5 hand balms for bitter winter weather

Every year, in the non-equatorial world, it gets cold. When it;s cold, it's dry. And almost immediately, my skin starts to crack and itch. Set the clocks back and cuticles start to peel away on cue, finger webbing gets all ashy and the backs of my hands age years. It's a hot look... not really. It's distracting and painful, mostly. I run several humidifiers at full whack in the house but can't stuff one in my bag for the road so hand balm it is when away from the tropical confines of my living room. Don't leave home without one of these five balms this winter (and if you happen to live in the Southern Hemisphere, start stock piling now for autumnal climes to come). While not all of these are necessarily hand balms, all come in sizes small enough to pop into your handbag without a problem. Find out which five work best in winter weather...

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New REN Moroccan Rose Otto Sugar Body Polish

REN just launched several products for summer, including 3 that are pretty amazing (a high number of great new SKUs for any single brand, so well done): REN Moroccan Rose Otto Sugar Body Polish (£30.00, 330ml), No. 1 Purity Cleansing Balm (£28.00, 150ml, in a forthcoming piece on cleansing balms) and Mayday Mayday Rescue Balm (£20.00, 50ml), which has made the cut for the travel beauty kit this summer. All products are on REN's e-commerce site and at REN stockists.

Read about the REN Moroccan Rose Otto Sugar Body Polish here.

REN Moroccan Rose Otto Sugar Body Polish

Exfoliation is my beauty weakness. Not a single trip to the shops passes without me simpering over the plastic pots of sugary, salty, exfoliating goodness in the beauty aisle. At this very moment, there are three open tubs of scrub adorning the ledge in my shower: Trader Joe's Purify Grapefruit Chamomile Sea Salt Scrub (superb and a bargain), Origins Calm Your Senses Lavender and Vanilla Body Smoother and... the stupendously smoothing, fragrant REN Moroccan Rose Otto Sugar Body Polish. It's the latter that's caught my attention of late. And it's the one I've chosen to scrub myself silly in an attempt to get glistening, smooth skin for the big wedding day this weekend.

Description

REN Moroccan Rose Otto Sugar Body Polish is an exfoliating body scrub made mainly of cane sugar and various oils including Sweet Almond, Olive, Palmarosa, Geranium, Clove, Safflower, Coconut, Balsam, Rose Damascena and Geranium. The scent is heady and very rosy, just like the Rose Otto Body Oil and Body Wash. The texture of the scrub is very fine and it is densely packed into the 330ml tub. The best way I've found to use it is by stepping into the shower before turning on the water, scooping up a small bit (about 2 or 3 finger tips-full) and scrubbing your body dry before rinsing it off with warm water. Try not to wash all the good oils away with body wash or shampoo! Pat dry after the shower and you will notice a difference in your skin (very soft) and it will be gently scented.

The Good

That signature Moroccan Rose Otto scent, very fine granules, leaves your skin super smooth and silky without feeling like there's a film or oil on it. Plus, the tub is rather large at 330ml and it's filled full up, packed to the top, with scrub. Plus, the basin of the tub doesn't seem to be dangerously slippery when I rinse it off the way it does sometimes when I use scrubs (I love my Soap and Glory Flake Away but it leaves my shower in a slippery state after each use).

The Bad

It's pricer than a drugstore body scrub.

Price

£30.00 for 330ml

REN Moroccan Rose Otto Sugar Body Polish