obsessive tester

18 Best Hand Creams You Probably Need Right Now

Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Retailers

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Between frequent hand-washing, harsh weather conditions from sun-exposure or winter weather, and habitual hand-sanitizer baths, overuse from day-to-day life can undoubtedly be an unsavory recipe for dry, cracked hands. But, fear not, our team of editors has put the most-talked about hand creams to the test and narrowed down the list to the ones you’ll actually want to throw in your tote bag. Whether you prefer an indulgent, luxury formula or simply want to hydrate without a greasy feel, read on for the best hand creams that are sure to leave your hands feeling supple and smooth this season.

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Our top picks:

The Overall Best Hand Cream

Pros: Tried-and-true formula; provides long-lasting hydration.
Cons: It’s very thick, which can be a bit overwhelming.

This shea butter formula is on every hand cream roundup for a reason. It feels as luxurious as the pretty silver packaging looks, and is so rich that a single tube goes a long way. The next time you’re scrambling to come up with a good last-minute stocking stuffer, keep this crowd-pleaser on the top of your shortlist.

The Best Fast-Absorbing Hand Cream

Nécessaire The Hand Cream
$38
$38

Pros: Stocked with peptides and multivitamins; absorbs quickly; provides a post-manicure sheen.
Cons: The packaging is not very efficient.

If you want to treat your sensitive skin or selective nose to a more luxurious fragrance-free formula, this is it. Each squeeze dispenses an unbelievably creamy, cloudlike formula that truly feels like a treat for dry, worn-out hands. It also absorbs quickly and leaves a nice glow-y, photogenic sheen, like you recently got a manicure.

The Best Natural Hand Cream

$14 for 2

Pros: Affordable; won’t leave your hands feeling greasy.
Cons: The packaging doesn’t feel luxe.

If you have to do a lot of typing, hand-shaking, or carrying various objects, this cream will be your new best friend. The 96 percent natural formula doesn’t leave any trace of greasy residue; your hands won’t feel awkwardly sticky, just suddenly soft. The only evidence that you’ve been slathering rich cocoa and shea butters and jojoba oils all over them will be the energizing green-tea scent.

The Best Hand Cream for Sensitive Skin

Pros: Great for sensitive skin.
Cons: One reviewer says the formula tends to separate.

Tatcha’s Indigo line is one of the Cut Shop team’s favorites. Just like their Indigo Overnight Repair moisturizer, this hand cream will soothe the skin on your hands, especially if you have minor eczema flare-ups or irritation thanks to its squalane and silk extracts.

The Best-Smelling Hand Cream

Pros: A perfectly curated Byredo scent; chic packing; lightweight moisture.
Cons: It’s expensive.

Yeah, like the Bad Bunny song. The woody and musky blend makes hands smell heavenly — and gives them smooth, lightweight moisture, too.

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More tried-and-true options:

The Best Luxury Hand Cream

Pros: Chic packaging; ideal for traveling.
Cons: Comes with a luxury-level price tag.

This adorable Parisian egg is home to an incredibly soft and melty hand cream that was designed to be used while traveling light. Sadly, though, it still won’t fit in this purse.

The Best Affordable Hand Cream

Pros: It’s the perfect post-dish-washing hand cream.
Cons: Smells like dish soap.

The ideal moisturizing window for hands is five minutes after you wash them; leave one of these lotions in the kitchen and one in the bathroom, and that goal becomes a lot easier to meet. The formula (with sweet almond oil and shea butter) is rich but absorbs surprisingly quickly. And it comes in the same lavender and basil scents that have made the brand’s cleaning products so popular.

The Best SPF Hand Cream

Pros: Has SPF 40, comes in two sizes, great for those who are outdoors often.
Cons: Scent is divisive, and some reviewers said they wish it was more moisturizing.

The tops of your hands might be the most neglected parts of your body when it comes to sunscreen application. Even if you’re not spending a day at the beach and are covered up in a long-sleeve shirt and jeans, your hands are still out in the open absorbing all those UV rays. Consider using Supergoop’s “handscreen” to protect them from any sun damage. With the combination of sea buckthorn fruit, argan oil, and glycerin hydrate and condition your hands, the SPF is basically an added bonus.

The Best Heavy-Duty Hand Cream

Pros: Creates a “glovelike” protection for your hands; can help with redness.
Cons: Because of the problem-solving formula, expect a thicker feel. 

This thick, eucalyptus-scented salve gets down to business with a heavy-duty formula that’s packed with the kind of oils (like avocado, sesame, and olive) that extremely rough, worn, and dry hands need. It creates a protective “glove” of moisture that helps keep hydration locked into hands.

The Best Fragrance-Free Hand Cream

Pros: Affordable, hypoallergenic, and fragrance free, which is ideal for problematic skin.
Cons: Some reviewers say it’s not thick enough.

This hypoallergenic, fragrance-free treatment has a quick-absorbing lotionlike consistency that delivers speedy relief for itchy, eczema-prone skin. The gentle formula contains colloidal oatmeal to calm irritation and absolutely zero scent, making it a great option for anyone with skin as sensitive as Drake.

The Best Hand Cream With a Pump

Pros: Has a bright citrus and vanilla scent; infused with nourishing essential oils.
Cons: Expensive; not travel-friendly.

If you loathe gunky flip caps or hate trying to screw a cap back on with slippery hands, this hand cream is the way to go. It’s infused with nourishing rosehip oil, orange-peel oil, grapeseed oil, and aloe vera to target stressed skin on overworked hands. The convenient pump-and-go package cuts down on frustration and mess, and the bottle looks beautiful on any bathroom counter. Bonus points for the crisp citrus scent, which transports your mind to somewhere warm and beachy.

The Most Reliable Hand Cream

Pros: Affordable; fragrance free; powerful formula.
Cons: Some reviewers say it leaves a bit of residue.

Neutrogena’s tried-and-true formula is on the heavier side and has successfully healed many a dry hand, making it worth buying whether you prefer the lavender or unscented formula. Leave one at your desk, leave one in your medicine cabinet, leave one on your nightstand, leave one in your car, and leave two more in two other undisclosed locations for safekeeping.

The Best Hand Cream That Gently Exfoliates

Pros: Helps soothe irritated cuticles; made with natural ingredients.
Cons: Sticky consistency.

If you can barely focus on how dry your hands feel because of how terrible your cuticles look, this multitasking cream will help. It locks in the moisture it delivers with natural baobab, pumpkin seed, and watermelon-seed oils and gently exfoliates with a natural fruit acid complex.

The Best Lightweight Hand Cream

Photo: © 2016 Products On White Photography

Pros: Powerful ingredients; quick absorption; ultracool packaging.
Cons: In contrast to the dark packaging, the scent is for those who prefer something light and bright.

Look at that chic black tube! The contents are nice, too: shea butter blended with a lot of essential oils, including argan, avocado, apricot, rose hip, sunflower, and geranium. Despite the oil levels, this cream has a light texture that sinks in quickly but leaves your skin moisturized.

The Best Cream for Hands and Body

Pros: Available in four different scents and three different sizes; long-lasting product.
Cons: Some reviewers say it’s not very spreadable unless you warm it up in your hands first.

This extra-rich formula is basically like slugging for your hands. It contains two different types of shea butter that really amp up the sealing factor, and comes in five unique scents to choose from. A little goes a long way, and that’s good news for the rest of your limbs, because this butter leaves skin kissed with a beautiful, hydrated sheen.

The Best Retinol Hand Cream

Pros: Helps even skin tone on hands, comes in a sleek container.
Cons: Not for sensitive skin, expensive, and has a waxy feeling.

If you want your hand cream to do more than just moisturize, consider this overnight formula that contains retinol to even the appearance of a spotty complexion on your hands. It also plumps skin and helps maintain cuticles, so you’ll wake up feeling (and seeing!) the difference on your hands. Though the price is a little steep, the container serves as cute decor for your nightstand (the curved top is a useful jewelry dish, too!), and you can buy convenient refillable pods after you run out.

The Best Travel-Size Hand Cream

Pros: Hypoallergenic and gentle for all skin types, easy to dispense, great sc
ent.
Cons: One reviewer said the shape can make it hard to use

The round yet flat shape of this hand cream fits nicely in the palm of your hand and can easily slip into a bag or pocket when you need moisture on the go. It penetrates your skin and leaves your hands feeling silky smooth. There’s no sticky or greasy residue, just super soft palms thanks to the shea butters, ceramides, plant oils, and niacinamide to maintain your skin’s barrier by locking in moisture. The vegan and hypoallergenic formula also has a lovely floral scent — bergamot, lavender, rosemary, and Scots Pine — that’s not too overbearing.

The Best Restoring Hand Cream

Pros: A natural rose scent and a lightweight formula that lasts. 
Cons: Some reviewers say the price is a bit expensive for the amount.

Throughout the day I kept smelling a subtle scent of roses and was convinced there was a candle or bouquet in the room. Then I finally realized it was this hand cream I applied, and I was very impressed. The lightweight formula hydrates all day and doesn’t use silicones or synthetic fragrance. Instead, most of the natural ingredients are oils derived from aloe vera, almonds, sesame seeds, and roses. Reviewers love how rich and moisturizing the formula is and how it absorbs quickly.

FAQs

What is the best hand cream formula?

Wechsler recommends steering clear of occlusive formulas, like Aquaphor, when hands are super-dry. “Formulas like that stay on the surface,” she says. “You need something that penetrates.”

Is washing my hands often making them drier?

“Washing your hands removes skin’s natural oils and breaks down its moisture barrier,” says dermatologist Amy Wechsler. “If you give those oils right back in the form of a moisturizer, you can prevent the breakdown from happening.”

Our Experts:

18 Best Hand Creams You Probably Need Right Now