Forget about the leaves falling, the crispness of the air and pumpkin and cinnamon flavoured everything. A sure way to work out if its nearly autumn or not, is in the gradual arrival of dry areas.
Lips, knees, elbows and hands, all succumb to autumnal dryness. I’m not sure if it’s all the staying at home or hand-washing, but I’ve been plagued by all of these new patches of dryness.
The wonderful upside is that some of my all-time favourite products are lip balms, hand creams and multi-purpose balms. Ever since my mum taught me when I was younger to use hand cream after every single hand wash and before bed, I’ve been hooked.
The same goes for lips, I always have at least three lip balms on my person at all times and I’m rotating between a few do-it-all salves. It can be tricky going in blind when it comes to buying these products, so seeing as I’m in a season of dryness, I thought I’d try them out and share my thoughts.
So, keep scrolling to start building your toolkit to combat autumn dryness.
This isn’t your typical hand cream, it has a balm, gel-like texture, that almost feels like a primer. I’m quite used to double-cream style hand creams so this came as a bit of a surprise. It melts into hands so easily and almost feels like there’s no product on them. It’s a perfect option, if you hate excess product or greasy palms. I could quite easily run my hands over a silk dress and not freak out, after using this. The best bit? It kept my hands feeling nourished and protected for hours and hours. Not sure how it does it, to be honest.
I really didn’t even care if this hand cream worked, as the grounding herbaceous scent was enough to capture my attention. I found myself skipping my usual essential oil rollerball, as a deep inhale of this was enough to keep both my soul and palms happy. This left my hands feeling baby soft without feeling like they were drenched in product. A must for fragrance fans.
This is the definition of a special occasion hand cream…you know the ones. The ones that are thrilling to take out of your purse when you’re in good company and for pre-2020 handshakes. The packaging is excellent and feels delightful to hold. It’s also very hygienic as once I took the lid of, I only had to squeeze the egg and the product releases from a sealed hole. So there’s no air or dust getting into the formula. The hand feel? Rich and silky without weighing down my palms. The equivalent of a luxurious moisturiser but for your hands.
A zingy lemon posset-esque cream that had a bit more of a runny formula. It took a little longer to warm up and sink into my hands, but it was well worth the extra hand rubbing as my hands were left feeling soft and moisturised. So much so, that it reminded me of that post-manicure and hand massage feeling.
After a gruelling day of receiving deliveries, which means intense hand-washing after each one, my hands were sore, flaky and just sad looking. Enter this hand cream with the addition of TFC8, which is full of amino acids and vitamins to repair and renew skin. My hands felt more plump, less annoyed and well looked after. I’ve never felt like I’ve been in such good hands (see what I did there?).
This just feels like a serious hand cream, and wrapped my hands up in a layer of protection that had plenty of longevity. More than most of the others, I really felt the difference that this cream had on my nails. They felt stronger and less prone to breakage, which is pretty unusual for a hand cream. Consider me, impressed.
I’m convinced that there’s been a big mistake with the price of this hand cream. The ceramide-rich formula was so nourishing for my desperately dry hands, that were flaking from so much hand washing and harsh washes. Even though it’s a very hydrating cream there’s no annoying residue.
This rose-infused cream is an olfactory feast, but scent aside, it’s lightweight and actually reminds me of the texture of most hyaluronic acid textures. This hand cream does indeed include this ingredient, and I never thought I’d say the texture of my hands were bouncy, but here we are. A delight.
This has been my go-to hand cream for years now, and its seen me through 10 hour flights, long winters and a global pandemic; so yeah, it clearly works. The formula means business and there’s no amount of dryness that this cream can’t navigate.
I’m not sure if this will sound gross, but this balm reminds me of when you have a thickly spread buttered slice of warm toast and get left with buttery lips. It’s my favourite thing and this mojito scented balm with vitamin E and sugar to seal in moisture is one of the best around.
Leaving behind a lovely sheen, this balm is easy to apply, doesn’t need any double-dipping energy and kept my lips soft even once it wore off. There’s a plethora of goodies in here with avocado, marula and cranberry seed oils. Plus, shea butter and all the vitamins we love to see in an ingredients list.
How very fancy. This balm is more than fit for public display. Especially with all of the mask wearing, this has been such an easy product to fit into my bag and apply to my drying lips while on the go. It wasn’t sticky and had a sheer but soothing formula. I’ve been applying this with some lip liner, for an effortless wash of colour.
Reminding me of a glass of piña colada, this lanolin-enriched balm was everything that my lips were in need of. For such a thick balm, I was expecting it to be pretty sticky but it wasn’t at all. I exercised, ate and ticked off my to-do list with very nourished lips.
This classic balm is just like a matcha latte minus the green foam around my lips. There’s some balms that can feel really noticeable on the lips, which isn’t necessarily a problem, but it does feel like there’s a lot on the lips. This one doesn’t do that. The silky texture feels like the product is barely there but it sunk in and gave me long-lasting comfort.
The most decadent of treats. It smells like a vanilla hot chocolate and it made me smile whenever I caught a whiff of my lips. It soaked my lips in more moisture than I thought possible from a balm and as it’s such an intensive product it gave my lips the best glossy sheen. The stuff that lip balm dreams are made of. Run to the checkout now.
I feel like crying whenever I see the bottom of the pot starting to peek through, when this is nearly finished. It’s technically an overnight lip treatment, but I use it whenever my lips are dry, because it’s pretty unbeatable. Another one that takes pride of place in my in-flight beauty routine. Whenever I receive compliments on how smooth my lips are, it’s always when I’ve been using this.
A true wonder product, that’s a drugstore fave. I’ve been applying this to my elbows, as they are permanently dry. This is the only product that both soothes and protects them. I’ve also been doing all manner of things with this dense cream, from using it on my hands to applying it to my feet at night. If you don’t get on with balm textures, then this is for you.
This do-it-all balm melts on contact, so don’t be intimidated by how thick it initially feels. I’ve been massaging this into my ruined cuticles and its been working a treat to soften them up. I’ve not been wearing much foundation, so I’ve been dabbing a little bit of this balm on my cheekbones for a natural-looking highlight.
My heels are a mess, I haven’t had a pedicure all year and please don’t judge me. I will be forever indebted to this balm for being gentle and kind to my cracked heels so I can go a few more months before I need to get them professionally seen to. Also works really well on dry knees and irritating patches.
For those moments when you can’t take all of your skincare products with you, you only need this one. I’ve been using this as a luxurious balm cleanser, as a rich body lotion, on my lips and for small patches of dry skin. With a divinely scented blend of essential oils and rose as the star of the show; this resides by my bedside table.
Full disclosure here. I read the packaging incorrectly and mistook lipid for lip. So, I’ve been applying this to my lips and raving about it to anyone that will listen. It’s insane and my lips are overjoyed. Then I realised that it’s actually a multi-purpose balm and I’ve now been putting it on everything in sight. I keep it close to hand when I’m doing yoga so I can apply it onto any areas that get mat friction.
I’m pretty sure that if I used this product exclusively, it would cover 90% of my skin and body routine. My afro hair has been drinking it up, I’ve used it on my lips, cuticles, heels and elbows. One night after my skin was tired and sore from too many face masks and acid-packed serums, I used a small amount as a moisturiser and woke up to the most wonderfully smooth complexion.
While I may not have a baby, my skin loved this shea butter balm. It’s suitable for newborns, so there’s plenty of gentle ingredients here, especially if you find most balms quite irritating. It’s thick and dense and when massaged into palms it melts into an oil really easily. It’s great for flaky spots but I’ve been applying it to my entire body before I go to sleep.
Up next, the 15 natural skincare products that actually work.
