This $4 Hand Cream Saved Our Dry, Cracked Skin (2025)

They say if you want to know someone's age, look at the hands. Our hands take a beating every day because they're one of the few areas of our bodies that is often left vulnerable to external aggressors (read: sun damage, climate changes, and pollution). Over time, this exposure can speed up signs of aging, like wrinkles, dullness, and uneven skin tone. Not to mention, washing and sanitizing our hands, which becomes even more frequent during the colder (and more sickly) months of the year, can also take a toll, causing dryness, cracked skin, and irritation. If establishing a hand-care routine with weekly hand masks seems tedious, we get it. An easier way to start caring for your hands that doesn't require extra time or effort is via hand creams and lotions.

What to Consider When Choosing a Hand Cream

Experts say that the best hand creams have ultra-nourishing ingredients, like shea butter, glycerin, or plant oils, to soothe irritation and rehydrate even the most parched skin. If you enjoy a soothing scented formula, there are plenty of options to choose from. However, if you have very sensitive skin, it's important to note that fragrance can be a potential irritant.

The good news is there are a variety of hand creams to choose from to suit your needs and preferences, from lightweight and thin formulas that absorb quickly to heavy-duty balms that soothe rough texture and cracked cuticles. Additionally, they are typically very affordable and travel-friendly, so you can stock up and have one in your purse, desk, car, or wherever you need for whenever you need. Here are the hardest-working hand creams, according to dermatologists.

We're big fans of this hand cream that has it all—an affordable price point, a nourishing texture, and it comes in various delicious, subtle scents. Our favorite is vanilla cashmere, which combines a mix of whipped vanilla, soft musk, and cozy caramel. The formula contains many nourishing oils and butters, including natural shea butter and shea oil, to provide immediate relief against dry hands and rough patches. If you prefer another scent, it also comes in eucalyptus, coconut, lavender, and more.

"I keep this formula in my bag at all times," says Genesis Rivas, Oprah Daily beauty editor. It's packed with nourishing skincare, including grapeseed oil, avocado oil, antioxidants that protect skin, and shea butter to moisturize, repair, and smooth dry hands. "I struggle with dry and ashy hands when the weather gets cold, but I apply a bit of this formula and feel instant relief. It's rich, buttery, and healing."

We know that for $65 a pop, this option is a splurge, but it's worth every penny, says Kate Sandoval Box, Oprah Daily beauty director. (It also comes in a larger bottle because it can be used on your body). "I don't even like the scent of rose, but this version is gorgeous," she says. "Plus the cream is hydrating but completely soaks in—no greasy palms, promise." The formula contains nourishing meadowfoam seed oil, hydrating hyaluronic acid, and glycerin to keep skin moisturized.

Constant exposure on your hands can lead to signs of aging, sagging, or wrinkling due to loss of firmness and elasticity. Luckily, this formula helps your skin bounce back — pun intended. Its formula is rich with various oils and butters, including marula and shea, to intensely moisturize, plump, and nourish the skin. Oat kernel flour, which is rich in antioxidants, helps protect skin from environmental aggressors that exacerbate dryness, signs of aging, and rough-feeling hands.

If uneven skin tone, dullness, or wrinkles are a cause for concern, then you need to try this ultra-hydrating formula. It has everything you need for softer, smoother, and more radiant skin, including nourishing shea butter, moisturizing coconut oil, brightening vitamin C, strengthening peptides, and hydrating lipids. It strikes the perfect balance between a rich and buttery texture but without feeling heavy, sticky, or greasy. While it does contain fragrance, it's light and inviting.

There's nothing more uncomfortable than hands that are irritated, dry, and rough. Soothe very dry skin with this formula, that's previously picked in Oprah Favorite Things. The founder, Christina Funke Tegbe, created a line of products based on African beauty rituals. This formula is jam-packed with moisturizing oils, like jojoba, baobab, and sweet almond oil. It's rich in consistency, so a little goes a long way. You can also shop it in three scents.

Whether you have eczema-prone skin or wash your hands incessantly, Mona Gohara, MD, a board-certified dermatologist, swears by this intensive hand cream. It's a vegan- and cruelty-free formula that contains colloidal oatmeal, which is helpful with soothing irritations and minimizing itching due to eczema or dermatitis. Ceramides and lipids work overtime to moisturize and rebuild the skin's natural protective barrier. It also contains ultra-hydrating shea butter and plant oils, like coconut and sunflower seed.

Grown Alchemist makes hand cream feel luxurious with its chic, minimalist packaging and aromatic formula. It infuses sweet-smelling vanilla and antioxidant-rich orange peel to protect and repair hands damaged by environmental aggressors that speed up signs of aging. A dime-size amount is all you need to make hands and cuticles feel hydrated and nourished. You can also find it in other scents, like sweet almond and sage, as well as Persian rose and argan.

The skin on our hands is more thin and elastic than it is on other parts of our bodies, which makes it more susceptible to premature aging, says Erum Ilyas, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in Pennsylvania. And a daily dose of SPF is your best defense. This cream is a favorite because it contains SPF 40—a much higher concentration than similar formulas. It also contains ingredients like sea buckthorn fruit to support collagen production, says Ilyas.

"This product contains a high concentration of glycerin, an important player in restoring moisture and the protective skin barrier," says Rina M. Allawh, MD, a board-certified dermatologist. It's also non-greasy, absorbs quickly, and is translucent, making it a great choice for darker skin tones. The formula is also great for those with sensitive skin because it's fragrance-free, non-comedogenic, and hypoallergenic. A little goes a long way, too.

Okay, we know that this won't be the chic hand cream that you pull out of your handbag, but it works and is recommended by dermatologists. It's a humectant-based moisturizer, meaning it helps pull water into the skin to hydrate without leaving behind a greasy residue, says Susan Bard, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York. More than 50,000 Amazon reviewers give this cream a five-star rating, calling it a "miracle product" and a "blessing" for dry and cracked hands.

This is one of the most popular brands of hand cream for good reason. It contains sweet almond oil, shea butter, and almond milk to moisturize and soften the hands and the cuticles. Almond protein also protects the skin. It's the perfect size to toss in your purse but it also comes in a larger version (2.6 ounces). The smell might be our favorite part. The vanilla and almond notes are warm, soothing, and decadent.

Our beauty team is dedicated to finding you the best of the best formulas. We spoke with dermatologists to learn about what to look for in a hand cream and got their go-to recommendations. We also researched and tested top-rated and brand-new formulas that hit the market to help you find the best products out there.