Handy Gurugu Hand Cream

As with most people's hands, these over-working parts of your body often take most of the brunt of your daily life. Mine have to sift through hours of marking every day, they're rubbed raw in the winter months and neglected in the summer. Recently, I began to notice that I was developing dry patches in-between my fingers, most likely due to a combination of extreme weather conditions and the number of baths they've been made to sit through recently. I realised that I needed to offer them something in return for their hard work, so I bought myself a tub of Lush's Handy Gurugu hand cream. 

Described as a 'powerful super-moisturiser for extra-dry hands', this hand cream sounded like it would do the trick. Packed full of multiple butters, this product is a powerhouse for skin that needs a serious overhaul of moisture. Containing shea butter, peanut butter, cashew butter, pumpkinseed butter and almond butter, Handy Gurugu sounds almost good enough to eat. These butters are amazing at creating a naturally creamy emollient base which helps to moisturise, heal and protect the skin. Furthermore, they're highly nourishing and work well together to help the skin to retain it's moisture, supporting the natural rhythm of your body.

This hand cream also contains almond oil and primrose oil, both of which help to strengthen and nourish the skin. Furthermore, you'll find a combination of rose oil and lemon juice, both of which tone the skin, brightens it and leaves it looking and feeling revitalised.

I found that during the day, my skin became very dry and taut, very similar to how it feels when you're using a particularly drying soap. As I didn't have anything to counteract this, my skin began to get irritated and very quickly I noticed that, aside from the dry patches, I would often find red lumps and bumps in and around the crevices of my fingers.  

Having used Handy Gurugu for only a couple days, I began to notice that the skin on my hands had vastly improved. By the second day, my dried skin patches had all but disappeared and the sore areas had been reduced considerably. You'll need to be careful that you don't apply too much at once; firstly, as it's a very rich moisturiser, a tiny amount will work wonders for skin, so applying too much is simply wasteful. Secondly, because it's such a thick lotion, it takes a while for the skin to absorb it, so if too much is applied, you end up with greasy hands, which doesn't help to serve anyone. 

Handy Gurugu possesses a rather strong scent. Aside from the different butters, the main ingredients here are rose and vanilla, so I was expecting a fragrance that echoes these scents. However, this is not the case at all. To me, it had a very strong herby, floral scent - a little like fresh lavender intertwined with the powdery smell of dried rose petals. It's definitely not an unpleasant smell, but neither is it a scent I fell in love with. To echo the sentiments of other Lush fans, it's a pleasant smell but not one I would want to smear all over my body.

Overall, for those with dry or damaged hands, Handy Gurugu has all the ingredients needed to reverse this. It does moisturise well and leave your hands feeling very soft. However, it is a very greasy hand cream, and one that takes a few minutes to absorb into the skin, even if you heed my advice and use the most minuscule of amounts. Unfortunately, for someone who uses my hands a lot at work, I cannot afford to sit around for five minutes before I can use my hands again after applying this.

Ultimately, this is a good hand cream which leaves the skin feeling really soft and hydrated. The consistency and ingredients list show it to be a rich, highly indulgent cream, and one that effectively relieves feelings of tightness and dryness in weathered hands. Although the smell is not one of my favourites by far, it can be overlooked for the good that it does. My only issue is that it's a little too heavy for my skin which is why I wouldn't buy it again. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Rose Water, Shea Butter, Glycerine, Stearic Acid, Organic Almond Oil, Triethanolamine, Fresh Organic Lemon Juice, Fair Trade Vanilla Absolute, Rose Absolute, Chamomile Blue Oil, Organic Evening Primrose Oil, Organic Peanut Butter, Organic Pumpkinseed Butter, Organic Cashew Butter, Organic Almond Butter, Tincture of Benzoin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Methyl Ionone, Benzyl Salicylate, Coumarin, Geraniol, Benzyl Benzoate, Farnesol, Limonene, Linalool, Perfume, Chlorophyllin, Methylparaben, Propylparaben.

Vegan?: Yes.

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