little white truths

Every year I find myself buying more of a particular type of beauty product. Last year it was cleansers and this year it appears to be hand creams, and I've spent a lot of time this year scouring the clearance section at my local Priceline so I can find new things to try very cheaply.

This was one of those products, and I bought it not long ago for a couple of dollars. Although that sounds great in theory, in practice it's not the right hand cream for me because it manages to leave a waxy coating on my skin (so it's not great for day-use) while also not penetrating and nourishing my hands properly so I can't use it overnight. Hoh well. At least I didn't pay much for it.

• A hand cream for very dry, chapped hands
• Concentrated formula repairs and instantly relieves dryness 
• Gives hands long-lasting protection 
• Contains dexpanthenol and Hydra IQ to support the skin’s own moisture supply, keeping hands intensively moisturised - even after frequent washing
• RRP $5.50 for 50ml, but do shop around

Verdict

This product doesn't work for me and I do have dry, chapped hands (I'm still nursing them through winter's chilblains) so it's designed for my issue but in my experience it doesn't hit the mark.

It's a thick, white cream that does feel rather balm-like and waxy in texture, and it has that familiar Nivea scent (it smells like lightly fragranced cream).

I first tried this product for day use and I worked out very quickly that I couldn't use it during the day because it leaves a super waxy, greasy and slippery coating on my skin that I need to remove from my palms if I want to do anything. Eg, I certainly can't type with this on.

After that I shifted to using it at night, but what I found is that it was covering my hands with a film but still leaving them feeling dry underneath. Indeed, I'm not sure how much of this product actually absorbs into my skin: as far as I can tell, what it's mostly doing is coating my skin and little else.

What I've had to do is start using this as a foot treatment after my shower at night, although to be honest it's not great for that either and my feet are on the dry side ever since I introduced it. All this does is confirm that it's not sinking in and delivering moisture like I need it to.

Overall I don't like this product and I can't recommend it. It doesn't nourish my dry hands and it leaves a waxy coating over them that's annoying and impractical. Foo. I mostly like Nivea's body and hand products, but unfortunately this one doesn't hit the mark for me.

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