I Tried This $15 Cream Out Of Sheer Curiosity — And It Completely Healed My Dry Hands
If there's one beauty-related concern I lament about the most, it's my eczema-ridden skin that tends to crop up especially on my hands, the second the weather turns colder. Because of this, I have a treasure trove of hand creams that I constantly rotate and add to, with formulas ranging from the drugstore to luxury. The most recent addition to my collection was purchased out of sheer curiosity, prompted by the compelling list of ingredients and the affordable price point. Little did I know, I was stumbling onto a hidden gem hand cream that would rival some of the priciest options.
Despite my personal obsession with Korean beauty , I wasn't familiar with Haruharu Wonder . It's the maker of numerous skin care products, from serums to cleansers, and this nondescript hand cream that deeply hydrates chapped, rough and cracking skin, as well as mangled cuticles and brittle nails.
Aside from adding much-needed moisture to my dehydrated hands, I like best of all the cream's ability to relieve my itchy and irritated skin because, as anyone with chronic eczema knows, that's the most troubling part about the condition.
Like so many K-beauty products, the Haruharu Wonder hand cream contains quality ingredients that help heal and hydrate the skin, like nourishing murumuru butter and black bamboo, an ingredient that may be able to offer skin barrier protection, along with panthenol, an incredibly soothing and moisture-attracting vitamin that reduces inflammation and that I often seek out when shopping for hand and body creams.
It also contains the well-studied antioxidant vitamin E, which can also help improve skin barrier function — an important factor when you consider how compromised dry skin can be.
When it comes to my prerequisites for a favorite hand cream, I still have to be able to use my hands like normal after applying a product, without feeling like my skin is covered in a greasy film that transfers to every surface I touch. The Haruharu formula passed this test with flying colors, as this cream instantly and thoroughly absorbs into the skin without feeling sticky or oily. Instead, it just feels instantly softening.
Other users have compared its performance with some famous and high-priced hand creams like the L'Occitane shea butter hand cream ($32 a tube), which, though I am a fan of, I don't like how heavy it feels on my skin. And despite its humble cost, this cream feels deceptively expensive.
The Haruharu Wonder Black Bamboo hand cream contains a blend of nourishing and soothing ingredients. Tessa Flores/HuffPost
This cream does have a scent, but not unpleasantly so. In fact, I liken the fresh and rapidly fading fragrance to something herbaceous and almost medicinal and not at all irritating — and trust me, I say this as someone who is very sensitive to fragrance in their skin care.
There are some understandable critiques about the soft aluminium tube packaging, which some say makes it slightly difficult to extract all the product, but I find that if you invest in one of these very affordable tube keys , then you get every drop of cream out, and you can reuse the key for other similarly packaged products.
Word must have gotten out about this secretly great hand cream because it's currently unavailable at the retailer where I purchased my original tube ( Amazon ). However, there are plenty of enthusiastic customer endorsments from the site that you can read below, just in case you need more convincing.
Promising Amazon reviews:
"Have been searching for the prefect hand cream that is also affordable? Just give this Black Bamboo nourishing and calming hand&nail cream a try. YOU WILL LOVE IT.
Since I bake and cook a lot, I tend to stay away from creams with strong, overpowering fragrances. I prefer natural, simple, but exceptional quality hand creams from department store brands like Aesop or Crabtree & Evelyn's Gardeners hand cream.
If you are fan of those hand creams, get this one instead. Simple, natural, honest, high quality ingredients, with much better price! It is my absolute favorite hand cream!
haruharu wonder's new hand cream smells fresh, green, forest like touch. I would say it would appeal everyone who appreciates the beauty of nature. It is very impressive how its fragrance doesn't linger on my hands for too long, I never worry about the smell of my hand cream messing up my food. Also, its natural scent doesn't collide with other fragrances of my perfumes. The special ingredient murumuru butter of this hand and nail cream gets absorbed quickly, leaves the skin deeply moisturized, well nourished with no stickiness, no greasy fingers; It can even be used right before I drive.
If you are looking for a simple but stylish hand cream that is not only cruelty-free, but also moisturizes, nourishes and protects your hands and nails, THIS is IT!" — Amazon customer" I used to use L'occtaine hand crème which is rather heavy, and it's pricey. This will now be my go to - I really like the way it feels not as thick but very moisturizing." — Phyllis Frazer
"Best hand cream I've ever used. Hands down. My favorite hand cream used to be the first aid beauty ultra repair cream bc as long as I didn't use too much it wasn't greasy. This one is a sooo much better. Not greasy, even if I use a generous amount. Smells nice. Absorbs really quickly. Love the metal tube. Best hand cream ever. My new favorite." — Kay
The original version of this story was published on HuffPost at an earlier date.
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