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24 of the Best Hand Creams for Soft, Supple & Seriously Hydrated Skin

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We don’t know who needs to hear this, but skincare isn’t just for your face, folks. When it comes to curating a solid regimen, it’s critical to make sure you’re nourishing the rest of your bod’s skin, too—especially your hands. Think about it: With all of the washing and sanitizing our hands have undergone the past few years, combined with winter weather and the fact that we use them, well, literally all day, every day, it’s no wonder that they’re in need of some extra TLC. Which brings us to our topic for today: hand creams.

Not only are hand creams essential for keeping your skin happy, hydrated and healthy, but they can come with plenty of other benefits. We’re talking eczema and arthritis relief, UV protection, reversing early signs of aging and even brightening skin’s texture and tone. Oh, and those aromatherapeutic fragrances are nothing to scoff at either.

So if you’re looking to step up your handcare game, congrats—you’re in the right place. Here, 24 of the best hand creams on the market, from heavy-duty treatments and lightweight formulas to CBD balms and salves—all guaranteed to nourish your dry, cracked and parched skin.

The Best Hand Creams At A Glance:

best hand cream loccitane

1. L’occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream

Best Overall

When it comes to hand creams, L’Occitane is the MVP. Thanks to a formula that contains a high percentage of shea butter, its texture is rich and feels oh-so luxurious to rub into your skin. Better yet, it blends in with ease, deeply moisturizing to soothe cracked cuticles and chapped knuckles without leaving a greasy residue. Oh, and it’s sustainably sourced and packaged in an eco-friendly aluminum tube, too.

2. Supergoop! Handscreen SPF 40

Best for Sun Protection

By now, we hope you have a good sunscreen that you’re using daily to protect your skin from the elements. But did you know that your hands can show early signs of aging, too? Make sure you’re taking care of them by adding in a hand cream with SPF to your routine. This one from Supergoop! is equipped with SPF 40 and antioxidant sea buckthorn to not only ward off sun damage, but to keep your hands nice and hydrated as well.

best hand cream seed phytonutrients
Grove Collaborative

3. Seed Phytonutrients Hand Salve

Best Overnight Cream

Every now and then your hands may need some extra TLC. When they do, we suggest reaching for a heavy-duty cream that can act as an overnight treatment. This one from Seed Phytonutrients has a thick, balm-like texture that’s ideal for lathering on to help soothe dry hands as you catch some zzz's.

4. Burt’s Bees Almond and Milk Hand Cream

Best All-Natural Formula

Suffering from dry, cracked hands and cuticles? This all-natural formula from Burt’s Bees is here to save the day. It’s packed with nourishing, all-natural ingredients (think: aloe and sweet almond oil) and has a thick, balm-like consistency that deeply penetrates thirsty skin, giving it the cool drink of water it needs.

best hand cream love beauty and planet
Walmart

5. Love Beauty And Planet Shea Butter Cream

Best Affordable Cream

Don’t let the budget-friendly price tag fool you, this pick is still a treat for your hands and packs a wallop of hydration. Its vegan formula combines silky shea butter and glycerin to moisturize and revive dry skin and leave it feeling velvety soft.

best hand cream caudalie
Caudalie

6. Caudalie Vinoperfect Brightening Hand Cream

Best Brightening Cream

A botanical-based formula that combines natural plant oils like avocado, sunflower and grapeseed with a vitamin C derivative, this skin saver does a lot more than soften. Acting as a tone-evening treatment for your hands, it brightens and smooths skin over time, diminishing dullness and sunspots. (Your hands deserve a youthful glow, too!)

best hand cream kate sommerville
Dermstore

7. Kate Somerville Dry Skin Saver

Best Multi-Use Cream

Anything versatile is a win in our book, so it’s no surprise that this multi-use cream from Kate Somerville is on our list. Ideal for sensitive skin thanks to its gentle formula, it can be used from head-to-toe for wherever you need.

best hand cream pai
Pai

8. Pai Free Bird Prebiotic & Vitamin E Cream

Best for Using With Hand Sanitizer

Over the past few years, we’ve learned that hand sanitizer isn’t necessarily the gentlest product to use on our skin. Although we appreciate it for banishing germs, most hand sanitizers can actually strip the skin of good (yes, good) bacteria that your body needs—which is where this moisturizer from Pai comes in. Formulated with Inulin, an innovative prebiotic found in chicory roots, it’s a lightweight moisturizer that adds the friendly bacteria back in, keeping your hands happy, healthy and hydrated.

9. Augustinus Bader The Hand Treatment

Best Anti-Aging Cream

It’s no secret that we’re (minorly) obsessed with Augustinus Bader’s The Rich Cream. So it should come as no surprise that its hand cream is equally as good. A silky-smooth moisturizer that seeps right into your skin, it also uses the wrinkle-fighting ingredient TCF8 to reverse early signs of aging and repair any sun-induced damage.

10. Chanel La Creme Main Texture Riche

Best Splurge-Worthy Cream

Sure, Chanel’s La Creme Main is totally Insta-worthy, but it not only looks good, it feels good, too. Rich and luxurious (because what else would you expect from the French fashion house?), it combines shea butter, glycerin and iris pallida to soothe irritated skin and leave it glowing after each use. And that light floral scent? Absolutely to die for.

11. Necessaire The Hand Cream

Best Clean Formula

It is completely A-OK to be a clean freak—especially when it comes to your beauty regimen. So if tracking down a hand cream with a formula you can trust is at the top of your priority list, Necessaire’s The Hand Cream is your match made in heaven. Hypoallergenic and packaged in a recyclable tube, it’s free from any synthetic fragrances and harsh, red-flag ingredients, so you can feel good after each use.

12. Glossier Hand Cream

Best Non-Greasy Formula

Yes, Glossier’s packaging is cuteness overload, but this hand healer comes with plenty of other benefits as well. In this case, the star of the show is glycofilm pollustop, a key ingredient that seeps into the skin without any sticky residue, yet acts as a barrier-like protection around your hands, sealing in moisture and keeping airborne pollutants at bay.

13. Byredo Hand Cream Blanche

Best Lightweight Formula

A no-fuss hydrator that’s simple and to the point, Byredo’s moisturizer makes your hands feel (and smell) fantastic. It’s gentle and super lightweight—ideal for on-the-go moisturizing for when your skin needs a quick boost of hydration.

14. Lanolips Rose Intense Hand Cream

Most Intense Formula

When it comes to deeply penetrating and treating dry skin, this pick does the job and does it well. The brand’s signature ingredient is lanolin, an oil that comes from sheep’s wool that excels at helping your skin retain its moisture. All you need is a small amount for your hands to be soothed and hydrated all day long.

15. Clarins Hand And Nail Treatment

Best for Nails

If you’re prone to biting and picking at your nails when stress levels get high (because same), reaching for a treatment that strengthens and gets them back to their pre-bite glory is in order. This one not only softens cracked cuticles, but fortifies and heals your nails over time, too.

16. EltaMD So Silky Hand Cream

Best Long-Lasting Formula

We’re all in favor of frequent hand washing to keep you clean and germ-free, but you shouldn’t have to reapply lotion after each wash to keep your hands hydrated. Enter: EltaMD’s So Silky Hand Cream. Its formula is exceptionally long-lasting, soaking right into the skin and keeping your hands silky-smooth no matter how many times you scrubba-dub-dub with soap and water.

best hand cream okeeffes

17. O’Keeffe’s Working Hands Hand Cream

Best for Cracked Hands

We use our hands daily, so it’s perfectly normal for them to show some signs of wear and tear. But for those of us that really like to put them to good use (gardeners, we’re looking at you) a standard hand cream just simply isn’t going to cut it. Described by reviewers as a “miracle worker,” O’Keefe’s Working Hands takes cracked, dry—even bleeding—knuckles and cuticles, and breathes new life into them, soothing and hydrating for long-lasting softness.

best hand cream sur medic1
Soko Glam

18. Sur.medic Super+ Super Ceramide 100 Intense Protection Hand Cream

Best K-Beauty Cream

A hand cream that has just a little bit of everything, Korean brand Sur.Medic’s budget-friendly moisturizer comes with an all-natural formula that’s filled to the brim with impressive ingredients. We’re talking ceramides to replenish your skin, olive oil to hydrate and hyaluronic acid to target sunspots and emerging fine lines.

best hand cream aesop
Aesop

19. Aesop Resurrection Aromatique Hand Balm

Best Scented Cream

Want a decadently fragrant lotion that nourishes your skin and is cruelty-free? Look no further than Aesop’s Resurrection balm. Its intoxicating aroma smells of wood and citrus, and its formula contains natural oils and butters, leaving moisturized and oh-so soft skin in its wake.

best hand cream skinfix
Sephora

20. Skinfix Eczema + Hand Repair Cream

Best for Eczema

Eczema is…the worst. But if you suffer from frequent flare ups and are searching for a cream to save the day, we come bearing good news. Skinfix’s repair cream is specifically formulated for those of us with eczema. Its combo of colloidal oatmeal and allantoin soothes irritation and counteracts redness while working to keep your digits from getting parched.

21. La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Hands

Best Dermatologist-Recommended Formula

Niacinamide, shea butter and La Roche-Posay’s signature thermal spring water are just a few ingredients in this potent cream that make it the non-greasy, soothing, skin-strengthening wonder that it is. No wonder it’s earned its place as a dermatologist favorite.

best hand cream ouai
Sephora

22. Ouai Hand Lotion

Best Countertop Cream

Pro-tip: Keep dry hands at bay by placing a bottle of hand cream next to your sink to reapply after you wash ‘em. This one from Ouai is 16 ounces and contains a soothing blend and jojoba, avocado and rosehip oils for a punch of moisture alongside its refreshing citrus scent.

23. Avène Cicalfate Hand Cream

Best Unscented Cream

From its copper and zinc base that nourishes parched skin to the non-greasy texture that lets you go about your day sans sticky fingers, Avène’s formula is free and clear from synthetic fragrances and one that sufferers from sensitive skin should have in their arsenal.

best hand cream penguin
Penguin CBD

24. Penguin CBD Cream

Best CBD Cream

Whether you battle with arthritis or simply suffer from achy joints, adding a CBD balm into your rotation is never a bad idea. This one is made with broad spectrum CBD hemp extract, which is rich in terpenes and cannabinoids. Translation: It absorbs quickly for immediate relief. The pleasant peppermint and lavender scent is just an added bonus.

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purewow author

Commerce Editor

Anna Smutny covered a range of beats, from fashion and beauty verticals to home decor (and everything else in between) for PureWow from 2021-2022. With a background in wedding and...