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Reviewed / Kiehl's / Aesop / Bath & Body Works / Jergens / Nécessaire
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The Nécessaire The Hand Cream leaves your skin feeling moisturized with a silky soft finish and has a fragrance-free formula that's great for sensitive skin.
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The Ahava Dead Sea Minerals Hand Cream moisturizes your skin well and leaves it with a velvety smooth texture, but the fragrance is too strong.
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Written byJessica Kasparian, who has spent years testing makeup, hair, and skin care products.
Updated August 8, 2025
Washing and sanitizing your hands multiple times a day can lead to irritated and cracked skin, and they can become extremely dry during the harsh conditions of winter.
Incorporating hand creams into your beauty routine is the easiest way to combat the damage you put your hands through—the best hand creams can help keep your hands moisturized while also healing dry skin.
We tested some of the best hand creams on the market from the most popular names in skincare. The Kiehl’s Ultimate Strength Hand Salve
(available at Amazon)
won our Best Overall title for its light, pleasant fragrance and quick-absorbing formula that left behind a velvety finish that lasted for hours. The Jergens Ultra Healing Hand & Body Cream(available at Amazon) snatched our Best Value spot because of its non-greasy, moisturizing feel for an extremely low cost per use.
If our favorite hand creams aren’t what you’re looking for, our list encompasses a wide variety of creams, lotions, and balms, so we’re confident there’s one that will suit your needs.
Credit:
Reviewed / Jessica Kasparian
The Kiehl’s Ultimate Strength Hand Salve is our Best Overall pick because of how well it moisturizes the skin with a thick, silky texture that absorbs well into the skin.
Best Overall
Kiehl’s Ultimate Strength Hand Salve
Kiehl’s Ultimate Strength Hand Salve stood out among the hand creams we tested. Though “salve” may conjure up images of a thick ointment, this is a creamy formula that’s thick enough to moisturize intensely, cracked hands, but lightweight enough to absorb into the skin with a gentle massage.
After a minute of letting this sit on my hands, I could still feel it on my skin, but it wasn’t greasy, slimy, powdery, or filmy—it just felt like my hands, but better. The moisturized feeling lasted well throughout the day, despite a few hand washings.
It has a slight eucalyptus scent, thanks to its inclusion of eucalyptus oil, but it doesn’t linger, and it won’t overpower the aroma of the food you’re eating or the perfume you’re wearing.
I also loved the convenience of the hand cream’s squeeze tube and flip cap dispenser. I do not doubt that the 2.5-or 5-ounce tubes would last you quite a while. I tested the latter size, and it’s a bit too bulky for my purse, but it’s easy enough to store at home or on my desk.
The Jergens Ultra Healing Hand & Body Cream is our Best Value pick because of its creamy, quick-absorbing formula that comes at a low cost.
Best Value
Jergens Ultra Healing Hand & Body Cream
The Jergens Ultra Healing Hand & Body Cream feels just as great on the skin as our Best Overall once absorbed, but it has a thinner consistency that’s even easier to rub into the skin. While some hand creams feel like a film over your hands, this one, like the Kiehl’s, felt like my hands, just healthier with the added hydration. The standout result of using this moisturizer is not only how silky my hands felt after, but how it didn’t leave my finger grips or palms feeling oily.
It has a slightly sweet, clean-smelling scent—shea butter is one of the main ingredients. I love the smell, but if you’re sensitive to fragrance, it may be too strong for you, as it lingers until washed off.
I did not like this cream’s octagon-shaped, twist-off cap. While a small detail, I noticed throughout testing that several hand creams have this cap shape and that the points of the octagon scratch at my already dry and irritated hands when I’m opening the bottle for some relief. (On the other, er, hand, it makes it slightly easier to tighten back on with lotion-slick fingers.)
Aesop Resurrection Aromatique Hand Balm is available in a 2.6-ounce tube with a twist-off cap or as a 16.9-ounce pump bottle container.
Luxurious Scent
Aesop Resurrection Aromatique Hand Balm
The texture of this Aesop Aromatique “balm” has the consistency of a lotion and lies somewhere in between the Kiehl’s and the Jergens in thickness. It spreads with ease across the hands and dries down to a soft but slightly tacky finish after a minute or two.
Similar to the Jergens, I noticed that it left behind less oil on the pads of my fingers and palms than others on this list, which is why it’s higher up on this list. I tested it in the fragrance “Resurrection,” which has a subdued citrusy, herbal aroma. This hand cream also comes in a “Reverence” fragrance with smoky, earthy notes.
Nécessaire's The Hand Cream has a thick, fragrance-free formula.
Best for Sensitive Skin
Nécessaire The Hand Cream
If you need a truly fragrance-free hand cream, look no further than this one from Nécessaire. It doesn’t smell like much of anything at all, nor does it smell like unmasked chemicals. This could be your answer for your sensitive skin or nose.
I adore the creams higher up on this list, but this one earned a spot on my nightstand after testing. It has a consistency that’s a tad thicker than our top picks, which I like for overnight wear, but it’s still easy to disperse over my hands and quick to absorb into my skin.
It left a healthy-looking sheen on my nails and skin without staining my clothing (none of the hand creams stained, but the shine of this one made me cautious at first). The moisturizing effect of this cream lasted a couple of hours, but my hands were mostly back to their normal dry state after several hours and a few hand washes.
The first thing I noticed about the Ahava Dead Sea Minerals Hand Cream is its heavy perfume-like scent. It’s a salty, baby powder-esque odor that doesn’t inherently smell bad, but after wearing it on your hands for a few hours, it becomes an unrelenting stench.
Ahava offers more Mineral Hand Creams in other, defined scents (“sea-kissed,” “cactus and pink pepper,” and “spring blossom”), which may appeal to you (or me) more, but I haven’t tried them.
Moving past the smell, I loved the velvety feel of this moisturizer hand cream on my skin. It reminds me of the Nécessaire in its texture, but the Ahava leaves less oil on my hands and instead offers a dry-touch finish that helps the hands to feel less damp.
While the Eucerin Daily Hydration Hand Cream is the only one we tested that contains SPF to protect your hands from the sun’s UV rays, it performed just like other creams I tested, with a spreadable, creamy consistency that instantly moisturized my skin.
The lotion, which has a very mild but classic sunscreen odor, is a good option if you’re looking for an affordable hand cream with sun protection. However, it wasn’t perfect.
For every cream on this list, I rubbed it enough to cover my hands and then continued massaging—it wasn’t part of my test, just a habit of mine. For most of the hand creams, this action didn’t matter, but the Eucerin lotion started to flake under the friction. The “pilling” wasn’t as bad as others further down the list, but it disappointed me.
The Gold Bond Ultimate Healing Hand Cream isn’t anything to write home about, but it gets the job done. I loved its fresh, clean scent and the gel-like texture that left behind a matte finish to my skin. Its non-greasy claim held up during my testing, though it felt a tad too dry after a few minutes on my skin. If you have oily skin or sweaty hands, this Gold Bond cream is worth considering.
While expensive, the Chanel La Créme Main has a silky smooth, lightweight texture that’s easy to massage into the skin and quick to absorb.
It left my hands feeling soft, but because of its thinner consistency, it wasn’t quite emollient enough to smooth over my dry patches. It has a light, sweet scent that you won’t notice after a while, and it doesn’t leave any oily residue on palms or fingertips.
Texture-wise, the Aveda Hand Relief Moisturizing Creme is reminiscent of the Kiehl’s, with a thicker consistency than Jergens and others on this list. It spread onto my hands well and gave the velvety results I was after, but my hands felt a little too damp and slippery even after a few minutes of massaging it in.
I think many people could enjoy this, especially if they have parched hands, but with a higher-than-most price, it falls further down the list for its performance that doesn’t measure up to our Best Overall. It has a sweet, herbaceous aroma that becomes noticeable only when your hands are close to your face. It’s also available in a “cherry almond” scent.
The L’Occitane Hand Cream made my skin feel soft, but not silky. It’s a thicker lotion, and it dries to a matte-like finish. The cream I tested has a light, pleasant smell that fades once it's thoroughly rubbed into the skin.
My gripe with this hand cream is its octagon-shaped, twist-off cap, similar to but smaller than the Bath & Body Works or Jergens caps, and even harder to grip if you already have lotion on your hands. I had to pull down my sleeve to grip the cap without irritating the cracked skin around my index finger and thumb.
Glossier went for it with this darling, millennial pink, palm-sized container. The cream itself left my hands feeling well-moisturized at first, but the finish felt chalky and unpleasant.
The packaging, while cute, is not the most functional. The rectangular base is squeezable, and the product dispenses through a hole covered by a rounded flip-up cap. However, I’m unsure how to dispense the cream altogether once there’s little left in the squeezable portion.
Still, I ended up addicted to the smell of this, and by the end of the day, I tested it. It’s clean and has a slight spicy-sweet note that hooked me the same way the brand’s Glossier You perfume did—though these are not the same fragrance. I’d use the hand cream up (as best I could from the container), but I wouldn’t repurchase it.
The O’Keefe Working Hands Hand Cream is thick, tacky, and pilled up on my hands as I tried to massage it in. After a while of wearing this and wiping the little white bits off my palms, my hands felt smooth to the touch, but it wasn’t worth the annoyance.
One of the two hand creams I tested, which came in a tub rather than a squeezable tube or container, I decided I’d prefer in tube form because I found myself grabbing too much when scooping it up with my fingers. However, I tried it in a tube about a year ago and was not a fan of that either.
The only thing you need to know about the Aveeno Skin Relief Hand Cream, which touts colloidal oatmeal as its skin-soothing ingredient, is that it flaked up terribly on my hands when I used the same amount of formula for this as any of the other lotions.
The Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream feels more like an ointment or balm than a cream. It comes out clear (like petroleum jelly or Aquaphor), but it turns white as you massage it into your hands. It took about a full minute for the sensation to fully settle in, and the result was a heavy feel that was like a soft film over my hands.
This may work fine for overnight treatment or to apply only on the backs of your hands or dry spots like the elbows, but I’d stay away from putting it all over your fingers and palms if you plan to use them right after.
Nivea Creme, with its mild perfume scent, is thick and balm-like, making it challenging to massage into the skin thoroughly. After rubbing for a minute or two, you’ll start to feel the cream absorb into your skin, but it stays white, indicating that there’s still excess formula.
The only way I’d suggest using this is if you put it on your hands under a pair of cotton gloves to wear overnight as a treatment. You could probably only keep this at your bedside anyway, as the 1-ounce container is not portable. (A 6.8-ounce tub is also available.)
Reviewed's former beauty editor Jessica Kasparian was excited to test top-rated hand creams to find the absolute best. She washes her hands about 10 times a day, give or take, so they get pretty dry, especially in the colder months.
Using a calibrated rubric of targeted questions, Kasparian evaluated some of the top creams on the market to see which was the best hand lotion, focusing on the following areas:
Feel: Does the hand cream feel too oily or too dry? Does it feel heavy on the skin after absorbing? Do you need a lot of cream for your hands to feel moisturized?
Longevity: How moisturized do my hands feel after letting the hand cream settle in for a minute? After an hour? After six hours?
Packaging: Is it easy to get the hand cream out of its container? Do you end up getting cream all over the container during use?
Smell: Does the cream have a smell? Is it pleasant or unpleasant? How powerful is the scent?
Things to Consider About Hand Creams
Credit:
Reviewed / Jessica Kasparian
We tested some of the hand creams on the market to find the best of the bunch.
There are tons of hand lotions and creams out there, so finding the right one for you might feel difficult. Here are a few things to consider when looking for the best hand cream.
Hand Cream Skin Concerns
Like any other skincare product you’ll buy, you want to consider the current state of your skin and your desired result when purchasing a hand cream.
If your hands are oily or sweaty, consider a product with a gel-like consistency that absorbs into the skin quickly, leaving a powdery feel. If your hands are dry, consider a product with essential oils for a slick, long-lasting moisture that won’t dry out.
Scent in Hand Creams
Avoiding fragrance is a safe bet if you’re worried about a product scent being too overpowering (to conflict with your perfume) or lingering too long on your skin.
For some people, though, part of the appeal of wearing a hand cream may be the smell—after all, there’s a reason why a place like Bath & Body Works offers hand lotions in the same scents as its candles and body sprays.
Using Hand Creams
You should also think about the times of day you tend to use the hand cream. If you only plan to apply a hefty dollop of it at night and then leave it behind on your nightstand, you won’t need to worry about bulkier packaging. You might also not care as much about how greasy it feels or how long it lasts after application.
However, suppose you want to apply as needed throughout the day. In that case, you may want a compact, easy-to-open tube that fits into your bag or pocket and a formula that absorbs relatively quickly (an attribute that we gave higher weight in our testing).
Read More About Body Lotions and Moisturizers on Reviewed
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Jessica writes and edits beauty content. She's spent years testing makeup, skincare, hair care, and body care products, and she has acted as Reviewed's beauty expert.
Jessica holds a Bachelor's degree in journalism from Emerson College, and she's written for Scary Mommy, 7News, Boston.com, Citizine, and Boston Common Magazine.
Our team is here to help you buy the best stuff and love what you own. Our writers, editors, and experts obsess over the products we cover to make sure you're confident and satisfied. Have a different opinion about something we recommend? Email us and we'll compare notes.