All Lotions Should Come In Stick Form

The only defense we withered folk have against this dermal dehydration is to moisturize, and moisturize a lot. The problem, for me personally: I hate lotion. Lotion is goopy, and it gets on your clothes and on your furniture. Sometimes it has a weird smell. Sometimes it’s too thick, and other times it’s too thin. It takes a weird amount of effort to rub it in. Sometimes, putting on lotion makes my body so itchy I literally have to make an Arthur fist to prevent myself from scratching. Like flossing, I lie to my mom and the dermatologist about doing it regularly. Worst of all, it makes your palms greasy for the foreseeable future, and the one part of my body that isn’t naturally dry just happens to be my palms.

The solution, however, is simple: lotion sticks. That is, lotion in twist-up stick form. Yes, like giant Chapstick.

I discovered CervaVe’s Heal & Protect Balm, one such lotion stick, on a recent trip to a suburban Target (a rare and sacred experience for those who live in cities), and I quite literally haven’t been able to put it down since. In fact, I wish I’d bought more of them. The stick now lives on my desk at work, but I want one to keep in my tote bag because unlike liquid lotion, there’s no risk of it bursting open. While we’re at it, I also want one to keep in my apartment, and then maybe one more just in case I lose the others. This particular balm looks a bit like deodorant, but it goes on clear and delivers a perfect layer of moisture in one swipe. I find myself dabbing it onto my hands and wrists, where the worst of my eczema is, all day long — something I could never do in an unobtrusive way with regular lotion. Meanwhile, my palms and fingertips are undisturbed and able to keep blogging, grease-free.

There are certainly other lotion sticks out there, though. This La Roche Posay Lipikar AP+ Stick is similar to the CeraVe balm in that it’s recommended for eczema-prone skin.