Burt's Bees Hand Salve: Review & Photos

Have super-dry hands? This all-natural salve knows how to handle it. Brimming with botanical oils, herbs and Beeswax, your hard-working hands can finally find sweet relief.

• Moisturizes rough, dry hands with botanical oils and Beeswax
• Herbal scent
• Perfect for both men and women

Ingredients: prunus amygdalus dulcis (sweet almond) oil, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, cera alba (beeswax, cire d'abeille), helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, lavendula hybrida (lavandin) oil, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf oil, eucalyptus globulus oil, lavandula angustifolia (lavender) flower oil, tocopherol, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf extract, glycine soja (soybean) oil, canola oil (huile de culza), linalool, limonene.

For best results, gently massage the salve into skin daily before and after gardening and other outdoor activates.

Where to Buy: Drugstore.com, $8.99

I had picked up the Burt's Bees Hand Salve sometime in February in hopes of it helping with the rough dry patches on my skin and have been using it on and off ever since.

Upon first opening up the Hand Salve, you'll notice quite a strong scent that Burt's Bees calls "herbal", which is pretty much on the money. You can really smell the eucalyptus and rosemary, both scents I actually enjoy but beware the smell is pretty strong and lasts a good amount of time. I always put this on my skin before bed and I'll still be able to faintly smell in it the morning (nothing a body spray or perfume can't easily cover up).

When you go to apply the Hand Salve to your skin, you really need to work your fingers in it for about 30 seconds to warm up the solid oil and turn it back into a liquid. Sometimes I get really impatient and will dig the back of my nail into the salve and then rub it on the area I want to moisturize, or just dip my elbow/heel of my foot right in! Not the moist sanitary, but honestly I apply the Burt's Bees Hand Salve before bed and I'm about ready to pass out, so the faster the better ;)!

This definitely isn't the fastest absorbing salve I've ever used, which can be quite frustrating. Even 20 minutes after applying I find it still hasn't fully absorbed into my skin and I still feel a little slimy. It does take around 30 minutes before I'm fully able to walk around without sliding if I've put this on my feet/grab things without leaving an oily residue if I've put it on my hands. A little inconvenient since its not really something you could just throw on while you're on the go or just wasting time at the computer because you will absolutely get everything covered in oil! That's why I only use the Burt's Bees Hand Salve before bed and wear socks when I put it on my feet, gives it plenty of time to fully sink it and lock in the moisture before morning.

Now the big question is, did the Burt's Bees Hand Salve actually help my dry skin? Well, yes and no. I don't have cracked hands or anything of the sort, so that's not really what I was looking to use this for, although it does leave them feeling baby soft. I mainly wanted something to help with my disgustingly dry elbows and my feet which often peel because they're so parched (gross I know, but that's what I'm dealing with here)! On my elbows, I really didn't notice a big difference. I've used this every night for about 2 weeks and they're still quite rough to the touch, so no miracle product there. Same goes for my feet. It smoothed out the areas that were only a bit rough, but didn't help with the peeling. But, where the Hand Salve did work wonders is my cuticles! I always have issues with them

I really do appreciate that Burt's Bees makes their products 100% natural and doesn't test the finished product or the ingredients on animals! It takes the guess work out of using a product, sometimes I wonder if the lotion or makeup products I'm putting on my skin are really safe. But you can't go wrong with something that's only composed of stuff that comes from the Earth!

I really wish companies that make salve-type products would rethink the way these things are packaged. Having a slippery oil housed in a tin that you need to pull apart isn't really convenient, I often find myself having a hard time trying to get this open because there's leftover oil on the tin. Something like a flip-top tub would be much easier! The metal tin does also get quite banged up over time, mine has a few big dings from where I've dropped it!

So overall, the Burt's Bees Hand Salve didn't impress me as much as I would've liked. I was looking for something to cure my rough elbows and feet, and this just didn't do it! Although it did help with my cuticles, the Hand Salve just doesn't absorb fast enough for me to practically use it everyday. Will I end up repurchasing this? Nope. There are too many other hand salves on the market to try!