With just two (*gulp*) weeks left until the British Masters Champs, aka Nat Vets, I’ve been spending a lot of time on the river lately. Normally by this stage in proceedings, with outings consisting of sweaty, splashy sprints, my hands are a horrible mess. Blisters, callouses, blisters under callouses, rips, tears and broken nails. It’s not pretty. My only consolation is that since I’m a bowsider, I don’t have to shake hands with my bad hand.
This year, however, everything is different. My left hand sports just a neat little row of small-but-perfectly-formed callouses. No blisters underneath them. No bits hanging off. Beautiful. To a rower, anyway. Perhaps not so great for a hand model.
The reason for the change may be partly down to an improvement in my technique – perhaps I’m not gripping quite so hard on the blade handles. But it’s not just that. No. The main reason my hands are in such good nick is because of a brilliant little product – only just launched – that I discovered recently: Callus Quench by Dermalicious.
I had seen pictures on Instagram of the transformation in the hands of weight lifters and wanted to know more, so I contacted the company and they kindly sent me a sample. It was well timed as I received my tube just as I returned from my rowing trip to Bellagio when I’d spent two days sculling. After a winter season only doing sweep oar, and not very much of that, my right hand had the texture of finely-spun silk and the trip took its toll. I had a nasty raw patch in the middle of my palm, just bursting to be treated.
Well, let’s just let the picture do the talking. The top picture is my right hand when I got home, before applying Callus Quench. Below is the same hand 24 hours later.
Since then I’ve used the stuff religiously. The theory is that rather than encouraging your callouses to dry out, you should tend them like a newborn infant. Dried-out callouses are at risk of cracking, ripping and then bleeding, so instead you hydrate them and keep sanding them down to a tolerable size. And guess what? It actually works. It’s pretty miraculous on dry lips as well and, I’m told, on hard feet, too (but of course I’m too ladylike to have hard feet, so just have to take their word for that).
The key to the product’s success is not magic pixie dust, as I had assumed, but rather the gorgeous ingredients. Just look at the list – it almost sounds edible (don’t eat it, by the way).
- Beeswax: Acts as a hardening agent, allowing the lotion stick to be portable in a tube. It acts as an emollient and a humectant, drawing moisture to the skin and sealing it in.
- Avocado butter: Helps to moisturize rough, dry, cracked skin with out skin feeling sticky.
- Safflower oil: Highly moisturizing and deeply soothing.
- Castor oil: This heavy viscosity oil has soothing and healing properties, which acts as a medium barrier against harsh conditions and or environments.
- Emu oil: Contains fatty acids (omegas) that have incredible healing properties on skin application from cuts, burns, psoriasis, sore muscles, nail fungus, joint pain etc. But the omega’s big job is to reduce inflammation, therefore reducing pain and discomfort. .
- Lanolin: Works great on extremely dry/chapped skin. Lanolin is a derivative sheeps wool, and it locks existing moisture into the skin and absorbs additional moisture from the air around it. It’s rejuvenating to the dry skin tissue, and skin cracking. Due to its skin cracking relief, it’s popular among breast feeding mothers. Unfortunately, some people are allergic to Lanolin.
- Tamanu oil: Remarkable topical healing agent. Notable for scarring, stretch marks, cuts, rashes, sores etc.
- Calendula infused oil: Gentle, cooling and soothing oil. A must for an herbal first aid remedy which is infused in organic olive oil.
- Comfrey infused oil: Used for wound healing and cell proliferation, infused in organic olive oil
- Plantain infused oil: This oil is a skin lubricant that offers a speedy recovery. Infused in organic olive oil.
- Oregano infused oil: Treats Candida, fungus and skin conditions and significantly improves psoriasis and eczema.
- St. Johns Wort infused oil: Offers speedy recovery of wounds, stings and mild skin irritations. Infused in organic olive oil.
- Yarrow infused oil: Used for wounds, infections and bleeding. Yarrow has antiseptic action, and works wonders on eczema.
- Olive oil: This organic, and extra virgin olive oil is used as a carrier oil for all our infusions.
- Sea Buckthorn oil: This oil is loaded with fatty acids and carotenes and is a concentrated, highly prized oil for damaged skin.
- Rosemary extract: A natural preservative
- Essential oils: Peppermint & lavender for their cooling and soothing properties.
Sounds good? You can buy it from Etsy here alongside the COOLEST wristbands (Wonder Woman!!!) and head bands (please, please, please do some Wonder Woman headbands, too!)
Better still, you have the chance to win your own tube of Callus Quench as they have kindly given me 10 tubes to give away!!
All you have to do is follow the Rafflecopter instructions below. I promise I won’t be using this as an email-harvesting exercise – just a way of spreading the love. I’m afraid I can only allow UK entries (sorry!)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck. And if Dermalicious could just sort out my rotten nails, my life would be complete ♥
