November 19, 2009

I still can't believe that November is over halfway gone. It doesn't even feel like Winter here in California because it's still relatively warm during the day, but the air is really dry right now. Luckily, we don't have to run our heater very often because that just seems to make the air even more dry.

And what goes along with dry air and winter weather? For a lot of people, dry skin can be a real problem in the winter. It definitely can be for me if I don't do everything I can to prevent it. I slather myself every morning right out of the shower with a variety of lotions, potions, and creams, in an effort to avoid the dry, itching, pasty looking skin. We've talked about our favorite eye creams, more than once, moisturizers, more than once, and hand creams, but I don't think we've ever talked about foot creams, so here goes.

I have to admit, I love a good foot cream! My absolute all time favorite EVER is L'Occitane's Shea Butter Foot Cream. I recently ran out and haven't yet ordered a replacement.

This amazing foot cream contains lavender essential oil and in my opinion, there is nothing better than the heavenly smell of lavender. That's one reason I love putting this foot cream on at night. The scent of lavender is so soothing. It also contains anti-inflammatory arnica extract to reduce redness and irritation and mint to cool the feet.

With that being said, this 5.2 oz tube of foot cream sells for $26.00. I definitely think it's worth the money during the best of times, but when we are all trying to scale back on unnecessary expenses, I need to try to find a cream that is a little more reasonably priced.

The other night, I was finally able to stop, sit down, and take off my shoes around 8:00, just in time for Dancing with the Stars. When I took off my shoes, I noticed that just in the past couple of days, my heels had become so dry that they were almost starting to crack. (Sorry if that's TMI.)  So, I grabbed the nearest tube of cream from my cabinet in the kitchen to put on my feet. What I ended up using was Eucerin Calming Creme. I keep a larger tube of this in my nightstand for my hands but I just happened to find a sample size that SirHoney's dermatologist gave to him. I had never used this on my feet before but it worked great!

After rubbing this into my feet that night and keeping my footies on til I went to bed, I woke up the next morning to almost normal heels. This creme is pretty darn impressive and costs less than $7.50 for a 8 0z tube. This creme contains oatmeal and glycerin to help with itching caused from dryness. This creme is so rich yet not greasy at all. I was surprised at how quickly it soaked into my skin. It also happens to be fragrance-free and non-comedogenic.

And, in the winter, when necessary, I use Eucerin's Dry Skin Therapy Original Creme. I use this on my hands and on my face, only on the dry spots. My sister-in-law is the one that told me about the Original Creme when I asked her once how she kept her face so young and soft looking; and she was over 55 at the time! I bought a 2 oz tube of this for less than $4.00 and it has lasted for months and months.  This is a very rich and thick creme so it's probably not meant to go on everyone's face, unless you have really dry skin like me, but it's perfect for dry hands.

I know BigSis is a HUGE fan of Eucerin's Aquaphor products and my husband's dermatologist also recommended some of those for him. I've used the Aquaphor Advanced Therapy Healing Ointment and I love it. It's great for hands, feet, or lips!

So, if you've got any secrets for beating dry skin this winter, please let us know! I bet BigSis has a few new favorites that she hasn't yet shared with us! 🙂

~LilSis