Hand Balm for Working Hands, Cinnamon Salve Recipe for Dry, Cracked Skin.

Hand balm for working hands and dry, winter-cracked skin. The majority of the men in my life have notoriously dry skin. My dad’s hands are so dry they literally crack and bleed in the winter time. My cousin is a mechanic and with all of the constant washing and scrubbing etc. it really leaves his hands desperate for any kind of moisture. This hand balm would be wonderful for winter dry and cracked skin too!

Last month you saw how I made a men’s hand scrub and, honestly, following that scrub with this cinnamon salve is a match made in Heaven! I did some searching online and found a recipe that included beeswax, shea butter and almond oil. I didn’t have any almond oil on hand so I substituted castor oil. I made a small tester batch and immediately knew I was going to change some things. The hand balm I made that night worked great but it got REALLY hard and I couldn’t understand why coconut oil was never used in any of the hand balms I read about online. So, I got to work on my own recipe.

Firstly I wanted to cut back on the beeswax, the recipe I found called for an equal amount of beeswax and shea butter and it felt kinda waxy. I wasn’t going to go buy almond oil when I already have castor oil and coconut oil on hand so I substituted there as well. With a couple of test runs this is the recipe I ended up with and it is totally man approved!

3 tablespoons Shea Butter

1 tablespoon Beeswax

1 tablespoon Castor Oil

1 tablespoon Coconut Oil

10 drops Cinnamon Oil – optional

This is a very easy to make recipe, just use a double broiler and melt all of the ingredients together. Transfer to a glass container that is easy to pour and mix in your essential oils and then just pour in whatever container you would like to keep it in!

I went ahead and used Cinnamon oil because when I went looking for a good container to put this in the cinnamon tins at the Dollar Store were just perfect! There are lots of essential oils out there that are considered good for dry skin however, like I mentioned before, it is not at all necessary to add essential oils as this recipe is jam packed full of seriously good stuff already.

This is the perfect recipe to follow the men’s hand scrub that I make earlier this year. You really don’t need much, just concentrate it on the worst places. I also use it from time to time after a shower. I’ll rub it into my feet, put on a pair of soft socks, head for bed and then, by morning, my feet feel just wonderfully soft and smooth.