Best organic hand cream?
EDS Skin Care Forums Forum Index » Skin Care and Makeup Forum

free skin care · Wed Aug 22, 2007 11:20 am

Suggestions please. I'm open to any organic or natural brand.

free skin care · Wed Aug 22, 2007 11:25 am

Spend your time searching for a "natural" brand. There is no such thing as "organic" certified cosmetic products at this time.

John

free skin care · Wed Aug 22, 2007 12:35 pm

John C. Hill wrote:

Spend your time searching for a "natural" brand. There is no such thing as "organic" certified cosmetic products at this time.

John

Meant to say organic based or all natural hand cream. Anyone liking a particular product?

free skin care · Wed Aug 22, 2007 4:06 pm

Badger Healing Balm for hard working hands is pretty decent:

Ingredients: organic extra virgin olive oil, natural beeswax, castor oil, aloe vera extract and essential oil of Sweet Birch.

This has the disadvantage of leaving hands greasy, it takes awhile to sink in so I can only use it at night. To be honest, I think the best hand creams contain some silicones to make it slip and sink in a little better.

free skin care · Wed Aug 22, 2007 7:34 pm

athena123 wrote:

...... To be honest, I think the best hand creams contain some silicones to make it slip and sink in a little better.

Actually, silicones form a barrier and can inhibit penetration of actives. Personally, I'm not bothered with whether or not they are "natural", but they are NOT generally regarded as being so.

If a hand cream or balm contains too much by way of thick emollient/waxy ingredients, then it becomes occlusive on the skin i.e.it doesn't sink in, BUT it does prevent TEWL (trans epidermal water loss) and weathers repeated handwashing quite well.

If you want a hand cream that sinks in, it has to be balanced with sufficient water content (water should be the first ingredient declared at the top of the list, not oil or silicones) - while this will absorb much better, it does not weather repeated handwashing as well.

Other water-based "natural" additives that help with absorption and moisturisation (in judicious amounts only) vegetable glycerin or hyaluronic acid - the latter can only be considered natural if it is derived from * spam *'s comb, otherwise it is completely lab-engineered.

I know this because I have been playing with making my own handcream for the past three months - I am up to prototype 9 now and starting to get happy with the balance between "neat" absorption and protection through 2 or 3 handwashings. And because I add significant amounts of active ingredients, I avoid using silicones.

HTH

free skin care · Wed Aug 22, 2007 7:36 pm

http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/

I love Tropical Traditions moisturizing cream and lotion. They are certified organic all natural products. I use the unscented versions which do have a soft coconut scent from the oil.

free skin care · Wed Aug 22, 2007 7:49 pm

Monica34, Tropical Traditions uses grapefruit seed extract as a preservative.

So, in short, I highly doubt their claims about being "all natural".

If you google, you will find that the "natural" skincare lobby itself is actually quite divided about the safety and "naturalness" of the use of citrus seed extracts as preservatives.

Citrus seed extracts are not technically speaking, all-natural preservatives. They are chemically derived from the seeds of citrus fruits.

Further, some manufacturers add paraben-based preservatives to the extract itself.

There is a list of Pubmed references on analysis of grapefruit seed extracts on this link:
http://www.wellvet.com/grapefruitseedextracts.html

For people who don't like reading abstracts of scientific papers, basically the studies found that many GSEs contained chemical preservatives such as triclosan or the dreaded parabens.

One study also took a handmade grapefruit seed extract that was not tainted with other chemicals. Sadly, this sample showed zero preservative qualities.

free skin care · Thu Aug 23, 2007 6:24 am

nyonyakay wrote:

athena123 wrote:

...... To be honest, I think the best hand creams contain some silicones to make it slip and sink in a little better.

Actually, silicones form a barrier and can inhibit penetration of actives. Personally, I'm not bothered with whether or not they are "natural", but they are NOT generally regarded as being so.

You're quite correct nyon, I should have clarified WHY I prefer handcreams with a little bit of silicone - I like the silky texture and lack of residual greasiness. And I wash my hands a lot, especially when I'm surrounded by peeps with colds/flus, so I like the barrier that 'cones offer and only have to reapply handcream about every other wash to maintain moisture.

I have yet to find the perfect handcreme, however and will be watching this thread for additional ideas!

free skin care · Fri Aug 24, 2007 1:54 pm

Monica34, Tropical Traditions uses grapefruit seed extract as a preservative.

So, in short, I highly doubt their claims about being "all natural".

If you google, you will find that the "natural" skincare lobby itself is actually quite divided about the safety and "naturalness" of the use of citrus seed extracts as preservatives.

Citrus seed extracts are not technically speaking, all-natural preservatives. They are chemically derived from the seeds of citrus fruits.

Further, some manufacturers add paraben-based preservatives to the extract itself.

There is a list of Pubmed references on analysis of grapefruit seed extracts on this link:
http://www.wellvet.com/grapefruitseedextracts.html

For people who don't like reading abstracts of scientific papers, basically the studies found that many GSEs contained chemical preservatives such as triclosan or the dreaded parabens.

One study also took a handmade grapefruit seed extract that was not tainted with other chemicals. Sadly, this sample showed zero preservative qualities

I contacted tropical Traditions about the grapefruitseed extract in their products and this is their response:

Thank you for taking the time to write to us with your concerns
regarding the use of grapefruit seed extract. The grapefruit seed extract we
use in our skin care products is a natural preservative and contains
extract of grapefruit seed with glycerin and dextrose. There are synthetic
forms of this on the market, however, what we use
is a natural form and contains NO chemicals (unlike others on the
market). We have discontinued the use of citric acid in our products as this
is extracted from corn and Tropical Traditions is committed to using
all natural, organic products that are free from chemicals and
preservatives. I hope this answers your concerns.

free skin care · Fri Aug 24, 2007 2:56 pm

I like Decleor's hand cream. It's very good.

Sun Sep 02, 2007 9:04 pm

CleanSkin wrote:

Suggestions please. I'm open to any organic or natural brand.

I personally like "Dr. Hauschka" hand cream.
Although it is not the most moisturing hand I used, the smell attracts me, and texture are good.

I notice many fans of natural products like "Rose hand cream" by "Jurlique".
The rose smell and moisturing effect are both good. However, because it is expensive, I haven't tried it yet.

free skin care · Mon Sep 03, 2007 1:05 am

I think Crabtree is good and at reasonable prices.

free skin care · Mon Sep 03, 2007 8:30 am

I found a little jar of Arbordoun's Calendula Cream at my local health food store last week; now this is nice; seems to absorb better and without the greasy texture as the Healing Balm from Badger. It's way too rich for use on my face, but perfect for my hands.

Ingredients: Olive Oil, Aloe Gel, Purified Water, Herbal Extracts of calendula, oregon grape and comfrey, beeswax, vegetable glycerin, vitamin E, citrus seed extract, lavendar oil.

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