My dad works for Hotel Chocolat, which means my house is always full of chocolate goodies. I’m talking seriously melt in the mouth chocolate that makes Thornton’s taste dull in comparison! The first Christmas he worked there, the company misprinted the expiry date on a batch of chocolate chilli penguins and he brought home a tote of them for us to eat. It took about three months, and a lot of gift giving, for us to get through them!
Anyway, a while ago he came home with an unusual freebie: hand cream. Hotel Chocolat was expanding its roots and my lucky dad was one of the first to experience their reach into hand creams. And when I say my dad, I mean me. I used to be a nail biter, and although I have (thankfully) given up and have lovely long nails, I suffer from really dry cuticles, which when left unattended I compulsively pick apart, so I do appreciate a good hand cream, especially during the winter months. I have to apologise for the state of my tube: it resides in my spare makeup and cream box so it’s accumulated a lot of eyeliner sharpening’s and spilt powers. It comes in a 100ml tube. The packaging for the hand cream isn’t anything amazing: just a white tube bottle with black writing and a cute silver cocoa bean printed on. Very monochrome and sophisticated, but at £18, it would be nice if it was in slightly more attractive packaging! Being a poor student, I personally would only spend this much on a hand cream if it was for a gift, in which case I would want it to look as nice and expensive as possible! It has a pretty impressive ingredient list, all of which is handpicked, including organic cocoa butter, shea butter, mango seed oil, honey and bearberry. The revive hand cream has quite a subtle smell. I’d say it is a creamy fruity scent with a vague spa-type smell, quite warm and welcoming but not overpowering (it is described as having an ‘invigorating scent with notes of bergamol, green tea, lime, exotic florals and warm sandalwood’). It feels very silky to put on, although I do think it leaves my hands a little too moist for a few minutes afterwards unless you spend an excessive amount of time rubbing it in, so only a tiny amount would be needed really. Once it’s been absorbed, I have to admit my hands do feel very silky smooth and my cuticles look a lot calmer. Even a while later, my hands still feel smooth and have a soft, warm smell to them. I’d recommend this as a luxury present, maybe for an aunty or your mum. I won’t be buying another tube because it is out of my price range, but for people who don’t mind spending a little more I would suggest giving it a go.
Hotel Chocolat Cocoa Juvenate Revive Hand Cream
