If you live in a place where there are cold winters or that has a dry climate, you are surely always on the lookout for a good, lasting hand moisturizer. Most lotions fail as they are alcohol based and hence always leave you needing more. Two products that are quite reliable for really dry, rough almost alligator-like skin are Glysomed and Herbacin Hand Creams.

Both are based on glycerin and advertise themselves as having a few natural ingredients. This past winter, I decided to try one of them and I decided on the Herbacin Brand Hand Cream as its list of ingredients was shorter by more than half, compared to the Glysomed.

Herbacin Hand cream uses natural glycerin and silicone but is surprisingly not overly greasy and it does absorb well. It moisturizes skin extremely well and has a long lasting effect despite the fact that it does contain two alcohols in its ingredients. I guess the addition of the glycerin and silicone overpowers them. The cream has a nice, gentle and barely noticeable scent.

Bottom line, the cream works well and does what it is supposed to do, but in no way does it come close to a natural product, and I give the companies credit for not labeling it as such. They only label it as having “natural chamomile, natural glycerin and natural silicone oil”. This of course may give people a false sense of security in that the product is therefore “natural” in some way. I also find the packaging a little misleading as their beautiful and vibrant green packaging with a chamomile flower on it may make people feel like they are using a natural chamomile cream and in no way is that true.

So despite that it works well, it is loaded with chemicals and hence I would not buy it again. I’d rather lather something on more often if need be, but prefer that it wasn’t packed with synthetic ingredients, some of which have known or suspected health risks. It is rated as a product that is considered to be a moderate health hazard by Skin Deep.

Ingredients

Packaging

The hand cream comes in soft plastic, squeezable tubes, which probably could be recycled depending on your municipality. They also have creams in metal or plastic tins, that once empty could be recycled.

Price & Availability (as of this posting)

  • $4.99 USD on Amazon.com (2.5oz, 75ml size)
  • In Canada; most local pharmacy or department stores (see list)
  • In the United States, Germany and other parts of the world at local drug stores and some department stores
  • Online from Herbacin.com

The Good

  • Excellent moisturizing/hydrating properties
  • Excellent absorption
  • Long lasting
  • Pleasant and delicate scent
  • Fair price value
  • Widely available

The Bad

  • Uses “fragrance” in ingredients, which is a high health hazard and does not explain its source
  • Is made up of mostly chemical/synthetic ingredients with questionable and some known health risks
  • Check out what skin deep has to say about this cream