source: Drugstore.com

Here is yet another review of one of the products on my Project Pan list for 2013. I bought this particular hand lotion while in Taipei and don't have any of the original packaging, but it's basically the same thing as the American version of this hand lotion.

This was my second time purchasing this hand creme, after having used it back in 2007 and loving how soft my hands were immediately after using it. I thought that my hands felt immensely hydrated after applying the lotion, especially when I applied it to my long neglected elbows (it was almost as if they sighed). What I've always really liked about this product is that after using it, I didn't feel I had to reapply lotion to my hands for a good 12 hours. It basically feels like you've put on the softest, thinnest rubber gloves on earth.

This time around, I discovered that the lotion (though tiny) lasts F-O-R-E-V-E-R. Funny how things you want to go away just won't leave you, and the things you wish could stay forever never last long enough. This is triply true for Project Pan products. This little 2 oz tube of lotion lasted me for about 18 months, with fairly steady use (on my elbows, mostly).

Anyway, the product claims to deliver:

effective relief for dry, chapped hands. It is so concentrated that only a small amount instantly leaves dry hands noticeably softer and smoother after just one application. Used daily, it helps prevent dry, chapped skin - even under the harshest of conditions.

I think that overall, the product delivers on its promises. Which is amazing, no doubt. My biggest gripe with the product (and the main reason I wanted to get rid of it) is that it's basically all glycerin. And some parabens. Like a lot of other "moisturizing" ingredients like petroleum and beeswax-based lotions, glycerin's actually said to "moisturize" your skin by sealing it off from conditions that might wick moisture away from your skin's surface. But in doing that, it's actually drying your skin out because it's pulling water from beneath the skin's surface to keep your skin "hydrated." Or so they say.

In fact, many people say that frankly, there's no way to actually hydrate the skin. You're seeking to moisturize a lot of dead cells and only superficially hydrating your skin any way you look at it. I don't know if that's scientifically accurate, but it makes some amount of sense. After all, the best way to keep your skin hydrated is probably to ... hydrate yourself. 8 glasses of water a day.

So I won't be buying this lotion again. In the end, it didn't feel as if my skin was actually hydrated once I stopped applying the lotion, in the same way that Chapstick makes your lips addicted to it. I will still be buying lotion, but I'll also be making sure to drink more water.

The Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream, Concentrated retails for about $4.49 for 2 ounces/56 grams ...

Ingredients: Water, Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Stearic Acid, Sodium Cetearyl Sulfate, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Dilauryl Thiodipropionate, Sodium Sulfate, Fragrance

Made in the U.S.A.