Itchy Dry Skin

The only way I could keep from about scratching my calfs off, was to use a good amount of baby lotion right after bathing / showering.

I had a horrible time with dry skin when I had gas heat. It was so painful! I did find some relief with Olay body wash. And drink lots and lots of water!!

C.,
Generally, creams not lotions work better.
Check out Aveeno Skin Strengthening Hand Cream. Maybe there's a larger body cream version as well.
Run a humidifier in your home, or at least in your bedroom all night. It will mhelp with dry staticky hair as well.
Neutrogena profucts are also good. The Norwegian Hand Cream is great!
Apply creams right after shower/bath.

First, make sure you are drinking a lot of water. Second, I use straight shea butter, good stuff from a natural food market and then sleep in 100%cotton jammies at night to allow it all to soak in really good. I also have used ghee, which may sound weird to some but it's used in all sorts of Ayurvedic medicine right after a shower when my pores are open. The other thing too, even though it's cold out, the hotter your shower the more it will suck your skin dry so opt for a tepid shower.

I always recommend two approaches:

One is diet. You must eat healthy amounts of oils like avocado, EVOO, eggs, cheese, peanut butter, olives, etc in your diet. Plus your diet needs to be extra rich in beta-carotenes, like carrots and Vit A&D found in milk and Omegas found in fish. Also, you have to stay hydrated.

Next, try different lotions. Baby oil is very greasy and does not penetrate the skin readily, it's great as a body rub and repels water. You would be better off putting Olive Oil or Grapeseed Oil in the water for you skin. And also soaking with epsom salts and oatmeal baths.

Have you tried thicker body lotions like Aveeno? I prefer Lubriderm, with shea butters or cocoa butters. And you must apply lotions within 2 minutes after drying off or you lose all the water moisture.

GL!

ut oh, be careful you don't slip!
Seriously, there are so many things on the market. They say to put the lotion on after the bath while your skin is still a bit moist. I use the marykay moisturizer on my face, but the rest of my cracking old tired body I used the cheap aloes, vaseline products, etc. because I pretty well repeat it throughout the day so I don't look a day over ninetyfive!!! haha
oh please laugh

First drink a lot of water.

We use coconut oil (sold in the oil section of the grocery. It is solid). When it touches your hands, it instantly melts and your skin soaks it up with no residue. We also use it as a hair conditioner before shampooing. My daughter and I use this all the time and we still have over 1/2 of a jar that cost $11 about 3 months ago.

I also use pure shea from the Body Shop. LOVE this stuff. I like the unscented so I can use my regular fresh scented sprays. After using liberally after a shower or bath, it feels better.

I use Clinique products on my face. I like the Repairwear series and this time of year, I add the Moisture Surge Intense.

Good luck.

One thing to keep in mind when using lotions is that everything you put on your skin is absorbed into your bloodstream! Most commercial lotions contain toxic substances, such as mineral oil (for one). Coconut oil is great, not only for your skin, but I find that including coconut oil in my diet is helpful. At one point when my skin was really dry, I realized that my diet was lacking in fats. We need fats to absorb certain vitamins and nutrients which are good for our skin. Another thing to try is exfoliating dead skin cells, and drink plenty of water.

Coconut oil. It comes in a solid, but melts instantly in your hand. It will feel oily at first, but is absorbed into your skin and can even help with age marks and other imperfections. You can get a tub of it at most health food stores. Get the food grade stuff, and you can even use it in the kitchen as well as a healthier alternative to veggie oil.
http://wakeup-world.com/2012/03/02/160-uses-for-coconut-oil/

I rub baby oil onto my skin while still in the shower, after washing. Helps my skin in this dry desert air.

About 3 weeks ago I purchased some homemade bar soaps from Etsy as Christmas presents and kept a couple bars for myself. I put one at the bathroom sink and one in the shower. What a difference it has been for me by just changing my soap! Very rarely now do I need to put any lotion on after a shower. Usually it is only after I shave my legs and then it is usually around my knees and ankles that I need the lotion. I plan on ordering some shaving soap soon from Etsy and that may eliminate the need for any lotion.

For my hands, I was still using liquid store bought lotion at my kitchen sink. I noticed how much better my hands felt after washing with the bar soap in the bathroom as opposed to the liquid soap in the kitchen. The liquid soap was causing my hands to crack and bleed no matter how much lotion I used. I got another soap order this week from Etsy and now have a bar of soap at my kitchen sink too. In the last two days, I have only put lotion on my hands twice instead of about 20 times when I was using the store bought soaps. It has been really cold and dry here the last couple days so I have turned on my humidifiers to help also.

So you may want to switch your soaps to homemade bar soaps instead of trying every lotion/moisturizer out there. They are a bit more expensive than store bought but you will save by not needing so much lotion.

What works for me is topical Shea butter, or aquaphor and 500mg oral DHA supplements.

i have serious issues with myy hands in the winter, they get so dry to the point of cracking and bleeding, especially the backs of my knuckles.. the best thing i found to work was eucerin (not sure if i spelled that right) cream (not lotion) it comes in a tub and its really really thick.. it takes a while to actually rub it into your skin so your not all greasy but once you do it makes a huge difference, definatley worth it

Great responses.
I've tried most of them.
What works for me is humidifier at night, cocoa butter after the shower, drinking lots of water, wearing rubber gloves for dishes/cleaning, and No-Crack cream at night. The No Crack cream can be found on Amazon. I've used Porters lotion in the past too-works great-but it's medicated-didn't care for that.

I would check out the lotion isle of your drug store or ask the pharmacist for creams that are formulated for psoriasis or eczema. My daughter has super dry itchy skin and love Gold Bond cream - it is very thick. Both Aveeno and Eucerin make a cream that has menthol in it which is great for eczema or super dry skin, but since she is very sensitive she found it a bit too "cooling". I myself use Nivea Soft for my face and Jergens Ultra Healing in the pump bottle for hands and body. A different question today asked about Coconut oil which is a solid at room temps and can be purchased at health food stores and seems to be used for very dry skin. By the way, baby oil does not moisturize me but just seems to create a barrier to prevent my skin from breathing plus it is soooo slippery and does not absorb. Good luck.

I've tried Nivea, I've tried Dermasil.

I use vaseline while my skin is still damp on my face. It works very well.
Also, Avon has a line of severe dry skin products that are pretty awesome.
They really make your skin feel luxurious.

I'm not an Avon rep so there is no benefit for me to mention it, but the products make your skin smoothe and silky without being greasy.

Just my opinion.

Best wishes.

I use Cetaphil cream vs the lotion. The cream is thicker and put on right after a shower, as well as throughout the day. My legs get itchy dry when we start winter and have the heat on. When it is really bad, I first put on some hydrocortisone to stop the itching. A friend of mine loves Argon oil, which I have found is great for my hands and helps my 1 yr old. It is a bit costly but a little does a lot.

You've got a lot of great suggestions so far, and something else to think about would be adding moisture to the air around you. See about a humidifier. I know that I can always tell when I haven't run ours recently enough when (aside from all the static electricity) my skin feels itchier.

cetaphil cream works great