You'd be dopey not to try it (The Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector)

Member Name: bluerose81

Product:	The Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector
Date:	07/09/09 (28 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Softening and soothing

Disadvantages: Not a girly enough smell or packaging for some women

In 1993, the growing of hemp was again legalised in Britain after a distinction was made between what is called 'industrial hemp' and the kind of hemp that has mind-altering effects. It is the THC content of the plant that produces this effect, and the difference is that industrial hemp only contains a negligible amount. Hemp can be used to make clothing, rope and string, it has a high nutritional content, the oil can be used for cooking or as a base for paint and it can even be used to fuel cars. The oil is completely biodegradable too. It is a wonderful thing that this legal distinction has been made.

Anita Roddick, the founder of The Body Shop, jumped at the chance to take advantage of the change in the law and in 1993 she launched her own range of skin care products containing hemp seed oil, known for its deep moisturising properties. The Hemp Hand Protector, which also contains soothing allantoin and panthenol to nourish your nails, went on to become their best-selling hand cream.

This product retails at £4.85 for 30 ml or £9.75 for 100 ml, which is a pretty big tube which will last you a while. The packaging will not be to everyone's taste as it resembles a silver tube of paint, sporting a green label with the iconic hemp leaf image on it. I like it because it is quirky and it is also butch enough that any man would feel OK using it. It doesn't smell so girly either as it has a slight grassy smell to it (I mean the kind on your lawn!). I can barely notice it but some women might not like it I suppose.

The cream is a light green colour and comes out of the tube easily. I put a good blob on and rub it in and it sinks in really rapidly, and it really makes my hands lovely and soft, with no greasy feeling. It has a nice soothing feeling to it and using it over a few days I noticed that it was healing my few dry patches. Those dry patches would sometimes feel a bit itchy but that itchy feeling is soon soothed away so I imagine this would be good for sufferers of eczema for example. My nails are in better condition now as well.

I hope I have given you an idea of what this product is like. Down below is a full list of the ingredients from The Body Shop website:

Hemp Seed Oil) (Skin-Conditioning Agent), C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate (Emulsifier), Glyceryl Stearate (Emulsifier), Dimethicone (Skin Conditioning Agent), PEG-100 Stearate (Surfactant), Cera Alba (Beeswax) (Emulsifier/Emollient), Lanolin (Emollient), Panthenol (Skin/Hair Conditioning Agent), Phenoxyethanol (Preservative), Parfum (Fragrance), Methylparaben (Preservative), Propylparaben (Preservative), Allantoin (Skin Soothing Agent), Xanthan Gum (Viscosity Modifier), Disodium EDTA (Chelating Agent), Evernia furfuracea (Fragrance Ingredient), Limonene (Fragrance Ingredient), Citronellol (Fragrance Ingredient), Talc (Absorbent/Bulking Agent), Geraniol (Fragrance Ingredient), Linalool (Fragrance Ingredient), Citral (Fragrance Ingredient), CI 77288 (Colour), CI 77492 (Colour), CI 77491 (Colour), CI 77499 (Colour).

Summary: Get your man to use this on his rough 'ands