Like so many people, I suffer fromdry hands during the winter. However, the dryness I experience goes beyond parched skin that could be alleviated with an extra application or two of lotion. My hands get so dry that they turn red, become scaly, and crack so badly that it looks like I've cut my knuckles up on a cheese grater. At their worst, it can be painful to make fists.

Not only is this all incredibly uncomfortable, but being extra self-conscious of the way my hands look also impacted my mental health. I used to walk around terrified people would see them. If I wasn't wearing gloves, my hands would always be shoved down deep in pockets, hidden under a table, or concealed with crossed arms. If you can relate to any of the above, I have a solution: Kiehl's Ultimate Strength Hand Salve single-handedly saved my extremely dry hands.

Prior to Kiehl's, I tried multiple products and methods to help my skin, from trying highly rated moisturizers such as Eucerin and Vaseline to wearing gloves overnight to ensure that my skin was retaining the lotion I was applying. Once I came across Kiehl's hand cream, however, I never looked back.

The hand salve immediately felt different than other lotions I tried. The texture managed to be both thick and refreshing instead of too thin or greasy. I realized the richness of the lotion can largely be attributed to shea butter, one of its key ingredients. Shea butter is anti-inflammatory, absorbs quickly, and holds moisture really well once it seeps into your skin. In fact, shea butter, along with other Hand Salve ingredients including dimethicone and glycerin, are considered to be the best ingredients one can use to combat dry skin, according to the American Academy of Dermatology.

Within about a week of applying Kiehl's about three times a day, — mid-morning, mid-afternoon, and right before bed — my hands transformed in front of my eyes. The scaliness softened, the redness dissipated, and the painful cracks started to heal. After about a month, the dryness was completely gone.

And I'm not the only one who has seen incredible results with the hand lotion. Kiehl's Ultimate Strength Hand Salve boasts more than 2,100 five-star ratings on Nordstrom, with happy customers calling this product "unbelievable," saying that it "works wonders," and calling it the "best hand cream on the market." One customer who gets splits around their thumbnails that are "painful and difficult to heal" also attests to Hand Salve's strength, writing, "I've tried a lot of different products, and Ultimate Strength Hand Salve is the only cream I've found that prevents the splitting from happening."

It has been four years since I bought my first tube, and it still does an excellent job at keeping my hands smooth during the winter. A little goes a long way. Start out by squeezing out a quarter size of lotion and apply once a day after washing your hands. Experts recommend applying lotion right after washing because it acts as a seal to lock in the water's moisture. If that doesn't help your dryness, add more applications per day. You can find Kiehl's Ultimate Strength Hand Salve on Nordstrom.com.

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