I got a gift set of these that included three Hand Therapy and Age Defying Hand Remedy creams in Citron, Honey & Coriander, Gardeners and La Source scents.  These intrigued me the most because Crabtree and Evelyn actually recommend using both at the same time – first Hand Therapy to rehydrate, then Age Defying Hand Remedy to reduce signs of aging and plump and firm the skin.  Now I’m paranoid about the skin about my cuticles because it already looks a bit wrinkled and is very visible in my swatch photos, despite lavishing cuticle cream on the area, so I was very excited to try these.  All of them are Shea Butter based and also contain Sweet Almond Oil.  These have had the longest road test because I believe anything with wrinkle reducing claims need a bit of time.  Hand Therapy is more a typical hand cream consistency and it sinks in super quick leaving my hands feeling nicely moisturised but no softer than before.  Then comes the Age Defying Hand Remedy which is somewhere between a lotion and a jelly texture.  When you rub it in, it is very much a lotion rather than a thicker cream but it takes a while to sink in, probably a minute or two.  Now the real question…does it work? I’m going to go with yes – while my cuticles and surrounding area aren’t wrinkle free, they do look a lot smoother now and match the rest of my fingers. I see these becoming a regular routine for me.

Citron, Honey & Coriander – this one smells mainly of lemon again, but the coriander takes the sweet edge off the scent which also stops the lemon smell from lingering (good if you don’t like your hand cream heavily scented)

Gardeners – I freaking love that they have a gardeners range – I enjoy a bit of gardening but it’s brutal on the hands, so I would expect this to be a heavy duty product.  It has a rich earthy scent which according to the back of tube is thanks to Sage, Rosemary and Cucumber.  To me there is more than a hint of cinnamon and maybe nutmeg too which makes it a bit spicy.  I have these in my handbag for the train and I can confirm that packaging doesn’t travel well and the product oozes everywhere when I take the caps off thanks to them being squidged in my bag.

La Source – I’m not a fan of this one in all honestly – anything with a sea themed scent always seem a little too strong and offensive to my nose and this one is no exception.  To me it smells like sniffing a bottle of cheap men’s cologne.  Reading the back again, it contains extracts of algae and spirulina which I know from my fishkeeping days as I used to feed it to my shrimp, but I’m not aware of what it’s going to do for my hands…anyone want to enlighten me?

When to use: Whenever I have a spare couple of minutes to myself – on the train, at work, on the couch :)

How much to use: A pea sized amount of each will go far enough

Price: Hand Therapy AU$18.95/US$13/GBP8 for 50g or AU$26.95/US$22/GBP14 for 100g

Hand Remedy AU$34.95/US$27/GBP18 for 100g

Where to buy: Crabtree and Evelyn Stoes or Crabtree and Evelyn Online Store (www.crabtree-evelyn.com.au) – US and UK versions available

Other Scents: Crabtree and Evelyn also carry both these products in Lavender, Rosewater and Pomegranate.