The nourishing formula has sold out multiple times.
If you were to shake my hand a month ago, you’d have felt skin akin to sandpaper. Perhaps you’d notice my dangling cuticles or cracked knuckles, possibly crusted in dried blood. (TMI?)
By virtue of an extensive skincare routine, my face is smooth; dewy, even, on a good day. As for my hands? A predilection for perfumed soaps and steamy showers, paired with an aversion to hand cream — and a lackadaisical attitude towards wearing winter gloves — are to blame for the discrepancy in texture. My hand cream hatred stems from a simple, and common, reason. Specifically, I’m deterred by the greasy residue it often entails; so much so, I avoid the stuff. More accurately, used to avoid.
Soft Services has converted me into a religious lotion-slatherer with its popular Theraplush formula. I even keep a jar on my nightstand. (Peep the packaging and you’ll understand why.) Simply put, Theraplush has transformed my skin from sandpaper to silk.
Buy on Softservices.com $62
The Theraplush Overnight Repair Treatment is a velvety, overnight hand cream packed with dermatologist-approved ingredients, the likes of which soften, smooth, and slow signs of aging (which appear more rapidly on hands than on other parts of the body). Similar in density to a rich facial moisturizer, though uniquely velvety and fast-absorbing on skin, it’s devoid of shudder-inducing slickness.
A quick press of the airless pump-top dispenser delivers a dime-sized dollop of product, which glides onto skin like satin, and leaves skin similarly silky. The suppleness is almost instant, and still very much present the next morning.
As for ingredients, the formula boasts three skincare heavy-hitters. Most notably, retinol — a form of vitamin A that reigns supreme among anti-aging ingredients with its firming, smoothing, pigmentation-fighting power. Considering that the thin skin on our hands ages more rapidly than other areas, retinol makes sense in Theraplush’s formula, which, per the brand, contains a level of vitamin A “appropriate” for hands. Given that retinol can be drying, the colloidal oatmeal and allantoin featured in the cream also make sense. Both serious skin-soothers, they quell inflammation, and retain skin’s moisture by strengthening the all-important barrier. Finally, panthenol, aka vitamin B5, softens and plumps.
That said, it was the packaging, not the ingredients, that initially sparked my interest. The jar, with its mustard hue and modern-boho shape, is sculpturesque, and functions equally well as an objet d'art as it does a skin savior. Plus, it’s also practical and eco-friendly thanks to a refillable pod-style interior. While a pretty exterior is typically less important than what’s inside a jar, I’d argue that, in this case, the aesthetic appeal is of equal importance. In leaving it out as decor, I see it — and thus use it — more frequently than I would if it were tucked away in a clinical-looking tube beneath my sink.
I’m hardly alone in my love Theraplush; the cream has sold out numerous times, a testament to its specialness. Besides, a hand cream would have to prove practically perfect, on all counts, to inspire my drastic change in heart towards the hand cream category as a whole.
For satiny hands and a sprinkle of home decor, shop the Soft Services Theraplush Overnight Repair Treatment. Act quickly; if history repeats itself, sell-out risk is imminent.
Shop more anti-aging hand treatments:
SuperGoop Hand Screen SPF 40
Buy on Supergoop.com $38
Nécessaire The Hand Retinol
Buy on Necessaire.com $35