L’Occitane hand cream review: is this the answer to smoothing out dry hands?

If excessive hand-washing and sanitising has left your hands dry, cracked and sore, a hand cream is the most important skin saviour to add into your beauty regime.

L'Occitane, a French skincare brand that champions natural ingredients, claims to be able to heal and protect dry skin with its Shea Butter Hand Cream, so I rubbed it into my own dehydrated hands to see how well it performed.

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  • L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream, £17.59 from Amazon – buy here

Pros

  • Hydrates skin immediately
  • Has a subtle fragrance
  • Smooth texture
  • Didn’t hurt when rubbed into a cut on the thumb

Cons

  • Not 100 per cent cruelty free
  • If too much used, can become a bit oily
  • Corner of tube is quite sharp

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As the name suggests, this hand cream is formulated with shea butter, an ingredient that has been used for generations to help Ghanaian women protect their skin from the dry Saharan winds.

With a very creamy texture, it is no surprise to read it has a very high fat content which helps to make it intensely moisturising.

I’ve got quite dry hands after over-washing them the past two years and although I get regular manicures, my nail beds and cuticle area get very raw and sore. I was aware I should be using a hand cream more regularly, so I jumped at the opportunity of road-testing the L’Occitane cream because I already knew it was an award-winning brand with glowing reviews.

Even before squeezing the cream out, I was left very impressed. The silver tube looks luxurious and even the packaging has a lovely faint fragrance of coconut oil;not the overpowering scent associated with sun creams but a more delicate and flavoursome one.

  • L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream, £17.59 from Amazon – buy here

It is that key ingredient, together with argan oil, that provides a subtle smell that lingers on the hands all day long. Even after washing my hands I could still smell it.

However, most important is how it performed, and for that I give it five stars. The second it touches the skin it absorbs quickly and you can feel the hands instantly hydrating.

I even rubbed it into my nails and my thumb, which I had accidently cut when chopping fruit, and the cream didn’t sting the tiny wound. In fact, I think the moisture was good for it.

Some hand creams can feel a bit oily if overused but with this one, provided you use a small amount, it does go a long way ⁠— just a little glides very easily all over the hand area.

The hand cream is also infused with jasmine and ylang-ylang to ensure hands are left well nourished. I even found it left a slight glow to my hands which was nice and can imagine if used on a regular basis hands that appear old and wrinkly will probably get a nice makeover from the cream.

Hands down, this is one of the best products on the market for dry and sore hands. It's TLC in a tube, and I shall now be carrying it everywhere with me. 

  • L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream, £17.59 from Amazon – buy here
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