Lush - Ultrabalm

Hey there!  I hope everyone is having a nice weekend! 

I misplaced my Lemony Flutter, so for the last few weeks, I've been using Ultrabalm to moisturize my cuticles. I have to say it works very nicely.  Ultrabalm is organic jojoba oil with super soft wax.  I rub a moderate amount on my fingertips right before bed and the next morning my skin looks plump and silky soft.  Sometimes I rub it all over the back of my hands too.  It feels a bit greasy at first, but after 20 minutes it soaks in.  I don't recommend using this when your busy because if you don't wait, everything you touch will have greasy fingerprints on it. 

What do I like about Ultrabalm?  A LOT.   There really isn't much that I don't like.

• Its simple, just three ingredients, and fragrance free.  (Smells earthy, kind of like tree bark or mulch, but the smell is faint.)
• vegan
• cruelty free
• petroleum free, no mineral oil
• easy to use balm, no droppers or brushes, the oil doesn't run all over the place.
• You can use it on other body parts, not just hands.
• It works; jojoba oil molecules are supposedly small enough to penetrate through the outer skin layer.  Thus it has more moisturizing capabilities rather than just creating a barrier and locking in moisture.

I think the price is fair, some might think its expensive but there's no mineral oil in it, no preservatives, its organic (theoretically less pesticides) and made by hand.  You get what you pay for sometimes.

I bought mine at the Lush boutique at the mall near my house. 

I did a post on other cuticle moisturizers, click here.

What Lush products do you like?

Moisturizing Your Cuticles

Besides hand hygeine, if there's only one thing you want to do to take care of your hands and cuticles, is to at least moisturize them with lotion.  Take it one step further and pay special attention to your cuticles and the skin around your nails.  Cuticles serve an important function as a barrier against fungus and bacteria from entering your body.  So why not pamper them and care for them properly?

In addition, when cuticles and skin are allowed to dry out, the dry skin peels and looks unsightly.  If you have been reading my blog for a while you might know that I'm a reformed nail biter.  I use to pick, peel and pull at dry skin and hang nails.  This is a horrible habit!  I used to actually cause trauma to my fingers and sometimes they would bleed!  A nice entry point for bacteria.  I'm lucky I never got an infection. 

Point is, since I have been moisturizing, I don't suffer from hang nails anymore.  Peeling skin is at a minimum.  If there is a small peel, I will trim it with a cuticle trimmer.  So below are some cuticle cremes I use and love.

Let's start with Lush's Lemony Flutter. 

Lots of bloggers love this, and I can see why.  Lemony Flutter unlike cuticle oils, are really easy to use.  The product does not run all over your fingers, it is a soft balm.  Thus it is easy to control its application.  As you can guess Lemony Flutter smells of lemons; a lot.  I like the strong smell of lemons and find it kind of therapuetic.  I put this on before bed, it can be a little greasy, but when I wake up, my fingers look nice and healthy.  The first ingredient is lemon extract, followed by shea butter, then beeswax. 

I got my small pot (0.5 oz) off of eBay for about $5. The regular sized pots at Lush stores are around $12. This small pot is about 6 months old and there is still a lot of product left.

Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Creme

Burt's Bees is a very close second, to me, when compared to Lush.  In contrast, Burt's Bees Creme is a hard balm, and I have to rub pretty hard to get some product out.  So now I just scrape the top with the back of my nail.  Half the size of a pea will cover five fingers for me.  It's not as greasy at Lush, and doesn't smell as strong.  It still works really well, if not the same.  The ingredients are a little different.  First on the ingredient list is sweet almond oil, second is beeswax, then lemon oil. 

I got mine at Ulta for $5.99, 0.6 oz.  I've seen these at Walgreens too.

L'Occitane en Provence's Cuticle and Nail Creme. 

I like L'Occitane because I don't have to stick my fingers in it and seems more clean to me.  I also like that I can squeeze a little bit of product on to each finger.  Aside from Burt's Bees and Lush, this is not at all greasy.  L'Occitane's Creme is thick, almost tacky.  I can feel a pull when I rub it in, but it absorbs really fast and smells kind of like baby powder.  I rub this on right before I take photos and there are no finger smudges on things after I touch them.  So I can put this one and go about my business right away.  I only need a teeny amount for each finger.

The first ingredient in L'Occitane's Creme is water, then shea butter, thirdly polyglyceryl-3 ricinoleate.  Sixth ingredient is apricot kernel oil which I see in some cuticle oils, like Essie.

This is the priciest of the three, $18 for 0.5 oz.  I splurged on it because I wanted to try it.  I do really like this creme a lot but with Lush and Burt's Bees around, I kind of hesitate on fully recommending L'Occitane because of the steep price. 

So there you have it, the three cremes I would recommend.  All are cruelty free with natural ingredients. 

Which cuticle creme/oil do you like?