3 Best hand creams for dry skin! (each under $5.00!!)

So I've mentioned in a few posts that I had dry skin, but I didn't exactly explain the severity of it. In the summer months it isn't as bad but when the summer fades to fall and then to winter my skin freaks out and gets all dry and shriveled up. I moisturize every day to keep my skin looking decent but my hands just seem to need special treatment, ordinary lotions don't provide enough moisture to keep my hands from drying out. I've always hated my hands. They're wrinkly, dry, and dead looking. Everyone I know has nice, smooth hands- and that's just not something I was blessed with. But hey, I have to be grateful that I have hands!

To keep the dryness of my hands at bay, I've done A TON of research to find the best hand creams. Well, the best affordable hand creams. I've found that one of the best ingredients for retaining moisture and giving your hands that smooth feeling is glycerin. Therefor, my 3 top favorite lotions are loaded with glycerin. I've narrowed my favorites down to Glysomed, Neutrogenas Norwegian Formula, and Avon's Moisture Therapy.

Left to right: Glysomed, Neutrogena Norweigan Formula, Avon  Moisture Therapy

They each have a similar texture, they're very thick and feel close to Vaseline, except smoother. I'm going to explain each one individually and let you know which one's my favorite.

I'll start with Neutrogenas Norweigan Formula hand cream, mostly because it's the most popular. I've seen a lot of people rave about this hand cream, and for good reason! You get 2 fl oz of product for generally 4.49, and little goes a looong way. This seems to be true of all the lotions I'm recommending, which is a huge plus. This used to be my hg lotion, but I was kind of unhappy with the way my hands would feel sometimes after using it. After applying my hands would feel a little sticky, and I'd try to wipe them on my jeans but that just resulted in getting fuzz all over my hands. With all of these lotions, your hands will feel slick and smooth, but this one also makes them the smallest bit sticky. Regardless, this is a great and effective lotion. If you buy it now at Drugstore.com, it's 3.69, and there's also a coupon available to get a dollar off, bringing it down to half it's original price.

Though the Norwegian Formula hand cream could be a bit sticky, I don't think its as bad as Avon's Moisture Therapy hand cream. I expected this product to be better because it had a few great ingredients like jojoba oil and soybean oil. However, I found that it was even worse with making my hands feel tacky. It really has the same texture as the Norwegian Formula but for some reason it's more sticky. Effective, but sticky. On the bright side, this one is more affordable. These mini hand creams are usually 2.00 for 1.5 fl oz on the Avon website, but right now they're only 99 cents so if you'd like to experiment for only a dollar, I'd go for it. There's also a few versions of this lotion, so pick up the one with the blue teardrop on it- for extremely dry skin. 

I've saved the best for last, which is Glysomed hand cream. When I first tried this I honestly didn't like it! I was so used to the tacky feeling that my hands just felt gross with this lotion. It makes your hands feel super soft and smooth, and maaaybe a tad greasy. It's not greasy as in oily but it does prevent you from opening doors without using your shirt. After using it more, I started to prefer it. It gave my hands the nice "coated in glycerin" feeling but didn't make my hands sticky. It makes giving people handshakes a more enjoyable experience because I don't have to worry about my hands feeling tacky or dry and uncomfortable. Also, I buy the fragrance-free version because the scented one is supposed to smell a little strong, but they both work equally great. Sadly, you can't find this in your local Walmart or Target, but you can order them off of Drugstore.com for 2.89 per 1.7 fl oz. 

None of these lotions will give you brand new hands (as much as I would love them to), but they do make them feel better, and they've done a lot to improve the overall texture of skin. If you're dealing with dry, cracking hands- this will help your skin to repair and heal. Even if your hands aren't cracking, they're great to use after a handwash to retain moisture or just to get your hands feeling amazing.

I'm sorry that I don't have any magical secrets to give you beautiful goddess fingers, but I do hope you find that these lotions make your skin just a bit more bearable.

ELF Clarifying Pressed Powder in shades Ivory and Light Beige-Review & Swatches

Hey guys! So I've been looking for a product that I can use for when my skin starts getting shiny and oily towards the end of the day. I needed something small and portable that I could just throw in my purse and apply on the go. These ELF Clarifying Pressed Powders seem to do the trick! It claims to "Treat and prevent skin imperfections with key active ingredients formulated for problematic skin. Proven skin clarifiers absorb oil on contact to create a beautiful matte 

finish." 

It's formulated with 1% salicylic acid, which is proven to help treat and prevent acne. I'm not so sure that this powder is effective in treating or preventing acne, but it hasn't caused any crazy breakouts. I don't suffer from extreme acne but I am constantly getting breakouts and my skin is acne-prone, so making sure a product doesn't break me out is important to me. 

It comes with a cotton pad so you don't have to take your brushes with you on the go, however it isn't the best quality and I prefer using a brush if I can. It applies nicely and provides light coverage while absorbing oil on contact, restoring the matte finish my makeup gave me earlier in the day.

Light Beige on left, Ivory on right

I chose the colors Ivory and Light Beige, Ivory is closest to my skin tone but I also picked up Light Beige because I'm getting a bit of a tan during these summer months and I can use it to darken my lighter powders if needed. Below I swatched them on my hand so you can see how the colors look on my skin. If you order them online, the pictures of the shades seem to be lighter than they actually are. This wasn't a huge issue for me but I'd buy them in-store or look up swatches to find the best shade for your skin tone to prevent getting something too light or too dark.

Ivory on top, Light Beige on bottom

While this worked well to absorb the oils on my face, I found the powder exacerbated any flakes or dry areas on my skin. However, most powders will do this if you have any dry spots, so that's something to be weary of. Also, don't get too much product on the pad because if you over-apply you'll end up with a powder face, and if you don't have tissues on you, you'll be stuck trying to wipe your face with the inside of your shirt. It's easy to over-apply using the pad which is why I prefer a brush.

Overall, I'm really happy with this purchase. And the best part is- THEY'RE ONLY 1 DOLLAR!!!

With the pricing, I find it really hard to complain about this product. It's super affordable and if you're not satisfied with it, it's only a dollar down the drain. (Not that wasting even a penny is fun!)

I bought mine on the EyesLipsFace website, but you can find them in your local Target as well in 7 different shades.

Covergirl Lipslicks Smoochies Review & Swatches!

As a lipbalm junkie, I have a scary amount of lip balms and tints. I have naturally pale lips (sadly) and use lipbalms to restore a little color to my lips and my face in general. I bought this lovely product on drugstore.com when it was on sale for 3.99, they’re generally around 6 dollars. I bought the shade #luv u, as it seemed like a great MLBB color. And that it is! 

It’s a nice muavey-pink color and though it looks much like a lipstick, it applies pretty sheer! 

The right swatch was one swipe and to the left was 3 swipes, so as you can see it’s very buildable for those who prefer more color.

Here’s the before and after pictures, with only one swipe on the lips in the second picture

If you’re searching for a balm that will heal dry lips, this isn’t what you’re looking for. But if you want some sheer color and a bit of moisture I would definitely pick this up. It’s tasteless and has a slight scent that I would say reminds me of lipsmackers lip balms. The color lasts maybe 2-3 hours and considering it’s a lip balm, that’s not too bad. I definitely recommend this product which you can find in 12 other shades!

Reviews: Be Delectable Hand Cream in Vanilla & Cream/Candies Body Lotions in Vanilla Bon Bon and Cotton Candy

After some shopping at Kohls I managed to rack up 20$ In Kohls Cash, and for those of you who are unfamiliar with this amazing currency, you basically get 10$ for every 50$ you spend at Kohls, which you can spend at a later time to get money off your next purchase! I make sure to take advantage of this, even if it means I buy stuff I don't need just to use up some free cash. Not only do I have an addiction to lipbalms, but I'm also very dependent on lotions. Yay for dry skin! So I recently used up my 20$ in kohls cash to try out some new lotions. 

I picked up Be Delectable Hand Cream in Vanilla & Cream. It was 5.50 for a 2 oz bottle, more than I would typically spend for the amount I'm getting. 

Upon opening it, I immediately noticed the smell.  It didn't smell as rich and vanilla-like as I expected it to, but smelt light and pleasant like sugar cookies. The formula has a thick consistency which I love in a hand cream, but not as thick as I prefer. Rubbing it in it feels a little watery and even using a little takes forever to rub in. Once absorbed, my hands felt nice and hydrated for awhile- but not long after my hands already felt like they were dry again. This might not be the case for those who don't have dry skin, so if you're looking for a nice hand lotion that will make your hands smell pleasant and just add a bit of moisture- I'd reccomend this. It does smell delectable and is slightly moisturizing, so it's not a purchase I regret. As a plus, it has awesome skin-loving ingredients like shea butter, coconut oil, and aloe vera. However, as far as hand lotions I'm gonna have to stick to my heavy duty hand creams. (Expect to see a review on my favorite hand creams pretty soon!)

I also purchased some body lotions! Candies body lotions in the scents Vanilla Bon Bon and Cotton Candy. If you can't tell, I love sweet scents. If smells good enough to eat, I want it. That's how it is with these 2 scents. Vanilla Bon Bon has a soft vanilla cream scent and Cotton Candy smells like a mixture of vanilla and caramel with a fruity hint to it, not like most artificial cotton candy scents. The texture is pretty watery and it's not the most moisturizing, but I kind of expected that and mostly made the purchase for something that smells good. 

Both of these are sweet-smelling scents that I love, and the packaging adorable. They pair really well with gourmand perfumes and are kinda tempting to eat with a spoon (though I would not recommend eating body lotion!) You can currently pick up these 8.4 fl oz bottles for only 3.60 each!! Also available in scents Strawberry Crème, Sparkling Pear, and Sugarplum Blossom!