At the beginning of the year I was offered the opportunity to try Gauntlet, a healing hand salve by George the owner of Bathing Beauty. She very kindly sent me a pot to see what I thought to it.
George has led rather a busy and interesting life, she is an osteopath, co owner of Well Street Clinic, former model (working on some very impressive beauty campaigns) and now producing her own range of skin care products.
What I really admire about the Bathing Beauty range is that George uses natural ingredients that she either wild harvests, grows herself or buys from fair trade suppliers. The ingredient lists for each product are small. Preservatives, stabilisers and emulsifiers are not required as the products are not blended with water. The packaging used is either recyclable, reusable or biodegradable.
George describes Gauntlet Hand Salve as being a natural, antiseptic, skin healing barrier for the skin. I have added the photo to show the ingredients. As I have told you before my job as a nurse means that my hands take a lot of abuse. Constant washing and drying of my hands, not to mention having to use alcohol hand gel frequently takes it's toll. Add into the mix, being in and out of the cold and my hands were a mess. I don't just mean a little bit dry, I mean red raw, blistered, with broken patches of skin. They were incredibly sore and I was really self conscious about how awful they looked.
Gauntlet Hand Salve is a rich, pale green balm, which melts easily into the skin. It smells of rosemary (as you would expect from the ingredients) but it isn't over powering. To me it is a clean, herbal smell that I like. I have been applying a tiny amount three times a day to my hands and I can honestly say I am really pleased with the results.
This does need a few moments to absorb, but I don't have a problem with that. When your hands are in the state that mine were, instantly absorbed creams don't give the level of moisture that I need. This can be applied to broken skin, and is one of the few products I have found that does not sting when applied to broken skin. I found this hand salve to be very soothing. I noticed a real difference within a few days, the blistered areas began to dry and the redness started to subside. Nearly a month on my hands look considerably better than they have done for quite some time and they don't feel anywhere near as sore either. I am certainly no as self conscious about them as I was.
I would highly recommend Gauntlet Hand Salve if you suffer with your hands like I do. You can find it on the Bathing Beauty website