Soothe Away The Winter Blues (Simple Derma Intensive Relief Cream)

Member Name: wigglylittleworm

Product:	Simple Derma Intensive Relief Cream
Date:	07/03/09 (401 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: helps soothe very dry skin without irritating it

Disadvantages: too thick to use on my face

I have dry skin which gets worse during the winter. I've also recently been swimming a couple of times a week which left me with patches of excema on my upper arms. I also have very sensitive skin so am always a bit nervous about trying new products but decided to give Simple Derma Intensive Skin Relief a try when it was on special offer in Tesco so cost only £1.99 for a 125ml pot instead of the usual £3.98.

Simple claims that their intensive relief cream is clinically proven to give relief to dry skin in just 4 days so I was keen to give it a try.

The cream itself is extremely thick and white in colour. You could turn the pot upside down without any of the cream dripping out. It has a rather strange smell, Simple are known for not using any artificial perfumes which can cause skin irritation so this accounts for the smell.

To use you apply the cream liberally to your hands, body or face up to four times a day. I found that it spread over my skin easily but was not immediately absorbed. It did sink in eventually and left an oily barrier on my skin which feels really soothing. For this reason I tended to use it only at night as I didn't want it to get all over my clothes.

The main question is: did it work? The answer is yes, it was very effective at relieving the itching on my dry scaly skin and this happened almost as soon as I put the cream on. After I used it for a few days, I did find that my scaly patches were starting to clear up but never did go away fully. I like the fact that it worked a lot better than E45 which I have found to be too thin to make any difference and can actually make my skin feel worse.

I have also used this cream as a hand cream and again it was very effective. I keep the pot on my desk and apply it several times over the day. It does take a while to fully absorb into my hands but it really helps to combat the soreness when my hands get so dry that the skin starts to crack.

I did try to use it on my face but found that even if I used it overnight that by morning my face still felt very oily. I did still use the occasional smear overnight when my forehead got all flaky and found that was ample to help clear this dryness up.

I'm pleased with the performace of the Simple Derma cream but I do find that £3.99 for a small 125ml pot is fairly expensive as you can buy huge tubs of aquaeous cream for the same price from the chemist. Luckily my skin doesnt need an intensive moisturising cream every day but if it did I would go for the huge cheaper tubs or even get cream on prescription to keep the costs down. I will however possibly buy it again as a hand cream as it was very effective in helping my hands feel better.

Summary: brilliant hand cream