When I first started thinking about a post for this week I immediately thought of hand cream. I’m not an expert on hand cream and haven’t used it that much in the past, so naturally I thought I could pound out five hundred words on the subject. Not really sure there’s that’s much to say about it.
I also considered writing about humidifiers and the old trick of leaving a pan of water on the old wood stove. There isn’t an old wood stove in the house and I don’t have a humidifier so I took those off the list. The subject of alligators also crossed my mind for two reasons one was a funny my daughter-in-law posted on Facebook that said, “Dude saves his puppy from a gator. Rest of the world: Oh my God! Floridians: It was only about a 4 footer.”
She’s from Florida – makes it funnier to me as I could picture her taking down a 4 foot gator.
Second reason is that my hands are slowly turning into the texture of alligator skin – rough. The back of my hands look like they’ve be sanded with 60 git sandpaper with bits starting to flake off. Actually I think I could use my hands as 60 git paper. Well, maybe 120 … still, it’s starting to look weird. In the past this kind of skin condition on me is usually traceable to the use of certain chemicals that I’ve used incorrectly. You know, like denatured alcohol or acetone. Yes, you’re suppose to wear gloves when pour the stuff but … safety who does that?
Anyway, I don’t have either in the house right now as during the move I wasn’t allowed to transport it and I haven’t been to the big box store to replace it so I asked Heather about it and she replied, “It’s dry skin, use hand cream.”
At first this puzzled me, but slowly, over time, I remembered that I now live in the desert. Deserts are dry. I mean we’re talking humidity hovering around 15 to 25 percent. You don’t really worry much about how to dry things here – just leave a wet towel on the rack for five minutes and poof, wetness gone. This is even worse in the winter when it’s cold.
Strange, but the desert is cold in winter. No running the A/C year round here. I’m told that’s because it’s high desert. My grandson tried to explain it to me. I don’t know – something about the word desert meaning lack of water and not a temperature. Maybe I should have actually listened. One thing I do remember is that he mentioned that forced air heating removes even more humidity from the air, making the cold dry air warm and drier. We have a force air heater … He’s studying for a PHD so I just accept what he says. Well, it’s easier than arguing or actually trying to understand.
My son-in-law simply suggested buying hand cream by the gallon, while Heather suggested that actually using hand cream would reverse the alligator properties my hands where taking on.
Normally I’d run screaming from the room if you suggested I use the stuff. Mostly I don’t like it as it makes your hands feel greasy. See that’s why I used to keep things like denatured alcohol and acetone in the shop: They’re degreasing agents – gets rid of grease …
Well, soap is also a degreaser and I use plenty of that when I wash the dishes, making my hands even worse. Heather has also said that’s why she wears gloves while she washes dishes (I think there’s some message in that statement).
One other thing I dislike about hand cream is the scent. I’m not just talking about the ones with lavender or flowery things, but even the unscented ones have a “hand cream” like smell that bothers the cats. And me. And then there’s the “do manly men use hand cream?” Not that I’m all that manly, but one does need one’s delusions.
Even with those objections I’ve been using the stuff daily for about four days. Amazingly it seems to work and except for a small rough patch on my right thumb, my hands are returning to a softer, less sand paper like quality.
So I’ve been thinking about how to make hand cream more tolerable. I guess it could be scented to smell like saw dust, motor oil or gasoline. Maybe it could be formulated to leave little dark grease marks like you’ve just been replacing the valves in your car’s engine. Some day I’d like to learn how to replace valves in a car …
Anyway, just wanted to say that I was thinking about writing about hand cream this week, but not sure I really have much to say on the subject. If you have something you’d like me to write about, leave a note in the comments and I’ll try to get a real post out next week.
Andrew's View of the Week 
Personally dry skin is the worst feeling, and moisturizers deserve whole modes of poetry imo! lol
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Interesting thought – there’s a whole poem right there.
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Ah, yes, dry air. After living 30 years in Calgary’s arid climate, I sympathize. (And I’m glad to be living in the Pacific Northwest now.)
I had my eyes opened when we travelled to Phoenix several years ago. Even though I was used to Calgary’s dryness at the time, I still remember being shocked (literally) when I got off the plane in the Phoenix airport. I took two steps into the boarding lounge and I could feel myself shrivelling like a prune. By the time I made it out of the airport, my hair was standing straight out with static electricity. Now that’s DRY! I thoroughly enjoyed our adventures in the desert, but I wouldn’t want to live there.
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I am amazed at times about the amount of static we’re getting. I have to be careful when touching things. I knew this would be part of living here, but experiencing it is different than knowing it.
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Try coconut oil Andrew, it works wonders.
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That’s an idea. Hadn’t considered that .
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Yes, it is that time of year when the temperature gets colder, the humidity drops, and you can send an electric shock on to your loved ones with a touch of your hand. It was warm until yesterday, but tonight it is going to freeze. The cactus out back can handle the abrupt shift from hot to cold, but my Vinca flowers will not. Winter is here. I do have some lotion for dry skin somewhere, and I don’t even know what the name of it is—-BUT I know it works and that is good enough for me. 🙂
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I’ve been getting a lot more of those little electric shocks – another sign the humidity is low.
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I’m just down the road from Pied Type and I agree; you can never have enough cream “on hand” – in every bathroom and under every sink. Our climate east of the Rockies is like yours – high desert and low humidity. We’re always looking for ways to retain moisture. Just installed a whole-house humidifier last year (independent of the furnace), which makes a world of difference. Also, I’ve lived here long enough to have graduated from hand cream to facials. I park my man-card outside the spa and give my face a monthly break from the elements.
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I am getting close to looking to a house humidifier. I’m not ready for facials yet, but it’s getting close.
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Okay, I’ve got the solution to your hand cream issue — you need Duke Cannon’s Bloody Knuckles Hand Repair Balm. It’s for ‘manly men’ and is unscented “so your hands don’t smell like flowers.” My husband uses their soap. Proceeds from sales benefit American veterans.
https://dukecannon.com/products/bloody-knuckles-hand-repair-balm?_pos=1&_sid=e793598ed&_ss=r
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Very nice. Sounds like just the thing. I’ll check it out.
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If you can find someone there who sells melaleuca products, get some Renew lotion, bedt stuff out there. My husband uses it too his hands are always dry from working with wires, computer hookups all day
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After a day in the workshop my hands can look bad. I’ll see if I can find that stuff.
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its made with tea tree oil. If you cannot find any, send me your address and I will send you some!
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Thanks – I’ll let you know.
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If you want to learn how to replace valves in your car, search on YouTube for the make and model of your car. My late husband taught himself how to fix and repair everything using Youtube. I use to kid him that he had a PhD from the University of YouTube.
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First I’d have to buy a car I’d be willing to tear apart.
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“60 git sandpaper” ?
That old saying that the Engloish and the Americans are two groups of people separated by the same language must be true.Over here in Merrye Englande, a “git” is “an unpleasant, silly, incompetent, annoying, senile, elderly person” usually a man. You could add “stupid” to those adjectives, actually.
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You just discovered my editing failure. 😉 Meant to say “grit” not “git” but 120 git sandpaper is funnier.
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Yep, I buy and use it by the gallon here (Denver). Check online for unscented lotions. Lots of people have allergies to scents, so the lotions are out there.
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I’ll have to look. What I have right now is what Heather uses.
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