17 Hydrating Hand Creams for Over-Washed Hands

By Jessica Ourisman | June 17, 2020

Feature Image by Henné

With increased handwashing and the use of hand sanitizer on the rise, dry, irritated hands are becoming more common.

“Excessive handwashing can lead to chapped, dry, and even cracked skin on the hands,” explains Dr. Ellen Marmur, a board-certified dermatologist and founder of MMSkincare. She explains that this is due to the drying nature of alcohol-rich sanitizers and harsh, foaming soaps that harm the protective structures built into the skin.

“Healthy skin has two protective anatomic structures,” begins Dr. Loretta Ciraldo MD FAAD, a Miami-based board-certified dermatologist and the founder of Dr. Loretta Skincare. “One is called the natural moisturizing factor, which is a mix of water-absorbing molecules including proteins, lactate, hyaluronic acid, and glycerin. The other is called the barrier of the skin, [which] is made up of healthy skin oils called ceramides that trap moisture into the skin like plastic wrap.”

Luckily, hand cream can help. The key to keeping our dry, chafed, and cracking hands healthy is finding hand creams that are rich in ingredients like lipids and glycerin, along with actives like ceramides, shea butter, and vitamin E. Here are 19 hand treatments and creams to alleviate dry, chafed hands.

Skinfix Eczema+ Hand Repair Cream $18

Marmur recommends this intensive barrier-repair treatment as one of her top picks. The vegan, cruelty-free formula uses colloidal oatmeal to soothe, sweet almond oil to relieve itching, and natural butters, botanicals, and emollient oils to drastically improve hydration levels.

Aveeno Skin Relief Intense Moisture Hand Cream $7.29

Marmur also suggests this affordable, fragrance-free drugstore buy. Colloidal oatmeal and other emollients impart non-greasy relief over the course of 24 hours.

Augustinus Bader The Hand Treatment $50

Indulge in a hand treatment from the makers of the industry’s most-raved-about moisturizers (the celebrity-beloved The Cream and The Rich Cream) to experience Augustinus Bader’s patented TFC8 technology on your hands.

Skinesiology Female Warrior Hand Cream $32

This kinesiology-informed hand cream features chamomile, barrier-restorative oils, flower essences, botanical blends, and Gotu kola to nourish your skin. To make the experience a self-care ritual, you can recite the following mantra during application: “I am a creative being. I am in touch with the creative flow of life.”

Mademoiselle Provence Lemon Verbena Shea Butter Hand Cream $12.50

Meet this vegan-friendly, lemon verbena hand cream that is made in France from 96.2% naturally-derived ingredients. The line’s French-African-American founder, Chloe Mortaud, is a literal beauty queen — the former Miss France, to be precise.

Aquaphor Healing Ointment for Dry & Cracked Skin $4.59

We asked Dr. Loretta for her favorite treatment to remedy red, inflamed, irritated, chafed, or cracked skin. “For this, I love Aquaphor Healing Ointment,” she notes.

Claudiana Beautanica 003 Handy Barrier Balm Cream $32

Show your moisture barrier some love with kokum and cupuaçu butter, as well as jojoba, safflower, and broccoli seed oils. Just a fingernail-sized dollop of this phytosterol and ceramide-rich cream imparts major hand healing throughout the day.

Blissoma Neroli Healthy Skin Hand and Body Cream $33

Available in both neroli and unscented formulas, your skin will benefit from cupuaçu butter, seed oils, and reparative carotenoids and niacinamide via sea buckthorn oil. P.S. The sensitive skin-friendly line donated a hand cream to a frontline worker with each purchase during May 2020.

5 YINA Hand Treatment $32

This insightful green line was created by doctors in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), delivering the effects of botanical butter and oils to your skin. Meanwhile, the clean, certified organic formula calls upon astragalus, honeysuckle, and licorice for healing and anti-microbial support for your mitts.

Rituel de Fille Smoke Salve Universal Skin Balm $32

Jojoba oil and organic babassu oil make up the two primary ingredients in this cruelty-free, certified organic blend. Perfect for sealing off cracks and dry patches, castor oil, lanolin, and beeswax texturally thicken this salve for at-risk hands.

Kahina Giving Beauty Hand Cream $59

This clean brand’s stunning packaging warrants a spot on your top shelf. The ethical brand’s quenching ingredients — aloe vera, and vitamin E-dense argan oil and shea butter — also possesses a dreamy natural fragrance that you will fall in love with.

Skincando Combat-Ready Balm $27

The squeaky-clean, luxury, D.C.-based brand makes the ultimate skin panacea. It does everything from soothing bug bites and eczema to healing ultra-dry, over-washed hands. Tip: Apply it over body oil for unbelievably smooth legs.

Henné Luxury Hand Cream $25

Luxury clean hand cream? So much yes. Organic shea butter and organic avocado oil account for a clean source of vitamins A, E, F, and fatty acids in this luxurious cream. Depending on your mood, you can choose a floral scent or a citrusy scent.

Suzanne Organics Younger Hands Anti-Aging Hand Cream $49.99

This formula is amazing for those of us with bony or aging hands because it contains the humectant hyaluronic acid — which also reduces the appearance of wrinkles — with a bio controlled lipo-filling to treat the look of sunken-ness. Abyssinian oil and long-chain unsaturated fatty acids replenish lipids in the barrier, while two extracts combat dark spots.