Review: Seed Healthy Hand Cream

When at BlogHer's annual conference this year, one of my favorite events that I attended was the small "Seeds of Inspiration" reception hosted by Seed, makers of seed-based natural body care products from shampoo to lotions. The event focused on this philosophy of natural products and goodness, as well as giving back and honored three bloggers who inspired them.

I was impressed with the products they offered, as I'd never seen a bar shampoo before (call me sheltered). I loved the all natural philosophy behind all their products, and I jumped at the chance to test out their brand new Healthy Hand Cream. It comes in both citrus and unscented, and me being a citrus gal (it's the only scent I ever wear), I immediately went that direction.

Before I even get to the silky soft feeling of my skin right now (apparently with fall coming on, it's time to start testing out product and pampering myself; let's hope this keeps up as I get into January and skin cracking season), I have to share how much I love the ingredients in this. The more I read about phthalates and parabens and all the other nasty chemicals found in the majority of beauty products, the more I'm finding myself throwing away the lotions I used to use.

The Seed products are all 100% natural ingredients and none contain parabens, phthalates, artificial colors, animal ingredients, or petrochemicals. What they do have though is grapeseed oil, shea butter, aloe, and jojoba oil. Those are things that I can feel good about putting on my skin - and having absorbed into my body.

The lotion absorbs quickly, which is important for those of us who apply it at red lights and then don't want slippery hands when driving. I love that it isn't greasy but instead leaves my skin just feeling smooth and nice. It isn't strong enough to heal my hands immediately when they are super dry and cracking, but it does help to keep them from getting to that point and does heal them over a period of a few days.

I will say that if you have cracked super dry skin that the lotion does sting a little bit as it penetrates. It isn't bad but just noticeable for me, and that only happens when my hands are super dry and already starting to crack. The sensation goes away after a couple minutes, and my hands are noticeable more moisturized after applying it, so that doesn't stop me from using it when my hands are more dry than usual (like when I've been carving pumpkins all day and pumpkin guts dried out my hands).

I'm also a fan of the fact that it doesn't take much lotion to cover my hands. I just need a small dab that somehow is enough to use, meaning that I'm not going through a ton of lotion when I want to reapply it two or three times a day.

The scent is great. Citrus is a great way to explain it. It isn't a super strong smell - it doesn't linger for more than ten or so minutes after you put it on - but it's really crisp and clean. It definitely has notes of grapefruit in it, but it isn't just grapefruit. I like it a lot. At the same time - especially as someone who is rather sensitive to smells - I appreciate that Seed also offers an unscented version of the hand cream.

Needless to say, my tube lives in my purse, and I'm not looking forward to the day when I run out. The good news is that Seed products are pretty easy to find. Many Whole Foods stores carry the Seed line, as does Amazon, drugstore.com, and the Seed store online. Phew!

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In the interest of full disclosure, I received a tube of the hand cream for review purposes. I received no compensation, and all opinions expressed are my own.