When Winter comes to visit, dry skin comes out. We have the heating on higher, and our skin dries out. The wind blows in our faces, and our skin dries out. Kiddies who are prone to eczema end up with itchier skin than normal. But what do we put on our skin and bodies? Most usually, it’s a steroid based product, usually an emolient of some sort, and often quite a greasy feeling product.
For those of us who are professional makeup artists, when we’re faced (ha!) with a client who’s skin has gone a bit off the rails in winter time, often the first thing they say is that their skin gets drier over the winter time, and what could we recommend.
The usual response would be, a moisturiser for very dry skin, or in worse cases, a visit to the GP.
When I got the opportunity to try niche brand Hope’s Relief, and specifically the therapeutic cream, it couldn’t have come at a better time. I decanted some to keep at home to use on my rather dry family, and added the tube to my professional kit to take to work.
As far as my own family goes, my boys haven’t particularly had eczema issues this year, but my 3 year old has had a terrible cold and his back teeth have been coming through, so he’s been a little on the dribbly side! Where I would normally use a balm for treating this, same as I would if I had a cracked nose or soreness, that was too painful for his young tender skin, so I popped a little Hope’s on him, and it was soothing but not stinging.
My husband has a nasty patch of job-related dermatitis on one hand that periodically flares up, usually for no reason, and he’s currently undergoing testing with this, but so far, has reported that it is soothing and softening, which is often a crucial missing link in dry skin treatments. They soften on first contact, but fail to keep the skin supple.
In respect of clients faces though, we’ve had some quite remarkable results! The overwhelming comments have been that they’re skin instantly feels more relaxed, and not tight anymore. Even those clients who don’t have dry skin issues were happy to let me test this on them, and they too felt a softening feeling. While I would probably only recommend this product for those with the dry skins that flare with the elements, it is a nice product to have at home, at hand, and for those times when you just want a little soothing.
It is steroid free, so expect a totally natural product; including Calendula, Manuka Honey, Licorice, Aloe Vera and Gotu Kola. Almost good enough to eat! And while it is a rather unappealing colour, a sort of khaki brown, there is no fragrance to it and as you’d expect from an all natural product, it looks it, feels it, and delivers without synthetics.
