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Hand Lotion

Health: Any recommendations for keeping the left hand fingers from getting dry and rough?

From Ardene Shafer
Posted July 8, 2004 at 07:03 PM

Hi, all, my left hand fingers are frequently dry and rough. I put lotion on them several times a day but don't feel it is helping as much as I would like. Does anyone out there have a suggestion of a lotion to use that might do a better job than Aveeno? Thanks,

From Cynthia He
Posted on July 8, 2004 at 09:08 PM

Don't know if this will help, but I've used Neutrogena's really thick Norwegian Formula hand cream; comes in little bottles. You kind of have to wait a little while before playing or wipe your hands; it feels kind of greasy in a...good way...

Good luck!

From Sue Donim
Posted on July 8, 2004 at 09:19 PM

I use hemp hand protector by the Body Shop. Less greasy than Neutrogena. I've also found slathering my fingers in Vaseline overnight helped things.

From Laurie Niles
Posted on July 8, 2004 at 09:21 PM

I don't know where to find it any more, but avocado butter. Put it on your hands at night before bed, and sleep with cotton gloves. Does wonders.

From Bill Townsend
Posted on July 9, 2004 at 12:19 AM

OK, this is going to sound weird, but try Udderly Smooth Hand Cream, available at Walhgreens or CVS. It's $3-5 a jar.

I grew up on a farm and we used to use this on our hands because after milking 20 cows your hands are like sandpaper. It's cheap and works.

From Tim McNally
Posted on July 9, 2004 at 01:18 AM

I can tell you, absolutely for sure. There is an answer. But you're all going in the wrong direction.

You don't want to put stuff ON to the skin...you want it COMING OUT of the skin.

What I mean is simply this: find somewhere that sells organic products, and look there (look for a refrigerator) for some beautiful Flax Seed Oil.

There are other oils too, which from my experience have the same effect, i.e. of making the skin all over the body beautifully soft and lovely to the touch.

Hemp Oil is simply fantastic stuff. So is Pumpkin Seed Oil. The best, apparently, healthwise, is Udo's Ultimate Blend, which is my staple, while I also take the other oils in addition.

The point about the Flax Seed Oil is that it is particularly associated with helping any skin conditions anyway.

You take them off the spoon, several tablespoons at a time if you like; or you pour them over salads; or you have the Ultimate Dish, and remember, you heard this here first: this is my own recipe, which I don't mind sharing:

You mash up a banana, then you pour lashings of maple syrup over it, and then lashings of Hemp Oil, or Udo's, or the Flax Seed Oil. Then you sort of stir it all around a bit, and then...you've got a meal fit for a king. Unbelievably lovely, and then if you mash some strawberries or blackberries in as well...
But it is the oil in it that makes it so incredibly delicious.

These oils are incredibly good for you. I could go on about them for hours. But the point is your hands.

The thing is, basically we don't get enough of the essential nutrients that are contained in these oils. When you start taking them, first your body uses them in all kinds of different areas.

The very last place that the body sends the oils to...is the skin.

So when you take these oils, after a while you notice that your skin - all over - has a peculiar new softness about it. Then you know for sure that every other organ in your body has enough, otherwise the oil would not be reaching your skin.

The new softness that comes is almost like an oiliness, but of course it isn't. It doesn't give you oily skin! It gives you incredibly nourished, healthy skin.

Simply fantastic. And could be the answer to your problems, apart from the fact that if you started taking them now, and continued, you will probably live about 10 years longer, and more healthily, than you otherwise would have done.

You know how the Eskimos live on seal blubber or whatever, and don't get ill and live to absurdly old ages? And all over the West we take codliver oil and all, though that doesn't seem to do the trick...But apparently, if you take these oils that I am telling you about, by the time your body has finished processing them, you end up in exactly the same state as if you HAD eaten the seal blubber. Yes, they are that good!

Tim

From Kelsey Z.
Posted on July 9, 2004 at 02:09 AM

I love the Udderly Smooth stuff! Also, homemade handcream is excellent!!

From Rita Livs
Posted on July 9, 2004 at 04:19 AM

Tim, your recipie reminds me cream "Azizello" ("Master and Margarita")... Just Kidding...

From Ardene Shafer
Posted on July 9, 2004 at 12:27 PM

Hello again, thanks so much for your advice. I have several options to try. Hopefully one of them will make a difference. Ardene

From Lisa D
Posted on July 9, 2004 at 06:50 PM

you mean you don't LIKE having battle-scarred and callused fingers??? ;)

From Ardene Shafer
Posted on July 9, 2004 at 08:05 PM

Well, on my middle finger the callus can sometime interfere with vibrato and tone quality. It may be my particular skin but sometimes I even have to use a fingernail clipper on the callus part just to get it smooth again. I really don't mind the ordinary battle scars of practicing. Even the hickey is a badge of pride but I draw the line at something that interferes with producing the best sound I can produce. I have already purchased some cotton gloves and a new moisterizer and I'm going to try them tonight! A

From Liz Farley Metzger
Posted on July 9, 2004 at 09:43 PM

I have *very* sensitive skin - walking down the detergent aisle in the grocery store makes me itch! - and problems with dryness on my hands (I live in Arizona).

The BEST stuff I've ever found for dry cracked skin is the Beeswax skin cream by Thistledew Farms (http://www.thistledewfarm.com/). It is VERY thick, and a jar lasts me almost a year.

Also, I use Paul Mitchel's leave-in Awapuhi conditioner on my hair, which is an excellent skin conditioner too (I've heard it's great on diaper rash), so I use that on my hands and face each morning after I shower.

Many days that's enough, but at times when my hands need more help I use the beeswax stuff. I can't recommend it highly enough!

From Ben Clapton
Posted on July 10, 2004 at 03:22 PM

I just today bought myself a set of Nivea for men products, a Moisturiser, face wash and deep scrub. Basically I'm a metrosexual (looks after my appearance, dresses well, all the things the stereotypical (in australia at least) things gay guys to, but not actually gay), so it's mainly looking after my face, but because i'll be applying it with my hands (obviously), it'll look after them as well.

I don't really have a problem with dryness of hands, and my calluses don't really get out of hand, so it's not really a problem for me, but I'll let you know how i get on with it.

From owen sutter
Posted on July 10, 2004 at 06:00 PM

metrosexual eh? i've never heard that term before.

From Mike Harris
Posted on July 10, 2004 at 07:50 PM

I recommend Rocky Mountain Skin Trip, sold at health food stores (is there a Whole Foods store near you?). This stuff is not greasy at all.

From Igor Yuzefovich
Posted on July 13, 2004 at 05:01 AM

lol, I've got some ideas, but I dont think they would be kosher on this site anymore... It seems to have gotten A LOT cleaner... Those old prunes around here might know what I am referring to (Good ole days anyone?) ;-)

From Emil Chudnovsky
Posted on July 13, 2004 at 05:22 AM

Igor, much as I enjoy a virtual brawl (and we all know I enjoy that entirely too much!), I have to say that I like the new, well-behaved attitude on v.com. On the one hand, the occasional shocking or vitriol-inducing post in the past has been fun to read or write, but the truly offensive exchanges were never with actual professionals. Actually, to be honest, I'm sure that any time you or I mixed it up with anyone here it was always some troll - some amateur with strong, offensive, or dangerously misguided opinions and little or no knowledge with which to back up those opinions. There are plenty of pros on this board now, I'm certain, but being pros the rules of civility and diplomacy are second nature to them, as those have been absorbed by almost anyone in the business along with all the imprecations against bad intonation.

From owen sutter
Posted on July 13, 2004 at 05:33 AM

amen

From Laurie Niles
Posted on July 13, 2004 at 02:35 PM

Igor has dirty ideas about hand lotion? Heavens!

From Emil Chudnovsky
Posted on July 13, 2004 at 03:03 PM

Laurie, Igor NEVER has dirty ideas! They're terribly risque, but always exceedingly clean. I'm sure that with the hand lotion, he was thinking exclusively of something involving Ivory soap.

(It might be interesting and/or relevant to point out that I'm not on drugs, but that I did just wake up, and still groggy. Irrelevant but odd is that I can remember my dream, which is rare, and that it involved lunch with Ellen Degeneres as a chatty waitress and the most beautiful woman I've never seen confiding her problems to me about her same-sex partner. Can I dream or can I dream??)

From Laurie Niles
Posted on July 13, 2004 at 09:34 PM

Did the woman have problems with...hand lotion?

From Ben Clapton
Posted on July 13, 2004 at 11:38 PM

for a minute there i thought you said ellen degeneres was the most beautiful woman... some may agree but i'll reserve my opinion.

Nivea stuff seems to be working really well. Doesn't make my hands too greasy after using, so i guess that's alright.

Now all i need is something for my lips. Vitamin E i believe is good as they feel really dry at the moment.

From Sue Donim
Posted on July 14, 2004 at 12:11 AM

Vaseline.

From Igor Yuzefovich
Posted on July 14, 2004 at 01:49 AM

now, doesn't Vaseline just sound a lot dirtier than my comments?! lol

From Sue Donim
Posted on July 14, 2004 at 02:09 AM

Lol, I was waiting for someone young and impressionable to walk into that one;) But believe it or not, it's the best and cheapest lip balm ever.

From Sue Donim
Posted on July 14, 2004 at 02:11 AM

And so, um, reputable, a British indie band hit the charts with a song about it. Really!

From Sum YL
Posted on July 14, 2004 at 02:14 AM

Sue, does it come in prune flavour?

I personally found a kind of handsoap the best for my hands, i usually wash once every 2 hours during a break to keep the fingers from getting all tacky and dull on the keyboard.

From Igor Yuzefovich
Posted on July 14, 2004 at 02:46 PM

young and impressionable? why, thank you ! I'll take the young part!

From Emil Chudnovsky
Posted on July 14, 2004 at 04:43 PM

Ben, the day I call Degeneres beautiful is the day I turn in my aesthetic-critic card. But, for what it's worth, I do use terminology carefully. Thus, Meg Ryan is cute, while Rene Russo is beautiful, Rebecca Stamos is sexy, Michelle Pfeiffer (circa "Witches of Eastwick") is gorgeous, and Hillary Hahn is attractive. All are appealing, just in very different ways. To make the list complete, Britney Spears is merely annoying.

And, of course, when speaking of Laurie, I merely point out that Robert is a very fortunate man!

From Laurie Niles
Posted on July 14, 2004 at 06:46 PM

Oh GEEEZ! Now my face has turned purple, how attractive is that?

From Emil Chudnovsky
Posted on July 14, 2004 at 07:55 PM

Oh, I don't know...a nice regal purple always looks good. Admittedly, I've usually seen it on fabric rather than faces, but ya never know.

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