5 of the best hand creams

To accompany my piece of the health benefits of hand cream - here's 5 of the best creams available:

• Faith in Nature Restorative hand cream 50ml - a pump action tube, this cream glides out and spreads evenly without feeling oily. It absorbs quickly so you're free to get on with life, not wait for your hands to dry. Unscented, it contains hemp oil so has a naturally occurring earthy odour.

• Rawganic moisturising hand cream 50ml - for sensitive skin, this cream comes in a perfect hand bag size squeeze tube. It has a fresh light scent - derived from the abundant mix of essential oils - cedar wood, frankincense, sandalwood, geranium to name only 4 of them! It  has a rich butter content but doesn't sit heavy on your skin - leaves it soft and smooth.

• Body Shop Vitamin E Hand & Nail Treatment 75ml - Deserves a mention despite the presence of parabens.  It has a higher price tag (£8) but contains 25ml more. It's a fragrant cream, rich in vitamin E and contains Sheanut butter - both of which are excellent moisturisers - and dries so quickly I almost forgot I'd applied it. But it does contain parabens which earns it a thumbs down.

• Sweet Almond Oil - this massage oil, often used as a carrier oil for other essential oils is a superb hand and nail treatment.  Used by massage therapists the world over, almonds are rich in minerals - magnesium & calcium - essential for healthy nails - while the oil is also rich in vitamins E and D, and is natural enough to use on babies and children too.

• NAT Origin hand and nail cream - squeeze just a small amount of this lotion onto your hands as it's 98% organic and it goes a long way. When I've applied too much it can feel too thick, but with the right amount, it's creamy, soft and absorbs easily. Pure and full of nourishing stuff - raspberry seeds, jojoba, almond oil - it's gentle so excellent for those prone to allergies or reactions.

Treat your hands to good health and you will feel great.

4 of the best natural moisturisers

When it comes to feeling good, looking in the mirror and seeing your own natural beauty smiling back at you is sure fire winner. And despite the boom in cosmetic surgery, many of us are choosing natural products before synthetic or chemical heavy lotions.

In 'Look Great Naturally …without ditching the lipstick', author Janey Lee Grace reveals that out of 1000 women, (26-65) an overwhelming majority choose natural ingredients over brand names, while two thirds prefer products that have neither been tested on animals nor contain artificial chemicals.

Natural skincare: shea butter

Claimed to have anti ageing, anti inflammatory and skin healing properties,  sheanut butter is widely used in cosmetics, cooking and medicine.

The sheanut tree grows on the African continent and has been highly prized for its nutritional qualities by generations of women for millennia.

When the nut is processed into butter using traditional techniques, it maintains its health properties and when applied to the skin, you get a good dose of essential fatty acids and vitamins A, D, E, F and K making sheanut butter great for hair, face, hands and lips
and babies.

Parabens, cancer, skincare & You

While the link between parabens and cancer is continually debated, it's worth knowing a few truths so you can make informed decisions about what to put on yours, and your baby's, skin.

FACT - Without a preservative - organic matter - food, lotions, creams and pastes - will, in a short time, attract bacteria and fungi.

• Parabens are preservatives - cheap and readily available, they are used in many brands of adult & baby skin care products. Parabens entered mainstream use during the 1920s and increased in the 1950s following reports of lotions causing bacterial harm. Their was a need to increase product shelf-life and parabens were to hand.