The Hand Lotion the Entire InsideHook Office Is Obsessed With

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The InsideHook office suffered an immeasurable loss last week: We ran out of our favorite hand lotion.

I can’t recall exactly how the Ouai Hand Créme found its way to my desk. It likely was part of a goodie bag from an event I had attended, or maybe sent as an extra treat by Ouai along with one of their other beauty products, but this summer I had anointed it my new office hand lotion — an essential grooming item that should be on/in every desk alongside deodorant and a toothbrush.

Quickly, though, my 3oz. bottle of hand lotion became my coworkers’ 3oz. bottle of hand lotion. I’m a generous lady, and since I admittedly didn’t buy the tube with my own hard-earned cash, I felt I had no real right to claim it as my own. As the temperatures in New York began to shift from suffocatingly sweaty to bitterly cold, it would’ve been really fucked up if I’d denied my colleagues essential hand moisture. But now, pretty much every work day we pass the tube around like a hot potato. Hence our now depleted supply.

A a commerce editor, my desk is essentially a Sephora display. From fragrances and lipsticks to eye creams and dry shampoo, a lot of goop has crossed this surface area — including lotions. So what made Ouai’s Hand Créme such an InsideHook HQ favorite?

If you’re unfamiliar with Ouai, the brand offers an array of beauty and wellness products, but their hair treatments, in particular, are their bread and butter. Unsurprising, since the brand’s founder is celebrity hair stylist Jen Atkin, who rose to fame as the Kardashians’ personal hair stylist for years.

I know, I too am skeptical of celebrity brands, as well as anyone with a close relation to the Kardashians. However, Ouai is the real deal. I use their Detox Shampoo to thoroughly purge any product buildup and oil from my hair, and their all-new Hair Gloss has been a godsend this winter, bringing shine and life back to my dry, dull hair. And as evidenced by our office’s fervent love for the brand’s hand cream, I’d surmise their bodycare is just as good.

So back to the hand lotion. Formulated with shea butter, coconut oil and murumuru butter — a rich, all-natural butter that locks in moisture —, this creamy balm hydrates our hands beautifully. I personally suffer from extremely dry, cracked, irritated skin in the winter, and have tried a myriad of lotions and body butters, and can say, Ouai’s hand lotion is quite effective.

You also don’t need to a whole glob of product, just a small dab and wow you’ve got soft hands everyone will want to hold.

There’s also no annoying sticky finish. Like some hand lotions you immediately want to wash off, the Ouai Hand Créme dries into a nice powdery feel, while still keeping hands moisturized, so you’re not smudging your phone or dripping all over your keyboard.

For transparency: this hand cream has a subtle scent, for those who prefer their skincare fragrance-free. One InsideHook employee, and avid user of the hand cream, lovingly likened the scent to a “French whorehouse” (their words, not mine). The scent, in actuality, is called Rue St. Honoré, and is a sophisticated floral fragrance, with notes of violet, gardenia, ylang ylang and white musk. A more feminine scent, sure, but that didn’t stop my male colleagues from lathering on the nourishing balm, and it shouldn’t stop you either.

Overall, if you too have just finished the last drops of your go-to hand cream, may we recommend picking of a tube of the Ouai Hand Créme. Just be prepared to share.