UKC

Climbskin Hand Cream Review

© Ellie Fuller

UKClimbing will be running a group test of climbers' skin care products in 2017. Here Ellie Fuller looks at just one, Climbskin cream.


Climbskin Hand Cream is a new product on the climber’s hand-care market. Instead of the more usual block, Climbskin have formulated a thick cream that you scoop out to rub on sore tips. I really liked it from the start.

Climbskin absorbs so fast, you can be climbing again in about five minutes  © Charlie Low
Climbskin absorbs so fast, you can be climbing again in about five minutes
© Charlie Low

What is immediately obvious is how fast Climbskin is absorbed - you can almost watch it disappear into your hands! This makes it an ideal choice to stick in your pocket and take to the crag. As it leaves no greasy residue, your hands are dry enough to start climbing again within about five minutes of application – at most. Nothing else I’ve tried can beat it in that respect.

Its speedy absorption is down to Climbskin not being wax-based; rather it is an emulsion, which allows it be absorbed super quickly leaving no residue.

Climbskin say that ‘tincture of benzoin and natural silica…regulate sweating’ and I did notice that, as well as not being greasy, my hands also felt less sweaty than usual.

"As it leaves no greasy residue, your hands are dry enough to start climbing again within about five minutes of application. Nothing else I’ve tried can beat it in that respect"

Climbskin tested alongside a few other skin care products   © Charlie Low
Climbskin tested alongside a few other skin care products
© Charlie Low

Group test

After finding all initial impressions favourable, I wondered how effective Climbskin was at aiding recovery over time. So I cajoled several of my friends into testing it in comparison to other hand balms. After having done an excellent job of ruining their fingers in Fontainebleau I got them to apply one kind of hand-care to each hand every day for two weeks. I did the same. By the end we found that Climbskin and other kinds of skincare were all similarly effective. Climbskin however did stand out as the most practical since it absorbs so amazingly fast.

Summary

Climbskin is effective, super practical, quickly absorbed and comes at a pretty standard price of £11 for a 30g pot (and a little goes a long way). So does it have any downside? In my opinion one niggle is that it is not fully natural and has a long ingredients list; and the other minor criticism is that it has a slightly strange smell. Other than that it’s my new favourite, and I really enjoyed using it.

Climbskin say:

CLIMBSKIN® HAND CREAM is designed by climbers, for climbers but also for people who need extra care of their hands. CLIMBSKIN® HAND CREAM contains the most potent skin regenerative agents found in nature, under a novel formula that combines eight major natural components:

Climbskin product shot  © Climbskin

  • Dragon's blood
  • Tincture of benzoin
  • Centella Asiatica
  • Shea butter
  • Achillea millifolium
  • Buckthorn oil
  • Aloe vera
  • Rosehip oil

Climbskin are a small Spanish company committed to ‘respect for nature and the environment'. They donate 1% of sales to partnerships that promote sustainable climbing and to associations like Climbers Against Cancer.

Ingredients: Aqua (water), Aloe barbadensis leaf, glycerin, stearyl alcohol, butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter extract, peg-6 stearate, propylene glycol, Butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter, dimethicone, silica, alcoho denat, stearic acid, Hippophae rhamnoides oil, mineral oil, Rosa moschata seed oil, glyceryl stearate, phenoxyethanol, Styrax benzoin resin extract, ceteth-20, steareth-20, Argania spinosa kernel oil, imidazolidinyl urea, allantoin, polyquaternium-7, Centella asiatica extract, Achillea millefolium flower extract, ethylhexylglycerin, Croton lechleri resin extract, bht, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, sodium hydroxide.

30g pot: £11.00

For more info see climbskin.co.uk

  • Want to know more? UKClimbing will be putting a range of leading climbers' hand care products to the test in a comparison review in 2017



29 Sep, 2016
Unique because it's a cream? Hmmm... Dour Yorkshire punter/esoteric gritstone hero (A Nidderdale Boulderer) has been flogging his goo to anyone who stands still for 5 seconds for years now. It's less than half the price too. http://www.climbersbalm.com/
29 Sep, 2016
Liking the retro Brylcreem-style packaging.
29 Sep, 2016
No expense spared - graphic design chops like that don't come cheap.
29 Sep, 2016
Is it new? Fairly sure I bought some about a year ago. Weird smell sounds right, had me dry-heaving on an empty stomach ...
29 Sep, 2016
I like it. It does absorb very quickly, so I think that means I use more. Downside is that it smells like a damp, stale beer towel.
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