Cath Kidston Hand Cream: Hands Down My Favourite! September 11, 2010

I have been blessed with extremely dry hands, and as a consequence, I have tried a fair few hand creams. I favour hand creams that are thick, have a nice fragrence, are absorbed quickly and  keep my lámha (irish for hands) moisturised. It’s hard to get a hand cream that ticks all of my boxes.

One that does though is Cath Kidston’s hand cream. Not a brand that you would typically go for your skin care needs, I’ll admit, but when I was in the Kildare Outlet village, I spotted this little pot of loveliness. I was drawn in by the kitchy packaging, the rose fragrance (I’m a sucker for anything that smells like roses ), and of course it was reduced from 8 to 5 euro.

This is a really great hand cream, that doesn’t irritate the eczema on my hands, and  keeps them hydrated for hours. The rose fragrance isn’t one of those artificial rose scents, it truly smells like a bunch of freshly cut roses from the garden (or the shop ).

While I use cheaper alternatives to tide me over until I pick up my next tin, I always go back to this, particularly once the cold weather strikes. At 80ml’s per tin, I think that this is pretty good value. The hand cream is a pale pink in colour-a nice change from white hand creams me thinks!

Wham, Balm, No Thanks Mam! July 22, 2010

Given that I have such sensitive skin and am riddled with dry skin problems (both eczema and psoriasis), I find it a nightmare to find products that work for me. So many products claim to be suitable for sensitive skin, or effective for people with eczema and psoriasis, but that usually isn’t the case. I will use anything on my skin that works-but I must say that I have a preference for natural products that contain little or no chemicals that could further irritate my skin.

With that said, I decided to give Balm Balm’s Face Balm a try, as it has gotten such good reviews online. Balm Balm is a 100% natural and organic product produced in the UK, and is certified my the soil association.
I purchased a 30ml tube from the Balm Balm website, to give it a try. Though Balm Balm is available in fragrance free, rose geranium and tea tree, I went for the rose geranium as I love anything that smells of roses

Here’s the blurb from the website:

“Made from shea butter, sunflower, beeswax, jojoba, calendula rose geranium essential oil, gently melted together to create a soft balm formulation to soothe, moisturise and nourish your face & neck or anywhere else that might need caring for”

And here are the pro’s and con’s: