How do you keep your hands from drying out in this cold weather?

[dairymoo]

Not strictly S&B but...I have 2yo DTs with conjunctivitus and snotty colds and so I am forever having to wash their hands and mine. Is it really a case of just putting hand cream (I use L'Occitane stuff) on every time I wash my hands? Surely there is a miracle cure.....please?! My hands are so dry they are actually uncomfortable.

I use Nutrogena Norwegian Formula (concentrated) and only need to do it maybe twice a day. After about a week, you should see a difference.

what nicky said. I have a tube that's lasted me forever, I find I only need to use it once a day and I'm sorted.

neutrogena handcream, always wear gloves when out, handcream at bedtime too

With the Norwegian stuff (think I might have a tube lurking somewhere...) do you have to wait a while before hand washing? Think that's my problem. I wash, use cream, and then before the cream has even had a chance to soak in, I'm washing again, and then maybe forgetting the cream next time....

every time i wash my hands i apply cream, been using the neutrogena stuff, like the l'occtane but its expensive. Do you wear gloves when washing up and cleaning? Buy a couple of tubes and keep one near the computer, by the sinks, in your bag, by the bed.

dairy, I just bung it on in the morning and again at night.Even 10 minutes seems to help after a few days. You could put it on when you go to bed too, give it a chance to soak in?

I like Atrixo for cheapo and Clarins for best.
Also got Nivea with Q10- it's a tube- that seems quite good but is a bit runny.

Get a pot of Epaderm cream from the chemist, about 6 quid. You can get a huge pot of it on prescription for psoriasis, excema, dry skin etc.
DS gets it on prescription for his dry skin, and I use it on my hands when they get sore (due to washing, cold weather etc).
It's like lard but it does the trick.

i have really rough cracked hands and have a bliss intensive one which is my fave at the min, i got mine off ebay as i dont know where else sells it here, but also use a virgin vie happy hands cream and thats nice too.
i am just using the last of a philosophy pink lemonade cream which is really good, but the smell is abit sickly so wont be buying again.

I bought a soap and handcreme duo set from boots - soap and glory - and the handcreme is really brilliant stuff.

sometimes my knuckles crack they're so bad, so I slather on loads of shea butter and then put cotton gloves on overnight.

Thanks all, I think I just need to remember to moisturise at every opportunity and keep slathering on the cream.

I use a huge pot of aqueous cream from chemist at £2.50, lasts ages.

you can get those cotton gloves at night which you put on over the cream which helps.

I like the body shop Almond cream, but like you seem to be putting it on all the time and still have hands so dry that they crack.

I'll be trying some of the other reciommended ones

Get something like Oilatum bath stuff for actually washing your hands with, rather than using soap or similar. Then use cream too. I totally sympathise. Mine are cracked and some of the cracks have ingrained grime, or scabs from where they bled. It's hideous.

The only thing that ever worked for me, for my super dry skin, sensitive cuticles and to strengthen my nails was Virgin Vie Happy Hands, its like 3 products in one, and would last me forever! I'm distraught that they say they are going to discontinue it by Feb 2010!

I don't know what on eart to do now have been using Happy Hands for the last 5 years!

The only thing that worked for me is the Body Shop's Hemp Cream. It seems to go in really well and very quickly.

I found with my twins that the winter really knackers my hands too - all that nappy changing and then helping them wipe after the loo now they're potty trained!My hands seemed to be under the tap 5 minutes after I'd last washed them so nothing else seemed to sink in quickly enough!

Norwegian formula (the concentrated one) and cotton gloves at night. Aveda hand relief during the day as much less sticky and smells lovely.