Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I already have very dry hands but working in a library only makes it that much worse. My hands dry out really fast, my nails become dry and peel, and my my cuticles are splitting. I use lotion about a million times a day and try to keep polish on my nails to protect them but polish pretty much just falls off my nails. Is there anything more that I could do to help salvage my hands and nails?

I don't know exactly what your problem is but I have eczema on my hands and I use Vaseline (petroleum Jelly). This product works well but your problem could be very different. Maybe it is time to stop using polish on your nails if your cuticles are splitting and your nails peel.

Yikes, I've never had dry hands to that extent but the soles of my feet can get pretty tough. I've started applying liberal amounts of Vaseline before bed then wearing socks/gloves.

Sure you look stupid, but in the morning I can see a visible difference in the skin.

Vitamin E oil is also good for your nails/cuticles so you could try applying that in addition to staying fully hydrated.
Good luck.

The polish protects my nails. Without it, the books and dust pretty much soak up all of the moisture from my nails.

Yes, sorry, I reread your post and saw my post was stupid. Yet, I now remember vaguely I have had a similar problem with my nails, but 15 years ago, because I was wearing polish. Or the polish remover was drying the area around the nail, I can't remember exactly. I think the cuticles were painfully dry. I had to stop using polish and the problem was solved. I don't see any other solution, except can you wear gloves?? In movies you see them using white cotton gloves?

Have you experimented with different lotions?

I don't have particularly dry skin, but some hand creams give me dry skin! Shea butter, for instance. In the winter, I use my face moisturizer on my hands and cuticles and that helps. A lot of trial and error.

Lavawitch, have you tried Vaseline? I know how shea butter can cause dryness. I find Vaseline is really the best.

I can't get past the greasy texture. I have just been making sure I have decent hand soap. Ive been using the Pangea hand soap. It is ridiculously expensive at $15, but it lasts a while and I don't need to worry about hand lotion. I use Method a couple times a day too to stretch out the Pangea.

I use 10% urea (sometimes called carbamide because it sounds "nicer") foot lotion on my hands in winter. It's the only thing that actually works. The equivalent "hand" version is only 5% urea, which I've found less effective. If you try it, you may want to check that the urea in a given product is synthetic.

ETA: Things like shea or cocoa butter don't work for me by themselves because they don't really fix problems with dehydrated skin. They don't cling onto water.

i was going to ask the same thing as lavawitch, whether you'd tried different kinds of lotions. once i started using aveda hand relief, i stopped trying any other hand lotion. i put it on once before i leave the house for the day, and once right before bed, and it rocks. (for me, anyway!) i have a small one in my purse and another small one in my office, but i almost never need to use them.

also, right before i put on the hand relief, i rub LUSH ultrabalm into all of my cuticles. (they have a specific cuticle cream, but it's not vegan, boo.)

I really recommend coconut oil. Like what you buy at the grocery store. Sounds weird but it is amazing for dry skin. Soothing, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, etc. I have been struggling with really dry, itchy skin and it is the only thing that has kept my sanity. My daughter has a few small eczema spots sometimes and it really helps her too.

I've tried various lotions and oils including Vitamin E, coconut, shea, etc. I guess I'll just have to live with it because wearing gloves would drive me up a wall.

have you tried ShiKai Borage Therapy?

http://www.shikai.com/products/borage.htm

I use them in the winter on my hands and face when I get flaky patches. They're available at all Whole Foods.

also if you don't do it already, make sure you're eating enough healthy fats like flax, walnuts, etc. and getting enough omega-3s.

I am right here with you. I can't stand to touch warm laundry or paper fresh off of a printer. I just keep a bottle of nature's Gate lotion with me wherever I go, i've also had good luck with coco butter and jojoba oil. Sometimes it takes a combo, like I used to just use coco butter for awhile and after a shower I would apply it and then my hands would still feel dry so I would apply more and more and it would feel like it was just sitting on top of my skin in layers, and not absorbing.

Also as mentioned in the eczema thread, I peel off my nail polish in the shower, or when I do the dishes, I slather my hands with a ton of lotion before putting on rubber gloves, and when i'm done the heat from the water, the moisture from the lotion, and the gloves make it so it basically pops right off and doesn't seem to hurt my nails too much.

The ShiKai Borage works really well, my hands in the winter get super dry and red and this saves them! Also try to moisturize your hands each time after you wash them!

This is probably my biggest problem. Most lotions/oils just feel like they're sitting on my skin and not actually absorbing. Other times, even when it does soak in, the book pages and papers pretty much suck all of the moisture out extremely fast. We keep a bottle of lotion on the desk and I carry two types of hand lotion in my purse. I'm constantly rubbing a ton of it into my skin.

I'll look for the Borage stuff, how much is it?


Thanks, I'll try this! Right now I use a nail polish remover with Vitamin E that doesn't seem too bad. The big problem is when nail polish starts to flake off and the pages/papers will suck the moisture from my nails and they'll peel. We were also doing a ton of spring cleaning not too long ago so the environment was way more dusty than usual.

Not stupid! I thought the same thing at first. Polish (or the remover) makes my nails dry and peel-y, then I stop painting them for a while and they're back to normal.

I was also going to recommend Aveda hand cream, but I guess you've tried that.

Honestly, as much as I like the Aveda, it can't hold a candle to my pregan favorite, which was Neutrogena. I keep meaning to look for a vegan version with similar ingredients, but I haven't been successful yet. I think the main ingredient is glycerin, so I'm going to see if this Jack Black one is vegan, because it appears to be glycerin-based: http://www.sephora.com/industrial-stren ... uId=564369

The worst is when people who never need lotion don't understand when i'm like 'I CANNOT TOUCH ANOTHER SINGLE THING UNTIL I HAVE LOTION'. It's so gross to touch dry things sometimes, I dry heave a little. But they just think i'm crazy.

Also, pair up with someone who has sweaty hands!

I get the same thing on days when I'm touching a lot of paper. Try sleeping with some type of cloth gloves on (latex, cloth) with a thick moisturizer on and also putting lotion/oil on damp hands to help seal in the moisture.

I would check these in the store. I thought that Jack Black was all vegan, and then I bought a little lip balm and hand cream set and I want to say it had beeswax or lanolin.

The lip balm used to be vegan! I had some. It was ok. But yeah then they changed it.

I'll email them. Emailing companies is becoming something of a hobby lately.

I am a lotion addict and haven't found anything that works as well as Lush products. You should check out some of these.

http://www.lushusa.com/Ultrabalm/03078, ... =8&q=vegan
http://www.lushusa.com/Body-Lotions/bod ... efv1=Vegan
http://www.lushusa.com/Hand-Care/hand-c ... efv1=Vegan

Also, it might just be me. But I swear the B12+Folic Acid supplement I take makes my hair and nails grow like crazy! And I know lots of mom's that keep taking pre-natal vitamins for the effect on their nails too. I would see what is in pre-natal vitamins that helps and maybe see if you can get a vegan supplement of that.

You probably meant that a joke, but it made me think of times when my hands get dry and cracked and then when I sweat it hurts horribley. I do not think another person's sweat would feel any nicer!

I have very dry hands and I do find that when I remember to put at least 1tsp of ground flax into my muesli every day it helps A LOT.