The 6 best hand creams for dry skin: Consumer Reports

Hand creams earn their place in winter, when skin on the hands turns rough, tight and flaky. Skin that dry can split and bleed, turning routine tasks like typing or washing dishes into something painful.

Consumer Reports tested 12 popular hand creams for absorption, hydration and scent, identifying six standout picks worth a look before your next drugstore run.

Credit: Dionis

Goat milk and glycerin are the two key ingredients in this $12 cream. Consumer Reports rated it above the other 11 creams in its test, finding that the thick texture absorbed within seconds instead of sitting on the skin. One tester said his hands stayed smooth even after washing, though the Water Flowers and Sea Salt scent struck another panelist as too floral. The line runs to 22 scents plus an unscented version for anyone who dislikes perfume.

Credit: Necessaire

CR testers singled out how silky their hands felt after using this fragrance-free cream. Shea butter, squalane and glycerin do the hydrating work, and the 2.2-ounce tube costs $28. One panelist preferred it to every other cream in the test, including the Dionis cream CR rated highest. That same panelist wanted more control over the twist-off cap, since she squeezed out more cream than she needed.

Credit: Neutrogena

Glycerin is the single ingredient behind Neutrogena's $5.49 Norwegian Formula, which treats hands that have gone well past ordinary dryness. CR's four-person panel singled the cream out for hydration, finding that it softened badly chapped skin more effectively than the thinner formulas in the test. Testers also flagged greasiness and slow absorption, recommending bedtime use or a pair of gloves afterward. A flip-top cap secures the fragrance-free cream's travel-size tube, keeping it closed inside a bag.

Credit: Chanel

At $62, Chanel's La Créme Main is far more expensive than the other five picks, and its ingredients include camellia seed oil and ceramides. CR testers said a small dab absorbed within seconds and left their hands smooth, and one panelist named it her favorite of the 12 creams. Another tester wanted more moisture from it and more product inside the 1.7-ounce bottle. That bottle has a twist cap and is small enough for travel, though it does not stand upright on its own.

Credit: EOS

At $4.49, Eos Shea Butter Hand Cream costs a fraction of what the luxury picks in this group do, and it blends shea butter with cocoa, sunflower and avocado oils. CR testers found it spread easily and absorbed well, though it hydrated less deeply than the pricier creams in the test. Reapplication was needed after handwashing, a step the Nécessaire, Chanel and Dionis creams did not require. Three light scents are available, including the coconut version CR sampled, and the small tube with a flip-top lid is easy to pack in a bag.