The Vine: December 4, 2024
Dear Sars,
Welcome back! Dear cracking dry hands season, not so much. I’m here to ask you/the readers about a product I could swear I saw mentioned on the Vine ages ago, but I can’t find it…and in my mind I keep thinking it’s called “Wegovy” but obviously that’s not it.
Do you have any clue what I’m talking about? Did I hallucinate that letter? Either way, can you guys recommend some hand cream/balms that are NOT Bag Balm because I hate the smell of that stuff. Thanks!
Ant
Dear Ant,
Okay, first of all, that’s hilarious because I do the same thing with the brand of cat food the foster cats like best — which is Weruva, but I cannot remember it ever and always call it “Wegovy” to myself.
So, second of all, I think you’re thinking of Weleda Skin Food, which really gets the job done; the original does have a smell, which I like, but I don’t think it’s similar to Bag Balm’s, and Weleda has an extensive product line including unscenteds — maybe the readers have some experience with them. Weleda is also a bit greasy (duh, that’s why it works) but I have a whole procedure with hand cream where I apply it to the backs of my hands only, leaving me free to type.
To truly nuke the cracking without any bothersome scent, I would recommend Aquaphor and the old “wearing gloves to bed” trick, I know everyone grumbles about it but frosting your hands with one of these products and putting old socks on your hands for 6-8 hours will 100 get the job done.
Readers, any additional thoughts here? Gentler hand soaps? Bespoke products?
(Third of all, btw: maybe this is the letter you were thinking of — specifically lip-balm answers, but you might find some ideas there too!)
(Send YOUR questions to bunting at tomatonation dot com! Answers go in the comments, which are moderated, so be cool. xo Bunts)
Tags: Ask The Readers health and beauty
One tip I read years ago is to pat your hands dry after you wash them, rather than rubbing them on the towel.
We swear by Working Hands from O’Keefe’s. It’s the ONLY product out of like 10 we tried to keep my son’s hands from cracking during Covid. He was 6 and people kept telling him to wash his hands, and he did, until they were bleeding. Anyway he’s over that now (being a 10 year old boy) but we still return to the tubs of Working Hands every December.
I second the “product of choice plus cotton gloves at night” routine. Or if it’s just a single problem area cracking – say, tip of the thumb- I’ve had decent success with a bit of product covered with one of those tough-strip bandaids for a few days.
For daytime, I swear by repeated applications of Gold Bond Ultimate Healing with Aloe.
Don’t ask how I came by this info, but Gold Bond is apparently the top choice for cops who have parade/outdoor traffic duty.
Cerave’s Reparative Hand Cream, applied at night before you go to bed. Rub it in. If you put it on before bed then it (ostensibly) has 8 hours to do its thing, rather than the normal daytime 45 minutes between putting it on and post-pandemic hand washing because of anything and everything.
My single biggest tip for my fellow crackly-dry-bleedy hands is annoyingly preventive rather than curative, but it took me four decades to figure it out, so in case it helps anyone:
It’s less about cold, wind, and aridity (all of which do suck) than it is about the SHOCK of those things. What your hands are responding to is the dramatic change from indoor climate control to outdoor lack thereof, or (if you live in a stupid place with stupid climate, like I do) radical overnight shifts between OUTDOOR hot/cold, humid/arid, and calm/windy.
We know what these big swings do to our roads, to the tuning of instruments, to the air pressure in our tires. They do the same thing to us.
Become fanatical about putting on your gloves before stepping outside in the winter, even if it’s just for a few minutes to collect the mail or take a pet out to relieve herself. Keep your hands blissfully ignorant of the season until the season is safely over.
I’m told mittens are even better, but I lack the dexterity and patience for such.
(Anyway, Sars? So good to see this!)