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Posts tagged Dry Skin
NIVEA In-Shower Body Moisturiser Skin Conditioner for Dry Skin
3For me, moisturising is one of the most important parts of my skin care regime, but sometimes (especially on work days) I just don’t have the time to moisturise properly. So, when I saw NIVEA had launched their In-Shower Body Moisturiser a couple of months ago, I couldn’t wait to give it a try as it seemed like it would slot nicely into my morning routine and save me a bit of time each day. The In-Shower Moisturiser comes in two varieties – one for normal skin which comes in a white bottle, and one for dry skin which comes in the classic NIVEA blue bottle, which is the one I opted for.
The instructions on the bottle are simple – Use your normal shower product and rinse off, apply the In-Shower Body Moisturiser while still in the shower, rinse off, dry yourself, get dressed and go. What could possibly go wrong? As it happens, quite a lot.
NIVEA’s In-Shower Body Moisturiser has a creamy, smooth consistency, massages in nicely and has that typical, fresh NIVEA scent, but that’s where the positives end. After applying the skin conditioner I rinsed and rinsed, but the moisturiser left a thick, greasy coating on my skin that just wouldn’t budge. Even after drying myself the residue remained and it felt sticky. I even tried scraping it with my finger nail and a gloopy, white mess gathered behind it, eurgh! After leaving such a thick layer on my skin I at least expected the In-Shower Moisturiser to make my dry skin feel softer… Nope! I could still feel the dry patches through the grease, which is not a nice feeling.
Overall, I’m disappointed with NIVEA’s In-Shower Body Moisturiser. I bought my bottle half-price from Superdrug a couple of months ago, but full-price this 400ml bottle costs £5.09, which would be better spent on a good quality, normal moisturiser. I still use it every now and then if I’m in a real hurry, but I’ve learnt my lesson and I’d much rather take those extra few minutes to moisturise properly, even if it nearly makes me late for the bus!
Have you tried this product? What do you think of it?
Naomi x
Skin Care Routine for Dry Hands
9In the past I have blogged about several fantastic hand creams which have done a good job at softening my skin. However, for some reason, this winter has been particularly harsh on my hands which has left me with sore, dry patches which got so bad my hands actually started bleeding, and none of the creams I’d previously used were good enough to fix it! I tried everything from high street dry skin hand creams, E45 and Sudocrem to natural eczema remedies, but nothing worked, so in an effort to sort it out once and for all I went to see my GP for advice. I was expecting him to give me something chemically and horrible on prescription, but instead he suggested a rather different remedy which is now a big part of my every day skin care routine.
This might sound strange, but my GP told me to stop using soap (both bar and liquid) when I wash my hands, and to use Emulsifying Ointment instead. Both water and soap can dry skin out, but Emulsifying Ointment is a mixture of paraffin oils, which form a protective layer over the skin when used, helping to keep moisture in.
I have been using Emulsifying Ointment at home, instead of soap, for a couple of weeks now, and I am really noticing a difference. Before, I had really painful, cracked skin between my fingers, so I have been concentrating on massaging the ointment in to these areas, and they are almost completely better now. I haven’t been using this every time I wash my hands, as at other people’s houses and in public toilets it isn’t always possible, so they probably haven’t healed as quick as they could have, but I plan on buying another tub to carry with me at all times which should help! The 100g tub above cost me a couple of pounds from my local pharmacy, but I’ve since seen a 500g tub for around the same price, so it really isn’t that expensive.
Throughout the day I continue to use unscented, dry skin hand creams as usual, and wear gloves when I’m outside to avoid damage from the cold wind, but the next major stage in my skin care routine for dry hands comes at night, before I go to bed. My GP advised me to use Vaseline to help soften my skin, but I have found something else which works a treat – Olive Oil!
The little bottle of Olive Oil pictured above came from the pharmacy department in Boots, and cost me £1.99. I’ve tried to find out whether it’s the same as Olive Oil used for cooking, but there are no clear answers online, so I thought I’d play it safe and buy one which said it was good for softening skin. I’m pretty sure you can’t use Extra Virgin though! Every night before I go to bed, I rub a small amount of this into my hands (about a 5p coin sized amount per hand), focusing on the backs and in between my fingers which are the worst affected areas. Then, I get my MJ groove on and don a pair of cotton moisturising gloves, which help with the absorption of the oil, and prevent messy bed linen! I got mine from the pound shop, two pairs for £1.
Admittedly, I usually wake up in the morning sans gloves, but by that point the oil has done its job. Though the oil is far too greasy to use throughout the day as a moisturiser, it is working well as a nightly intense treatment and, along with the Emulsifying Ointment, it has made a clear difference to my skin. I am now (almost) dry skin-free, my hands no longer crack and bleed, and I just have a few rough patches on my knuckles to shift. An incredible result from a simple routine!
In sum, all you need to do is…
- Use Emulsifying Ointment instead of soap when you wash your hands.
- Moisturise with an unscented dry skin hand cream throughout the day.
- Wear gloves when out and about to avoid damage from the cold wind.
- Use olive oil and moisturising gloves at night.
Will you be trying this routine for yourself?
Naomi x
Friday Favourite: Avon Care Intensive Body Lotion
2It’s been a while since I last posted a Friday Favourite, but the feature has been revived for one of my ultimate every day essentials – Avon Care’s Intensive Body Lotion.
This lotion is formulated especially for ‘Extra Dry Skin’ and contains rice bran oil to help restore a natural softness to your skin. If I don’t moisturise every day, my skin gets quite dry, very quickly, so I’m always trying out new lotions to see which work best for me, and I think this is one of the best I’ve tried in a while.
The moisturiser is VERY rich – a blob the size of the one above is enough to cover about one whole arm, so you really don’t need much at all for good coverage. The bottle is huge as well – 400ml – so it will last for AGES! Despite the richness of the product, it isn’t greasy at all, rather, it softens your skin straight away. The bottle states that it provides 24 hour hydration, which for once is true! I apply this every morning after my shower, and my skin still feels lovely the next morning, even surviving my evening wash 
Though the body lotion contains no artificial scent, it does have a delicate, clean smell to it which is easy on the nose and makes you feel nicely fresh after application.
This usually retails for £4.80 for 400ml, which is a great price in itself and I’d be happy to pay that, but it is almost ALWAYS on offer which is obviously a bonus! It is currently being sold half price at £2.40 here.
Naomi x
Garnier Intensive 7days Challenge
1Hi everyone,
Last week I received my free Garnier Intensive 7days Challenge pack in the post and I couldn’t wait to try it out! Each pack contains 7 individual 6ml sachets of Garnier’s new Intensive 7days Softening Lotion…
and two Skin Readers…
The challenge states that before you use any of the sachets, you have to press the sticky part of Skin Reader 1 onto one of your shins for 3 seconds. You are then left with an idea of how dry your skin is by how many white skin cells there are left on the reader. I have to say, there was quite a lot of white on mine (as you will see later), but I wasn’t too shocked or surprised as I know I have fairly dry skin anyway, which is why this challenge is perfect for me!
Once you’ve used the Skin Reader, it is time to start moisturising! Every morning for seven days I used a sachet of the lotion on my legs. There was a very generous amount of product in each sachet to the point that I had enough left over to use on my upper arms too! And that’s saying something because I’m 5’10” so have a lot of leg haha. The sachet says that the lotion contains shea butter so I was expecting it to have that distinctive shea butter smell, but it didn’t. In fact, I found the scent to be fairly unremarkable, and somewhat non-existent! The texture of the lotion was quite greasy, which I don’t usually like in a moisturiser, but it absorbed quickly and easily so I didn’t really mind in the end.
The challenge packaging says that Garnier Intensive 7days ‘leaves skin hydrated, feeling smoother and softer’, so after the 7days I used Skin Reader 2 to see if the product lived up to its word! This was the result…
The Skin Reader on the left is Skin Reader 1, and as you can tell there is a LOT of white skin on the sticky bit. The Skin Reader on the right is number 2, and obviously has far less skin on it that the other one. I know the results look good, but I wasn’t too pleased with them at first as the second reader had a big patch on it which wasn’t sticky, so obviously any loose skin wasn’t going to stick to it! I don’t know whether it was done on purpose, but I think I’ll give Garnier the benefit of the doubt on that one and focus on the bits that were sticky. And well, yes, my skin did seem a lot less dry after the challenge, and felt smoother as a result, which is always good
It’s been a few days now since I completed the challenge and I’d say that the Intensive 7days lotion has DEFINITELY made a big difference. My legs still feel really soft and smooth, even though I’ve not used the lotion for a couple of days. The fact that it has made a long term improvement is the best thing about this in my opinion, as it proves it doesn’t just leave a layer of grease on your skin, but actually gets to the root of the problem. Because of this, I think I am going to invest in a bottle to use throughout the summer to keep my legs looking nice for when I wear dresses and shorts!
Have you completed the 7days Challenge yet? If not and you want a challenge pack, you can find out how to get one here.
Naomi x
Friday Favourite: The Body Shop Coconut Milk Body Lotion
0The Body Shop’s Coconut Milk Body Lotion is one of my absolute essentials and I use it every day. The lotion is described as being:
Lightweight moisturisation with Community Trade organic virgin coconut oil
and it is for normal to dry skin. The lotion comes in a 250ml spray bottle and is quite thin in consistency, but it absorbs quickly without being greasy. The scent of the sweet coconut is divine and lingers on the skin for most of the day.
The main reason I love this lotion is because it has really helped with my dry skin. For ages I suffered with dry patches on my upper arms, especially in the winter months, but since I started using this over a year ago, the dry patches have completely cleared up and my skin is now lovely and soft.
As an added bonus, The Body Shop Coconut Milk Body Lotion is ethical and environmentally friendly, as it is against animal testing and supports community trade – the coconut oil is from Samoa and the babassu oil is from Brazil.
The lotion is £8 per bottle, but it lasts for a long, long time. I’ve used this bottle at least once a day (sometimes twice) for over 6 months and it is still 1/5 full! I highly recommend this lotion for anybody with dry skin as it really does work.
Which Body Shop lotions do you like?
Naomi x
