Whenever people ask if I have sensitive skin, it always gives me pause. Do I say yes if my facial skin can tolerate quite a lot but the skin on some other parts of my body can’t?
You see, I don’t have sensitive skin anywhere else on my body except for my hands. Its something I noticed and paid attention to in the last few years and I’ve traced my “allergy/sensitivity” to:-
- harsh detergents – no washing up for me without gloves
- certain chemicals – yet unknown which but usually in body washes, shampoos or face cleansing gels
- certain organic products – depending on concentration of ingredients
- prolonged contact with paper – work hazard
What happens in my case is nothing very serious from a health standpoint. However, its terribly serious from a aesthetics and comfort standpoint.
For me, if I come into contact with any of the above, within 2 days max (except for paper), the skin on my hands start to harden, dry out and peel. And its serious chronic continuous peeling. As long as I’m exposed to the item, it will continue. its so bad my hands look like that of a burn victim. And it does not recover as quickly even after I stop contact with the offending product.
I recently had a very bad bout – I have not yet been able to trace it to the particular product – where I had one of the worst ever reactions. I really should have taken a picture but I was spending too much time trying to cure it so all you have is a picture of my finger as shown above. Multiply that by 5 and include the palm and you get the general idea. Better this way. I don’t spoil your breakfast/lunch 😉
Using hand creams don’t help in my case. They alleviate the discomfort for a short while but then it comes back. That leads me to believe that many hand creams out there only work on the surface. They do not help “cure” a dry skin problem, no matter what they claim. Didn’t stop me however, and I did find a combination that helped me cure my problem! I’ve shared below some of those I tried and what eventually helped me.
Here are the creams/lotions I tried that did not work for me (product names link to my reviews where applicable):-
- Lucas PaPaw Ointment – I usually use it as a lip treatment, but I read it can also be used on dry skin. For 4 nights straight, I’d slather a thick layer of Lucas Papaw Ointment on my hands. In the morning, my hands would feel softer but it would be only for about an hour before the skin hardens and dries out again.
- Crabtree & Evelyn Gardener’s Hand Therapy – Wonderful hand cream provided your hands are “normal”. For me, it helped alleviate tight dry skin for short periods of time but did not cure the problem. I had to keep reapplying.
- Derma Health’s Skinlabs Vitamin E Cream – Applied a thick layer at night and it helped soften the dry hard skin. The effects lasted much longer than Lucas Papaw Ointment, lasting up till about lunch time next day before I had to reapply.
- Kiehl’s Light Weight Creme de Corp lotion – same effect with Derma Health’s SkinLabs. Offered temporary relief only.
- Pai Organic Hand Cream – it helped soften the dry skin and the relief was for longer. I only had to apply it once a day, but it did not cure the problem, just made it feel better. I still had the dry peely skin, just more comfortable.
So you’d think that with all this, I’d despair? Heavens no! It just made me more resolute 😛 And I did eventually find the products that helped relieve my skin and heal. Hallelujah!
The 2 dry skin saving products I found were:-
- Eucerin PH5 Protection Wash Lotion – I had a bottle of this in my storeroom which I’d forgotten about. Its a hazard of trying new stuff. The oldies and goodies get forgotten. I came across it while I was cleaning one day, and put it to use. It is nice and gentle on my skin and does not dry my skin out further which is a huge relief. I find the scent a little strong and powdery but I’ll live.
- Esmeria Intensive cream – This! This is the cream that saved my skin. I only had a little bit left in my tube so one night, after picking away at the dry skin and hating it, I remembered this cream that resides in my travel pouch. Picked it up and slathered it on. The next morning, my hands had lost that papery feel, and felt like proper skin again. Importantly, the effects did not wear off. My skin stopped drying out throughout the day and start to heal! I don’t have a photo of my hands when it started to heal. It was mainly because I was holding my breath every day, checking to see if it was a temporary measure. Happily, it was not, and I had the skin on my hands back to normal in about a week. The bummer of course is that this cream is being or is discontinued. Wha??!!! I’m going to have to stock up at least 1 more tube if I can find it. This tube is nearly finished, and I need to make sure I have my “cure” on hand for those times when I play around with products that irritate my hands.
Oh and here’s an ironic thing. When I told you that the Esmeria Organics shampoo made my hands dry and peely, it was also the Esmeria Intensive Cream that helped me once again. I swear, I have to make sure I have one on standby! I’m not sure if the new Esmeria Organics Body Lotion will be as miraculous but I’ll try it if I don’t have an option.
Do you have a similar problem to mine? Or perhaps you have a problem with dry skin on your body in general? How did you eventually cure your dry skin problems? It would be helpful to know 😀
Paris B
Kaz says
April 26, 2011 at 8:43 amI have the exact problem! I’m allergic or sensitive to the exact same things, but I don’t know about organic products yet. I haven’t tried the list of hand creams that you have tried but should start trying some of them to see if they work on me. I find that hand creams sometimes make my hands worse. For example, I’ll put it on before going to bed and it becomes itchy in the middle of the night, causing more peeling the next day. I only started having this problem a few years back when I probably had a period of overexposure to strong detergents.
ParisB says
April 26, 2011 at 2:42 pmGosh maybe there’s something in the hand creams that bug your skin too. Its most interesting to know others react to the same things I do because I always thought I was alone in this – I’m glad I’m not but I do hope you find a remedy 🙂
Rueblade says
April 26, 2011 at 8:56 amI have the exactly same problems with my hands! I have a lot of trouble with identifying the offending products and to boot it’s worsened at work because i have to wear gloves all day and use handwash 10 times a day or so. As yet i have not found a hand cream that works for me, I tend to use L’occitane’s shea butter hand cream for short term relief.
They don’t sell eucerin sensitive skin wash where i live but i may have to see if i can track it down online.
ParisB says
April 26, 2011 at 2:45 pmI still can’t track down the problematic ingredients myself, which always makes trying products a bit of a russian roulette. I work with a lot of paper so that’s unavoidable although I do find that the older the paper is, the more likely I’ll have a problem. I find that most hand creams only offer short term relief which is a right pain. I hope you find a cure for your problem too!
domncroxd says
April 26, 2011 at 9:07 amthanks for the review! i have dry skin too – the snakeskin-like marks on my legs :(. pure vaseline helped for a while but i’ve just been too lazy to slather on moisturizer. anyone know how to get rid of snakeskin permanently? 🙂
ParisB says
April 26, 2011 at 2:47 pmI only get the snakeskin effect in cold climates when my legs are all covered up and its cold and dry and I don’t moisturize. The best way to get rid of it, for me, is to exfoliate and then apply a moisturizing cream or body oil. I have been using body oils for a while and I much prefer that to lotions or creams 🙂
Cynthia says
April 26, 2011 at 9:32 amI have a same problem with you too. But basically my skin is very sensitive, even if mosquitoes bite it can swollen as if it’s bee stung. Haha XD So, doctor usually prescribe me to use heavy lotion such as Nivea cream. Because he said whenever my skin are dry, I’ll tends to scratch. =p *bad habit though*
ParisB says
April 26, 2011 at 2:48 pmOuch! Yours sounds worse than mine – at least mine reacts only when I come into contact with offensive substances 🙂 And yes, dry skin does tend to be itchy and in my case, I’d peel at the flaky skin which is of course a no-no!
Applegal says
April 26, 2011 at 9:51 amI use Eucerin lotion (packaging looks like your Eucerin Wash Lotion) for hands, elbows and feet before going to bed (feels too heavy for normal use), and I wake up with softer skin. Maybe you can try that?
ParisB says
April 26, 2011 at 2:49 pmI think I’ve seen Eucerin lotions around. I haven’t tried them but the next time I run into problems with my hands and have no more access to Esmeria, I will give it a go. Thanks for the suggestion!
Lee says
April 26, 2011 at 10:16 amI remember when my condition was so bad tht the GP had to prescribe me sth stronger than E45, which mainly work in a way tht it creates a protective layer for the upper epidermic layer to prevent moisture lost. And yes, I had to go to shower/bath with that…it was that aweful 🙁
I remember I told you about combining body oil & body creme/lotion? It works for the body, not so much for the hands…have you tried wearing foot/hand gloves with intensive moisturising creme to go to bed? 😀
ParisB says
April 26, 2011 at 2:50 pmGosh! That does sound awful! Glad its recovered by now. As for my hands, I did contemplate the glove thing but I had to go out and look for cotton gloves (and didn’t know where to find them) and by the time I was ready to go and look, my hands were cured 🙂
rinnah says
April 26, 2011 at 10:16 amSigh… anyone have a remedy/cure for dry skin on the face? Cos that’s what I’m having right now. 🙁
ParisB says
April 26, 2011 at 2:51 pmSo sorry to hear that. Hope someone can help you!
Alexandra says
April 26, 2011 at 10:30 amOh dear Paris, the peeling looks pretty bad. As shared before, I had the same problem with you too, but peeling is around my cuticles area. What I did to soothe or give it a quick heal is 1st apply a thin layer of Savlon Antiseptic Cream( unfortunately, cream is not avail in M’sia anymore ). After 2 days, I will use topical Vit E oil( I use Garden of Eden ) or u can use Rosehip oil for your whole hand. It really hydrates my very dry hands. I personally feel oil works better than creams as it doesn’t give you the ‘tight’ after effect feeling that most cream does. Some creams may have alcohol contents or other contents that may further irritate the affected area, so be vary of those.
ParisB says
April 26, 2011 at 2:52 pmYup it does look awful especially when its all over the hands 😛 Thanks for your tips for helping with dry skin on the hands. I use oils for my body now instead of creams or lotions and I much prefer them these days.
giddy tigress says
April 26, 2011 at 10:30 amDiscontinued??!! 🙁
I’m trying a host of creams/lotions…like you, the symptoms keep coming back just as I think they are going away. Still hoping…I also use the very cheap and affordable Vaseline but it can get quite oily.
ParisB says
April 26, 2011 at 2:53 pmVaseline offers me temporary relief as with everything else, but does not cure the problem. You can try and see if the Esmeria Organics body lotion will work the same way as this Intensive Cream does. The lotion is light, but moisturizing and its worth giving it a shot! 🙂
Amy says
April 26, 2011 at 10:51 ami kinda had the same skin prob when i first came to Australia and it lasted for 1 month. Try QV INTENSIVE BODY MOISTURISER or QV CREAM. I’ve tried so many products until I found this. Good luck!
ParisB says
April 26, 2011 at 2:54 pmI think I’ve seen QV here 🙂 And they have a body wash too. Perhaps it will be an alternative to Eucerin for those who can’t get Eucerin 🙂
Issa says
April 26, 2011 at 12:09 pmi haven’t found the cure too… i have dry hands and the lotions i’ve tried works for a short period of time too….i just reapply… 🙁
ParisB says
April 26, 2011 at 2:55 pmSo sorry to hear that Issa.I wish you had Esmeria there too but they haven’t started exporting it yet. I’m not sure if you have Eucerin or QV where you are? Other readers have found it helps them.
Issa says
April 27, 2011 at 1:26 pmi only got eucerin from my relatives abroad but i haven’t seen them here…. still on the quest to find the cure…..
uruz says
April 26, 2011 at 1:05 pmThe skin around parts of my abdomen used get really dry, red and itchy. I used the Vaseline body cream to help relieve my condition but it was not very helpful. After almost a year I decided to change shower gel and within a few days my skin was all ok. The miracle worker for me was Johnsons Baby Bath,
ParisB says
April 26, 2011 at 2:57 pmGood to know the new shower gel works for you! And its something inexpensive and easily found too! 🙂
YH says
April 26, 2011 at 1:30 pmMy husband suffers from the same problem! I will definitely hit the pharmacy later and get this for him to try….we’ve tried so many creams – Rosken, Crabtree, J&J, even Eucerin. They didn’t work. But I will definitely get this for him. Thanks!
ParisB says
April 26, 2011 at 2:58 pmEsmeria? Its really hard to find this one but you can try the Esmeria Organics body lotion although I don’t know if its as good. So sorry to hear that your husband has the same issues 😛
Hanny says
April 26, 2011 at 2:02 pmI used to use Vaseline’s lotions, and now I’m using a wheatgerm one a derm prescribed. I found that EPO works to some extent ^.^
ParisB says
April 26, 2011 at 2:59 pmDo you mean to take EPO as a supplement or to apply creams with EPO? I do take EPO as a supplement off and on, but as mine is a contact problem and not an inherent body sensitivity, I didn’t think of ingesting anything to cure it 🙂
Hanny says
April 26, 2011 at 3:16 pmTo ingest, sorry. ^.^ Another one would be Flaxseed oil ^.^
Monstro says
April 26, 2011 at 2:17 pmOMG, this is totally right up my alley. Remember my nasty allergic fingers? I can’t seem to get rid of the problem. My dermatologist got me to use Balneum Intensive for dry and very dry skin. It’s pretty good, but it’s no cure for my serious condition. My condition requires me to abstain from getting my hands wet completely. Like that’s even possible. I need to check out this Esmeria cream. I noticed a lot of us who like to try different products have similar hand problems. Perhaps exposure to all the different chemicals are actually taking a toll on our poor skin!
ParisB says
April 26, 2011 at 3:02 pmGosh! How can we stop our hands from getting wet! So sorry your problem persists 🙁 As I’ve said I’m not sure if this Esmeria cream is available anymore or if they have reformulated it in their Organic range. I actually thought my problem lay with SLS but I realised also that products labelled organic and natural also caused problems for me, so I’m thinking it might be the coconut derivative but I can’t say for sure. Not sure also if its because of playing around with different products but I don’t think so (and I hope its not!) 😉
Ana says
April 26, 2011 at 3:06 pmThanks for sharing your experience, I’m definitely going to try the Esmeria cream 🙂
ParisB says
April 26, 2011 at 5:26 pmYou’re welcome! I’m going to be trying out the new Esmeria Organics body lotion to see if its a good enough substitute for this Intensive Cream 🙂
j3nny9irL says
April 26, 2011 at 3:42 pmHi Paris. Hmmm normally if there are any parts like my hands or knees or my feet usually that has dryness I do a very quick remedy. I will find a very moisturising cream or butter I will just slab a thick later on it and let say if it’s that particular part I will just put a gauze over it and plaster it overnight. It keeps it super moist and just days after that it’s back to new 🙂 Hope this helps. This might sound weird but I normally use ‘burnol’. It’s very good for cuts or burns and even insect bites. This is actually my favourite from the medicine cabinet. I even use it for pimples! hahaha 😛 Do try it 🙂
ParisB says
April 26, 2011 at 5:25 pmThanks for the tip! 😀 And you use burnol on your dry points? I never thought about that because i just use it as a general antiseptic cream 😀 I actually prefer the old yellow one that stains everything haha!
j3nny9irL says
April 27, 2011 at 2:55 pmYup coz it really helps to retain the moisture. It helps on rash too. My dad’s side, aunt’s used to use them for nappy rash! haha Yes Paris! I prefer the old yellow one with the pungent smell too haha 😛
ParisB says
April 28, 2011 at 10:38 amOh yay for both of us strange people who prefer the burnol that stains LOL
YH says
April 26, 2011 at 5:10 pmHi Paris, I thought I should share this link with you and the rest of your readers. http://www.facebook.com/esmeriaorganics?sk=app_4949752878
It lists all the Esmeria stockists in Malaysia.
ParisB says
April 26, 2011 at 5:24 pmThanks YH That was very thoughtful! However, do note that the cream I showed you above may no longer be on the shelves as I’m told its being replaced by an organic version later 🙂
s says
April 26, 2011 at 9:03 pmHello Paris,
I have had the same problem when I was younger and a family friend suggested Double Base! I used their Emollient Wash Gel and the Hydrating Gel and voila! No more scratchy, peeling hands! =) xx
ParisB says
April 28, 2011 at 10:28 amThanks S, I haven’t come across this product yet but I’ll bear it in mind 😉
Connie De Alwis says
April 26, 2011 at 10:28 pmWhich is why we need to keep an eye out for an Esmeria warehouse sale so that we can stock up on the body cream! The new body lotion is great but I don’t know if it’d help to heal cracked and peeling skin. I miss the the Ylang Ylang scent though
ParisB says
April 28, 2011 at 10:30 amYup! Only problem is, do they ever have such sales?!