While I pamper my face, moisturise my body, scrub my legs and buffer my toes, I rarely do anything to improve the condition of my hands. This is surprising as I would say, like most people, my hands probably get a pretty rough deal when it comes to how much I work them. This lack of love and attention has left me with weak nails and very scaly skin - something I have been desperately trying to rectify over the last few months.
Golden Handshake Hot Hand Mask was one of the first products that grabbed my attention when I entered the Oxford Street superstore a few weekends ago. While I was intrigued by both the write-up and choice of ingredients used to construct it, I was more interested in the alluring and rather unique design - something I'm sure will make it a very popular seller. Shaped to look like a marshmallow about to be roasted, this solid mask is packed full of essential butters and oils to nourish, hydrate, moisturise and rejuvenate over-worked and tired looking hands. Cupuacu butter is one of the main ingredients - known for its emollient consistency that makes it a highly effective moisturiser for the skin. The butter boasts a range of fatty acids that replenish the oils lost in dry skin - helping to condition the hands and leave them feeling velvety-soft and smooth to the touch.
Murumuru butter is another ingredient that I have noticed features in many of Lush's newer products - working with the cupuacu butter to condition the body while also secreting a thin layer of oil to protect the skin and leave it with a glossy finish. Lush have also included avocado oil which is known to reduce the appearance of scars and help to heal small cuts and abrasions.
Aside from its moisturising properties, the presence of almond, argan, castor, rosewood and sandalwood oil also gives Golden Handshake a rather strange but pleasant aroma. To me, this solid hand mask gives off a rather soapy fragrance - one that reminds me of expensive but rather generic-smellling soap. It is the latter two oils that make the biggest impression here - offering a slightly floral aroma that has elements of Ghost Shower Gel and Lily Savon Soap to it. While this product does not smell identical to either of these two products, it does have its similarities. Lush claim that you should stir this into roughly 200ml of warm water until it has completely dissolved and converted into a thick, white paste. The company then suggest that you should submerge your hands underneath the liquid and allow them to bask in the butters and oils for 10-15 minutes, before rinsing off and patting dry.
Firstly, I would highly suggest that you use boiling water. When I attempted to dissolve Golden Handshake in warm liquid, it didn't work at all and I ended up with a bowl of murky water decorated with clumps of butters that refused to melt until I microwaved them.
Secondly, while it is described as being a one-use hand mask, this product easily produces enough paste to see you through two or three separate sessions. As you can see from my picture, I used an awful lot of product on my hands, so you'll still get the full, intense treatment even if you decide to use only part of the bar. For this reason, I would suggest that you cut off a small chunk each time and use a normal spoon to stir it in as opposed to using the whole stick in one go. Exposing it to the water will give Golden Handshake less of a shelf-life and I can almost see this deteriorating in between uses, so you want to try and preserve it by keeping it as dry as you can when it is not being used.
After keeping my hands submerged in the thick, creamy mask for a good 20 minutes, I was really pleased to discover that my hands felt hydrated and looked visibly softer. The areas around my cuticles looked far healthier and less bitten, and the crevices between my fingers were silky-smooth and free of the dry patches that I had been plagued with up until then.
My only qualm with this product is that I did feel as if I still needed to moisturise my hands afterwards - they felt much smoother and softer, but they didn't feel as conditioned as I was expecting them to do. Having said this, for £2.95, Golden Handshake is incredible value for money and one that I will be using regularly to keep my hands in tip-top condition.
Quantitative Ingredients: Cetearyl Alcohol & Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Guar Gum (Guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, Cupuacu Butter (Theobroma grandiflorum), Murumuru Butter (Astrocaryum Murumuru), Sodium Bicarbonate, Almond Oil (Prunus dulcis), Organic Avocado Oil (Perdea gratissima), Citric Acid, Argan Oil (Argania Spinosa), Organic Castor Oil (Ricinus communis), Rosewood Oil (Aniba rosaeodora), Labdanum Resinoid (Cistus Ladaniferus), Sandalwood Oil (Fusanus spicatus), Citral, Coumarin, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool, Perfume.
Vegan?: Yes.
2015 Price: £2.95 each.
Year Of Original Release: 2015.
