kindly sent me the hand cream you see above (as I had run out of mine and it was not in a state to be photographed and recognised!) for this blog post.