Cruelty Free Cosmetics: The Hand Cream Edition

I always thought that I'd found myself a winner with Lush's 'Helping Hands' hand cream. I'm still a massive fan, but I've also tried a few others recently, and one is definitely giving it a fair bit of competition. I thought I'd write a quick post comparing three different cruelty free hand creams, because who knows, maybe one is the one for you :)

Lush's 'Helping Hands'

£7.75/100g (Vegetarian - contains honey)
For a vegan alternative I'd recommend Handy Gurugu (£7.95/100g)

I've mentioned this product before here, and I told you about that time an allergic reaction gave me lizard hands and this stuff worked its magic. I may have even been slightly over dramatic and called it a miracle. That may or may not be true, but it is a great heavy duty hand cream that gives you quick results. The only downside is that it has a thick consistency, so takes a few mins to sink thoroughly into your skin, but you can't really complain when its treating very dry skin. If your skin isn't as bad as mine it might not be the perfect out-and-about cream, but I would still recommend it for overnight use.

Mango Hand Cream from the Body Shop

£3.50/30ml (Vegan - see vegan product list)

I don't normally shop in the Body Shop, I still feel betrayed from the time when they were brought by L'Oreal (who test on animals). But I also can't help but feel like the Body Shop do help to promote cruelty free products with their branding, and if everyone just brought from them, and none of L'Oreal's other brands, L'Oreal would get the message. Its a messy area and I wouldn't call myself a Body Shop convert but when this was given to me I was happy enough to use it up. :)

This absorbs a little faster, and boy oh boy does it smell amazing (and very strong). If mango isn't your thing then it comes in a range of body shop scents. This little product did the job, but I also felt like my hands were getting dry again quicker. This may not be the creams fault, my hands could just have been getting very dry, but I wasn't blown away. I would consider repurchasing it, but Lush's 'Helping Hands' is still coming out on top for me.

Alva Hand Cream

£7.50/75ml (Vegetarian - contains beeswax)

My mum was after a cruelty free hand cream without coco butter so I started hunting, found this, and we're both very happy. It absorbs really quickly, but you still feel like its doing a lot of work, because, well, it is. Your hands quickly start to feel soft and smooth, and perhaps more importantly, stay feeling soft and smooth. It's also a certificated organic product which is another great label, and smells of faintly of tea tree oil (mixed with some other essential oils and avocado oil). It does contain beeswax though, so if you're after a vegan cream I recommend giving My Pure a quick browse.

Do you have a favorite hand cream? Its something I always like to have on hand so let me know if you have any recommendations!