Especially in winter we use hand cream more often because of dry hands. However, some of the creams are not good for our skin. On the contrary: due to questionable ingredients, seven hand creams fail the test. The good news: 35 out of 53 hand creams score “very good”.
In the current issue (12/2021), ÖKO-TEST examined a total of 53 hand creams just in time for winter. More than half of all products tested received the rating “very good”. Six creams do “good”. Four other creams cut get the grade “satisfactory”, one scores “sufficient”. Two well-known brands fail with the grade “unsatisfactory”, a total of five fail the test with “unsatisfactory”.
The reason for the poor rating are critical substances such as mineral oils, allergenic ingredients and the laboratory even finds formaldehyde in the well-known O’Keeffe’s brand. Read more about the test results below.
Many are “very good”: test winners from Aldi, Rossmann, Edeka & Co.
Two thirds of all creams tested were able to secure the top grade “very good”. The laboratory does not find any critical ingredients or other serious defects here. You can leave these products on your skin without hesitation. In the following we will show you an insight into the test winners, you can read the list of all 35 test winners for free at ÖKO-TEST.
- Alterra hand cream organic sea buckthorn from Rossmann (to Rossmann)
- Alverde Intensive Hand Cream by dm (to Amazon)
- Terra Naturi Intensive Care hand cream by Müller (to Müller)
- Intensive hand cream pomegranate from Weleda (to Amazon)
- Elkos Body Hand Cream Olive by Edkea (to Amazon)
- Ombia hand cream chamomile from Aldi (to Aldi)
- Cien Care hand cream from Lidl (to Amazon)
Hand cream: Better to keep your hands off these products
Seven hand creams fail the test. Many of them contain harmful substances. In addition to mineral oil and paraffins, the Atrix Professional Repair Cream from Beiersdorf also contains fragrances such as citronellol, eugenol and geraniol. In the Mixa Shea Ultra Soft Hand & Nail Cream by L’Oréal, the laboratory does not find any paraffins etc., but instead contains hydroxycitro-nellal and an artificial musk scent. Both fragrances can trigger or promote allergies. Both products still perform “poorly”.
It looks different with the following 5 hand creams. The laboratory finds a number of critical ingredients here. This results in the worst rating “unsatisfactory”.
- Bebe Cremedich Intensive hand cream
- Dove Hand Care Intensive Hand Cream
- L’Occitane Shea Butter Intensive Hand Balm
- O’Keeffe’s Working Hands Hand Cream Intensive Care
- Vasenol Dry Hands Rescue
Because of their critical and harmful ingredients, it is better to keep your hands off these hand creams in the future. You can read the detailed test with all the results for free at ÖKO-TEST.