If you’re a gardener, soil and weather can take a real toll of your hands. Extremes of hot and cold as well as dryness and wetness are apt to damage your skin and nails.

Constant contact with the soil tends to deplete the skin of moisture. When the skin’s protective barrier is worn down by the grit in the soil, it loses its ability to retain moisture.

The whole process is made worse by the wind. As your skin dries, it becomes less flexible, more cracked and leather-like. This serves to make it even drier. By this point, your hands can all too easily turn chapped and weather-beaten. The situation is apt to get so bad that you end up developing eczema, with skin that’s red and inflamed, accompanied by itchiness and even blisters.

The ironic thing is that wet conditions don’t supply your skin with the moisture that it desperately needs. Wetness can actually make your skin worse, causing it to split and chap even more with the process of evaporation.

Since your nails are 10 percent water, dryness can make them rough and brittle as well.

The answer lies in reinforcing the skin’s own natural oils. These oils are meant to form a barrier, protecting the skin from loss of moisture, much like the waxy coating on the leaves of trees and plants. The trouble is that this barrier doesn’t stand up very well to the wear and tear of gardening.

Here’s where our Hands-On Gardening™ Cream enters the picture. It replenishes the skin’s natural oils, restoring its barrier of protection. And it’s great for your nails as well.

Most natural hand creams on the market these days are usually made with a large proportion of cocoa butter or shea butter – as much as 60 to 80%. Often very costly, these creams merely buffer the skin. They don’t have ingredients that nourish and heal.

That’s not the case with our Hands-On Gardening™ Cream. It offers a perfect combination of ingredients. Ingredients that not only protect your skin, but enhance its health and vitality.

Calendula, for example, stands out as our premier herb for the healing and nourishment of the skin. It’s also our best vulnerary – the class of herbal medicines notable for their ability to promote the healing of wounds. In the case of Calendula, this distinctive quality is apparent on a number of levels. Notably, it promotes the regeneration of healthy skin (epithelialization) around a wound. Remarkably, it has a topical anti-inflammatory activity equal to indomethacin, a leading prescription anti-inflammatory. As well, this herb is anti-edematous (prevents and reverses swelling in inflamed tissues, ulcers, and wounds). Traditionally it has been used for its general tonifying effect on the skin.

Evening Primrose is a soothing anti-inflammatory as well. Then there’s the Sea Buckthorn – one of the best natural anti-oxidants. Rich in nutrients, it’s been used for centuries to heal skin injuries and conditions – wounds and burns, as well as sunburns and eczema.

Propolis enjoys potent antimicrobial qualities and is anti-inflammatory too. Shea Butter comes from the African Karite nut. It’s high in Vitamins A and E and provides natural UV protection, soothing and moisturizing raw, chapped skin.

Japanese Green Tea is another great natural anti-oxidant. Researchers have found that it restores health to the skin and offers significant new hope for the treatment of wounds and diseases that affect this crucial organ that covers and protects the body. 

All of which means that for those of us who get our hands dirty scrabbling in the soil, Hands-On Gardening™ Cream is absolutely essential. In fact, it’s the perfect skin-rejuvenating cream, ideal for all gardeners – men and women alike.

And remember that it's available in two scents - Pure Essential Oil of Frankincense or Pure Essential Oil of Orange Blossom, depending on your preference.

Ingredients:
Organic/Certified Organic blend of:

Pure natural oils of Sweet Almond, Avocado, Evening Primrose, Calendula, Japanese Green Tea, and Sea Buckthorn
Kosher Certified Gargano Gold™ Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Shea Butter
Untreated Natural Beeswax
Unpasteurized Honey
Lead-Free Bee Propolis
Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol Acetate)
Pure Essential Oil of Frankincense or Orange Blossom