natjtan Welcome to Beauty Finds! This edition features Lush Helping Hands hand cream.
I completely forgot in my last Lush review that I said I was never going to shop there again. I had a few minutes to spare before an appointment which is very rare as I’m always late. There isn’t a Lush where I normal shop and I was desperate for a new hand cream. They always say the neck and hands give away a girls age. My grandma instilled in me to apply hand cream. I do, but my hands are in water so much washing the dishes, hand washing, general house chores, the winter chaps them out, cycling in-between seasons chaps them out my hands look older than I am. Well maybe a little in certain light. This past winter I couldn’t find any good hand creams. I tried rich body lotions, natural hands creams filled with shea butter and nada. I wear washing up gloves doing the dishes but not always as it’s just easier to go without. The gloves are either too big or too small and not worth the hassle. As per my beauty requirements any hand creams with petroleum or mineral oil are out. I know those containing petroleum would work but I don’t want it in my body by absorption. Also at the time of purchase back in January 2022 hand gel was a requirement entering shops etc. Hand gel really dries out hands.
Please skip a paragraph for the review or read ahead for my beauty requirements.
I have a few requirements when it comes to beauty products: cruelty free, natural, clean, vegan better. I do my best to avoid nasty ingredients such as SLSs, parabens, PEGs, silicones, etc. Petrochemicals are the sneakiest with so many derivatives and aliases. I also avoid palm oil and it’s derivatives as I prefer orangutans. Coconut oil marketed as the good oil I’m also cutting down on as it can be just a damaging crop as palm oil. If I do get products containing palm or coconut oil I try to get organic or sustainably sourced. With make up it’s a little harder so I go for cruelty free brands. I prefer products with less plastic and thankfully more brands are aware consumers don’t want unnecessary plastic (or governments are telling them less plastic). My skin type’s oily sensitive, acne prone and now wrinkles. I know nothing stops those lines, but if I can delay them then….
What sold me was the sales assistant. Lush’s hand gel was amazing. It felt so good and smelt so good! I asked one of the sales assistants if they had the hand gel for sale. No, however many people have asked so maybe in the future. This lead onto how most hand gels are too drying and I can’t find a good hand cream. She recommend Helping Hands saying a lot of nurses use it and find it really helpful for dry hands.
Lush Helping Hands was made with nurses and people with really dry hands in mind. Nurses hands probably get more abuse from things that dry them out than non nurses. The gloves, the hand gel, constant washing of hands etc. Thanks to its infusion of camomile to reduce redness and oils such as almond oil, shea butter, cocoa butter and tagetes a type of African marigold, honey, glycerine and castor oil its made for hydrating and restoring dry hands.
Ingredient list in English: Chamomile Water, Linseed Mucilage, Almond Oil, Glycerine, Stearic Acid, Fair Trade Shea Butter, Cetearyl Alcohol, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter, Triethanolamine, Honey, Lavender Oil, Tagetes Oil, Perfume, Alkanet Extracted in Castor Oil, *Limonene, *Linalool, Methylparaben, Propylparaben
Does it work?
Yes. I should however apply it more often. The only time I apply hand cream is before leaving the house. That’s my grandma in me. She used apply it in the car after painting her nails while my Grandpa drove. The car stunk of nail polish. Anyway, on application it doesn’t leave the hands feeling unhydrated how some hand creams can.
As I apply hand cream before leaving, which makes no sense if I’m climbing after as my hands are just going to dry out anyway it’s habit. I noticed with some hand creams climbing when I got there the liquid chalk even if I made my own of just chalk and 96% cleaning alcohol the chalk wouldn’t adhere very well. With Lush Helping Hands it was fine. No issues. Likewise no greasy feeling on handle bars cycling.
It provides heavy duty hydration without the heaviness or greasiness of oils, but don’t expect it to be like retinol to transform the hands. I’m sure if I applied it more regularly than just once a day my hands would be so much happier and less even hydrated looked like a dry river bed. Sadly I think hands are like the face. If they loose fat, they’ll look older. And with that I have just applied some. It’s non greasy so I can type easily. It takes little time working out the quantity to use and some might find the container unhygienic as it’s a pot. Thankfully the pot is easy open and close even in a rush. I don’t feel right if I haven’t applied any before leaving.
A little lasts a long way. I started it back in January and with daily use now in the middle of July I still have about a months worth left so it’s value for money. I like that the pot is made from 100% post consumer plastic and you can take it back to any Lush store for recycling.
Any Cons?
Yes. It contains honey so it’s not vegan.
The smell isn’t good. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s not fishy, but smells bitter, sickly and a little off. But that’s just it’s smell. It’s got slightly fainter with time.
It contains 2 parabens. Methylparaben and propylparaben. I wouldn’t have purchased if i had read the ingredients list properly. That what’s happens when you’re early before appointments then have to rush. When I found out, initially I wasn’t going to use it. I decided that would be a waste of money not too. It’s about €12.95 for 100g. That’s about £10. In the USA it’s around $23!
Would I recommend? If you don’t mind using parabens and/or can get past the smell and want a hydrating non greasy hand cream, yes. No, if you don’t want to use parabens or can’t get past the smell. Because of both the parabens and smell I don’t think I’ll repurchase. My wonder hand cream is still out there waiting for me!
Do you have a good hand cream to recommend that’s heavy duty yet not greasy? If so please share in the comments below.
Thank you for stopping by!