During the winter, the extreme cold and wind can punish your skin and your hands can quickly become dry, chapped and cracked because these weather conditions tear down the skin’s barrier. Use a softening cream that soothes, moisturizes, repairs and protects your hands to keep them soft and beautiful.

Active Ingredients to Look For in a Hand Softening Cream During the Winter

Baobab: The baobab is a tree with a long medicinal history in sub-Saharan Africa because its roots, bark, leaves, fruit and its pulp have great therapeutic properties. Although lesser-known, baobab oil has the same properties for your skin’s health as does Shea oil, but it is rarer as a baobab tree produces about only one liter of oil per year. This is why it is generally combined with other natural oils like argan, Shea, cocoa, etc. in cosmetic products. When applied to your hands, baobab oil moisturizes, softens, nourishes and heals your skin. This is why it is ideal for very cold or dry seasons; it regenerates your skin cells and restores strength and vitality to your hands and nails.

Safflower oleosomes: The safflower is an oleaginous plant, and its seeds contain intracellular structures that store safflower seed lipids. The safflower, from which the oil or oleosomes are extracted, resembles coal and is found in Egypt, Iran and on the Asian and South American continents. Safflower oil is used in hand softeners for its softening, antioxidant and highly nutritious properties, even on the most sensitive skin. It’s one of the oils that acts the most deeply as it releases essential fatty acids and vitamins under the skin. The light yellow oil is extracted from the flower’s seeds and has a pleasant fragrance, is rich in vitamins E and K as well as in linoleic, oleic and palmitic acids. As for safflower oleosomes, they have the same properties as the oil and are often combined with natural oils such as argan in hand care products.

Shea Butter: Shea butter comes from the fruit of the tree with the same name that is found primarily in Western Africa, the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Nigeria, and Mali. The shea tree’s fruit contains an edible nut that is very high in fat as well as an almond that is mainly used to make butter. This is sought after for cosmetic products because of its therapeutic properties for the skin and its ability to protect against harsh weather conditions. Shea butter is known for its nourishing, soothing and restorative properties because it is rich in vitamins A, D, E and F, in latex and in unsaponifiables. As an ingredient in natural cosmetic products, it quickly heals chapped and cracked hands, protects and nourishes the skin and restores its soft, smooth appearance and feel.

When choosing a hand softening cream, look for natural ingredients that are suitable for all types of skin and which are effective to nourish and regenerate the most damaged skin. Opt for a product that combines two natural ingredients like argan oil, baobab or safflower oleosomes for optimal results when used in a single application after you clean your skin.