Ok y’all it’s that time of year when the cold, dry air really messes with our skin. Some of us are more afflicted by the dry sky than others. My hands get so dry and cracked that it’s painful. My fingertips get raw and my palms have been known to crack open and start bleeding. All in all it sucks.

As you can imagine, I go through lotions like it’s going out of style. I try all different kinds with the hope that one of them will help my poor hands so it isn’t so scary to wash my hands and dry them out more. Y’all I’ve spend HUNDREDS of dollars over the years trying to find a Lotion that will help my fingers so they don’t look like something from a horror film. And nothing I’ve tried has worked. I got lucky and the last few years have been relatively mild to my hands. Unfortunately, that luck ran out this year and the gross is back with a vengeance.

The other night I was sitting at home working my butt off trying to get my super slow computer to let me do some updates when it happened. Two of my fingers cracked open and created painful spots that I didn’t even want to touch. Wouldn’t you know, there wasn’t a single container of lotion in my apartment ANYWHERE. So at almost nine p.m., the boyfriend and I jump in the car and head to Wal Mart in search of relief for my hands.

Now I know what you’re going to say. “Emma Mae there’s this great lotion that this awesome online company sells. It’s all natural and it’ll work wonders!” I know there are and I have every intention of trying of some of those great lotions from those awesome online companies. But that night, I was desperate. I needed something to help quick.

Standing in the aisle full of various lotions and cremes, I was looking for that stuff that your grandma buys. You know the kinds. The ones with no labeled scent that come in the big tubs or bottles to last forever. The stuff that is a staple for anyone like me that can’t keep their hands from drying out. As I’m trying to pick one of these out, my boyfriend points out the Burt’s Bees area. There is was. This tin that is about as round and the palm of my hand labeled Burt’s Bees Hand Salve. So in my desperately curious state, I pick it up and start reading. The label claims it’s a farmer’s friend and that you should use it before or after activities like gardening. I glance at the ingredients and notice that true to form, Burt’s Bees has created another natural product full of plant oils and extracts. So I cave and decide to try it, but grab my grandma tub just in case.

Let me tell you. As someone who has spent years scouring the shelves looking for a lotion that would work and smell good when I opened that tin, I was ecstatic. It’s got that menthol Burt’s Bees smell to it, but a little more subtle than their chapstick. I was instantly in love with that. And as soon as I put it on, I felt relief. My hands still hurt, but it wasn’t as bad! I put it on three or four times before I went to bed. Now, I know lots of people hate when they have that greasy lotion feeling on their hands. This does that, but it slowly absorbs and you honestly don’t even notice it after a few seconds. That’s a lifesaver for folks like me that would normally have to keep reapplying lotions that absorb quickly.

When I went to bed, I put tons of it on and covered my hands with clean socks. You can use gloves, but I didn’t have any at the time. I do this to help hold the excess lotion on my hands to be absorbed overnight. I woke up and took the socks off and I was so excited I wanted to jump around. The dryness was gone! Now, I know that I should have expected this but I was still pretty stoked. So I waited a couple hours before I put more on to see how my hands were actually reacting to it.

They did get a little dry, but nowhere near where they were before. I do believe I’m in love. Overall, I give this product a 9 out of 10. The only reason I didn’t give it a full 10 is the packaging. I would like to see something that is either easier to open/close or in a squeeze tube that would make application quicker. However, I would definitely recommend this to anyone that needs a stronger lotion for their dry hands. Plus, it smells pretty good in my opinion! If you’re like me and your hands need a little extra TLC during the dry winter months, you should check this one out. It’s worth it!

Happy Adventuring!