little white truths

I received this product from Beautyheaven along with one of my Beautorium hauls. I didn't order it, but it was included as a nice little freebie along with the eye cream I grabbed in exchange for some points. 

To start with I put it away because my hands weren't particularly dry at the time and I had no need for it - but sure enough, after having my little boy they suddenly became just as dry as they did immediately after my first child. All that hand-washing and sanitiser application that comes along with having a newborn definitely takes its toll.

Enter this product.

Dermal Therapy claims/product details:

• For very dry skin 
• Contains 10% urea in a rich moisturising base to care for very dry hands
• This nourishing formulation has been developed in conjunction with dermatologists to soothe itchy, irritated skin while protecting your hands from the damaging agents that can cause excessive moisture loss
• The formula has been fortified with vitamin e to replenish your skin from the first application
• Unlike other moisturisers, it is richly formulated so a little goes a long way!
• Use on dry, scaly and itchy hands to leave skin soft and protected
• Great for hands affected by cold weather and harsh detergents, or those who suffer from dry hands as a side-effect from medications
• Suitable for moisturising patches of dry skin including eczema and psoriasis
• Enriched with vitamin e to condition the skin from free radical damage
• Also suitable to use in conjunction with sunscreen with any SPF
• Can be used on other areas of the body such as arms, legs, elbows and back
• RRP $4.99 AUD for 50g

Verdict

It's nice to come across products that do what they say they will do without fuss or fanfare. This mightn't be the fanciest thing I've ever used and there's nothing special about it - it doesn't look good, it doesn't smell divine and it doesn't feel particularly luxurious on the skin - but it does help keep my dry hands feeling comfortable and that's all I need.

It's a white cream with a slight scent (I smell lanolin and something else I can't place) that's not overpowering or offensive. It's reasonably thick but not terribly so, and it absorbs into the skin easily and doesn't leave a slick residue.

Before opening this cream, my hands were feeling dry all the time. They didn't look dry or scaly, but they just didn't feel good and no amount of hand cream could fix them. I do have a hydrating hand cream I was previously using at night, but it just wasn't cutting the mustard.

Enter this product. Just one nightly application is enough to change how my hands feel throughout the day. I still use a different hand cream during the day after washing my hands, and pairing this with that one has made my hands happier overall. 

I could certainly use this during the day because it doesn't leave my hands feeling greasy, but if I only need to use this overnight, then I'd rather do that and opt for something that looks and feels more special for the rest of the time. Because lord knows I need a bit of special in my life, given how sleep-deprived and frazzled I am, now that I'm in the early throes of caring for two children.

As for claims, I can't comment on whether this helps with things like eczema and psoriasis because I don't have those, but I can say that this has succeeded where other hand creams have failed. And it succeeded from the first use. I did stop using it for a few days while I was testing another product, and straight away my hands suffered and started to feel dry again. Now that I've re-introduced it, they're back to feeling ok.

One thing to note is that the directions aren't lying when they tell you to only use a small amount. Once I accidentally applied it twice, and my hands felt overloaded with product and greasy after use - plus the second dose just didn't want to absorb. So go easy on the application!

In sum, this is a great little product that does what it says it will do and it only costs a fiver.

Can't beat that.