Picking a hand soap that cleanses your skin deeply without over-drying is sometimes tricky. It’s important to have an idea of what you’ll need to look for before you hit the online shops. Below we list some of the key ways you can guarantee the hand soap you buy will be ideally suited to dry or chapped hands.
Soap bars are good for dry skin as they often contain fewer ingredients, and those they do include tend to be mainly oils and fats which are naturally moisturising. This means that rather than aggravating uncomfortable, dehydrated skin conditions, solid soap bars can actually soothe dry, irritated skin.
Another plus of solid bars is that, being free from plastic packaging, they're generally a more environmentally-friendly option. However, they are somewhat less convenient to use and transport.
A bottled soap will usually be petroleum-based and – so that it can maintain its consistency – will also contain stabilisers and emulsifying agents. Emulsifiers often increase transepidermal water loss (the speed at which your body loses water through the skin) and so liquid hand washes can often be drying; a big no-no for hands that are already papery and sad.
If you are going to opt for a liquid wash, keep an eye out for extra-hydrating additions to its ingredients list.
Since we wash our hands up to ten times a day, or perhaps even more at the moment, it’s vital to pick a hand soap that will do its best to replenish liquids stripped by the washing process. Here are our recommended ingredients to deeply nourish the skin on your hands.
Glycerin naturally draws moisture up through your hands’ epidermal layer, decelerating the evaporation process and helping your skin lock in moisture for longer. Petrolatum (or petroleum jelly) is not soluble in water, and so forms the perfect protective layer to prevent moisture loss from skin on your hands.
Lanolin – a waxy fat extracted from wool – is a highly-effective emollient of which 40% of the acids derived are AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids). These acids have excellent exfoliating properties and help slough away layers of dead skin. Do take care though, as lanolin can provoke irritation in some sensitive skin types.
Shea butter is another ideal emollient as it contains fatty acids which absorb quickly into the skin, forming a protective layer to keep dry skin moist. Hemp oil is also packed with fatty acids and combats dryness without irritating sensitive skin, as it contains fewer acids than many other vegetable oils.
Beeswax, almond oil and olive oil are all worth looking for too, as beeswax has reconstructive properties to boost cell renewal, while almond oil replenishes with vitamin E and fatty acids. Olive oil is a natural humectant and improves the moisture retention of dry hands.
But what exactly is colloidal oatmeal? Well, it’s a jazzier way to describe finely-ground oats stored in liquid, which improve the skin’s ability to absorb their nutrients; a great ingredient to seek out when choosing a soap for dry skin.
Aloe vera has long been used in traditional medicine (and indeed, modern skincare products too) to minimise redness and chafing, as the gel produced by the aloe leaf contains vitamins, enzymes and anti-inflammatories which help calm swollen cells.
When buying a hand soap online you can expect to choose one with some surfactant ingredients (that is, compounds added to create a good old lather), however, as a dry skin sufferer, there are a few names on that ingredients list to try and avoid.
One of the main ingredients to avoid when looking for hand washes for troublesome dry skin is Sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS). You will find it, and other similar sulphates, present in all manner of soaps and shampoos as it helps to create a proper foamy lather.
The bad news for those of us with dry skin on our hands is that SLS can strip away the oils naturally occurring in our skin, and can potentially aggravate sensitive skin, or dry hands that are cracked and bleeding. Best avoided if you need a hand soap that nourishes and hydrates your hands!
Simple and aromatic alcohols such as ethanol, methanol and benzyl alcohol are seriously dehydrating, and believed to increase cell death by more than 20 per cent, meaning skin washed regularly with alcohol-based products will remain dry and tight.
Otherwise known as sodium hydroxide, lye is often present in soaps and has little negative effect on those with normal skin types. However, the chemical properties of lye mean that even in low concentrations, this compound can cause itchiness for sensitive skin and exacerbate dryness.
Though they make for a lovely smelling soap, synthetic fragrances and parfums are linked with various allergic reactions and irritation, so if your dry skin is cracked or sensitive, this could only make things worse. Instead, look for fragrance-free or unscented products.
While some believe that alkaline products help to wash our naturally-acidic skin and get it extra clean, many dermatology experts argue that it’s best to choose skincare products which mimic our skin’s pH balance as closely as possible, therefore avoiding disruption to the acid mantle which could result in irritation and dryness.
Unfortunately not all hand soaps will state their pH balance, but if you can, look for products with a pH level of around 5.5 as they could well be of benefit to your dry, chapped skin.
£3.60
Volume | 100 g |
---|---|
Beneficial Ingredients | Glycerin, colloidal oatmeal |
Potential Irritants | Alcohol |
pH Level | 5.5 |
£12.35
Volume | 200 ml |
---|---|
Beneficial Ingredients | Glycerin, coconut, sunflower |
Potential Irritants | Alcohol |
pH Level | - |
£5.35
Volume | 140 g |
---|---|
Beneficial Ingredients | Coconut, hemp, olive oil, eucalyptus |
Potential Irritants | Lye (Sodium hydroxide) |
pH Level | 9.8 |
£5.50
Volume | 150 g |
---|---|
Beneficial Ingredients | Glycerin, sunflower oil, shea butter |
Potential Irritants | Parfum |
pH Level | Neutral (7) |
Pack of 3
£29.99
Volume | 127 g |
---|---|
Beneficial Ingredients | Petrolatum, coconut oil |
Potential Irritants | None |
pH Level | 6.3 |
£3.59
Volume | 250 ml |
---|---|
Beneficial Ingredients | Petrolatum |
Potential Irritants | None |
pH Level | - |
£8.66
Volume | 300 ml |
---|---|
Beneficial Ingredients | Coconut, olive, aloe vera, |
Potential Irritants | None |
pH Level | Neutral (7) |
£9.00
Volume | 250 g |
---|---|
Beneficial Ingredients | Glycerin, shea butter |
Potential Irritants | None |
pH Level | 9 |
Pack of 3
£12.95
Volume | 150 g |
---|---|
Beneficial Ingredients | Glycerin, lanolin |
Potential Irritants | None |
pH Level | – |
Pack of 6
£18.74
Volume | 113 g |
---|---|
Beneficial Ingredients | Glycerin, petrolatum, lanolin, aloe vera, almond oil, beeswax |
Potential Irritants | None |
pH Level | 5-6 |
Image | 1 ![]() Basis | 2 ![]() Mitchell’s of Bradford | 3 ![]() L'Occitane | 4 ![]() Green People | 5 ![]() E45 | 6 ![]() Cetaphil | 7 ![]() La Roche-Posay | 8 ![]() Dr Bronner’s | 9 ![]() Neal's Yard Remedies | 10 ![]() Aveeno |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Sensitive Skin Cleansing Bar | Lanolin-Enriched Wool Fat Hand Soap | Lavender and Shea Butter Soap Bar | Manuka and Lemon Tea Tree Antibacterial Hand Wash | Emollient Cream Wash for Hands and Body | Gentle Cleansing Bar for Dry, Sensitive Skin | Lipikar Moisturising Cleansing Bar | All-One Pure Castile Hemp and Eucalyptus Soap Bar | Geranium and Orange Hand Wash | Moisturising Bar for Dry Skin |
Features | A Nourishing Cream Soap that Enriches and Soothes | Deeply Hydrate Chapped Hands With a Creamy Solid Soap | An Extra-Gentle Vegetable-Based Soap Bar to Clean and Soothe | Best Antibacterial Soap for Dry Hands | Excellent Value Soap-Free Wash to Retain Skin’s Moisture | Nourish Skin All Over With a Mild, Non-Irritating Cleansing Bar | A Super-Mild Bar With Ingredients to Cleanse and Care | Lather Up While Softening Dry, Chapped Hands | Treat Your Hands to Organic Goodness | An Oatmeal-Rich Bar to Nourish Dry Hands |
Price | £18.74 | £12.95 | £9.00 | £8.66 | £3.59 | £29.99 | £5.50 | £5.35 | £12.35 | £3.60 |
Volume | 113 g | 150 g | 250 g | 300 ml | 250 ml | 127 g | 150 g | 140 g | 200 ml | 100 g |
Beneficial Ingredients | Glycerin, petrolatum, lanolin, aloe vera, almond oil, beeswax | Glycerin, lanolin | Glycerin, shea butter | Coconut, olive, aloe vera, | Petrolatum | Petrolatum, coconut oil | Glycerin, sunflower oil, shea butter | Coconut, hemp, olive oil, eucalyptus | Glycerin, coconut, sunflower | Glycerin, colloidal oatmeal |
Potential Irritants | None | None | None | None | None | None | Parfum | Lye (Sodium hydroxide) | Alcohol | Alcohol |
pH Level | 5-6 | – | 9 | Neutral (7) | - | 6.3 | Neutral (7) | 9.8 | - | 5.5 |
Link |
Don't let dry skin get you down! Follow the links below for more skin-loving products to smooth, moisturise and hydrate from head to toe.
Obviously we all want to keep our hands nice and clean, but washing them time and again can feel counter-productive when we have dry skin that needs to be nourished. By keeping in mind some of the tips we’ve included above, you should be able to find yourself a hand soap that will hydrate and plump thirsty skin as it cleans.
Author: Annie Hopkins
Household goods
PC and cameras
Home appliances and electronics
Cosmetics and skincare
Health
Food and drinks
Kitchen supplies
Clothing
Shoes
Accessories
Kids and baby
Interior and furniture
Hobbies
Outdoor
DIY and tools
Sports and fitness
Pets
Books, CDs, DVDs
Games
Cars and motorcycles
Gifts
Housing equipment and renovation
Travel
Smartphones and mobile phones
Music
Smartphone applications