Good alternative to Jergens - not too feminine

Starrystarrynight

My hands are very dry, too. They get so bad, my fingertips crack open. I'm finding that washing my hands with aqueous cream, combined with Flexitol's hand balm for moisturisation, helps. I also use Diprobase emollient, which my GP prescribed. Not sure, but I think it can be bought over the counter.

A.Penny.Saved

It sounds like the OP would benefit from finding a pair of gloves. Not your thick protective types but something very thin which does not affect sensation and feedback to the skin.

Maybe something like ***this***
The size concerns me because I struggle with anything less than a large even though my hands are quite small and thin because they stick to me and I have trouble getting them off.

A pair of fabric gloves might be better just to provide some distance and prevent contact with your skin.

Katiehound

A friend's husband uses Derma Guard- not cheap but I think itworks like a barrier cream

toasterman

Thanks for all your help. I wasn't expecting such detailed responses.

I've decided to ditch Jergens now it's getting a bit hard to get hold of (and will become more so, now they've confirmed they don't sell it here).

I went to a big supermarket with all your suggestions. They had a few types of Neutrogena Norwegian but they all seemed to be for making hands look younger/shinier, or strengthening nails.
They also had the Atrixo cream, but the tubs are quite big, and once applied to hands, I imagine it'll be a bit fiddly to get the lid back on. Also, they were sealed so I couldn't have a sniff first. They did have the Atrixo in tubes, but only the green/yellow one.
My girlfriend has some of the hemp body shop stuff, but I find the smell of that one a bit too strong. Maybe I've just got a very over-sensitive nose?

I bought the Aveeno (they did have it - and in small convenient tubes), and I'm going to trial that for a bit...plus maybe some of your other suggestions. The 59p/2for£1 Wilkinson stuff sounds amazing, for the price.
The Aveeno one seems to be completely unscented, although I did put a second application on yesterday and it seemed to sort of clump up in a slightly unpleasant way. It does say on the bottle that one application lasts 24 hours, so I'll try and follow that and use it sparingly.

Gloves are a great suggestion, but I work in retail, and so I go from a warm shop to a cold warehouse (it's not frozen or chilled, just not heated) and back - a lot. I operate a handheld computer with tiny buttons (harder to do with gloves but at least it's not a touch screen), and handle cardboard boxes/plastic a lot (which itself seems to absorb moisture/dry out skin, and leave them a bit dusty/powdery). I do wear gloves if in the warehouse for a long time, but not otherwise, or I'd have to keep putting them on and taking them off every 5 minutes (and even that is quite hard as I'm often carrying something both ways).

heartbreak_star

Try Astral cream too, I used to love that stuff. I now use Soap and Glory Hand Food, but that's a bit girly-smelling

HBS x

eilidh_s

The neutrogena stuff is great. It's a bit expensive but it's great value for money as a little goes a long way. http://www.boots.com/en/Neutrogena-Norwegian-Formula-Concentrated-Hand-Cream-50ml_1505/
I use it all the time as I have little hands and the gloves we get given at work are more of a hindrance than a help. I used to have really dry skin and callouses but this fixed up my hands nicely. Although you should wear gloves of some sort if you can, even if it's just nitrile gloves.