Yes, Cuticles Need Moisture Too—Here Are the Best Cuticle Creams to Use

This formula is packed with nourishing and reparative ingredients, making it well worth the price. We’re talking shea butter and sodium hyaluronate for hydration purposes, but also a ton of protective antioxidants—vitamins A, C, and E, raspberry stem cell extract, and red algae. Oh, and it can penetrate your nails even if you have polish on.

Two top-notch moisturizing ingredients—coconut oil and shea butter—come together in this intensely hydrating cream. It’s affordable, to begin with, but also pulls double duty as both a hand and cuticle treatment, giving you even more bang for your buck. The yummy scent is just an added bonus.

The addicting citrus scent is reason enough to make you want to keep slathering this on, improvements in your nails aside. But it does, in fact, help get your nails into tip-top shape, thanks to almond oil, cocoa seed butter, and beeswax (which locks in all the hydration). As an added benefit, it also boasts vitamin E and sunflower oil to help boost brittle and peeling nails. Plus, it’s 100% natural, with no parabens or petrolatum.

You can definitely feel good about this squeaky clean, chemical-free ingredient list where the star of the show is, you guessed it, goat milk. Not only is it hydrating, but it’s also packed with different good-for-your-skin vitamins, including reparative vitamin A. Goat milk is also rich in alpha-hydroxy acids for a little bit of gentle exfoliation, never a bad thing for your cuticles. Those who are sensitive to scents will appreciate that this has no fragrance.

There are, wait for it, 101 different ways to use this all-purpose ointment. It contains just two ingredients, lanolin and lanolin oil, but works wonders pretty much all over your body. (Just FYI, since lanolin is derived from sheep, vegans may want to take a pass on this one.) Dry cuticles are no exception, and we also appreciate that because it’s an ointment, it also imparts a healthy-looking sheen onto nails.

First, this delivers moisture to dry cuticles, thanks to coconut and avocado oils. But then it helps maintain those moisture levels, using phospholipids. Read: Cuticles stay looking and feeling hydrated, longer. Bonus points for the easy-to-use massaging tip, that makes application both easy and mess-free.

Dry cuticles and dry, breaking nails often go hand-in-hand (no pun intended). Enter the beauty of this option; with both hydrating and strengthening ingredients such as keratin and peptides, it quenches cuticles and reinforces weak nails in one fell swoop. Reach for it if your nails need a little extra TLC post-gel manicure.

You’re likely already using a hand cream daily, so why not make it one that can also do good things for your nails? This vegan formula is hydrating but still absorbs quickly, so you can slather it on with reckless abandon day or night. It also boasts plenty of antioxidants, always a good thing.

Going above its basic moisturization responsibilities, this formula has the unique distinction of boasting exfoliating salicylic acid. Why is that important? The ingredient is a great exfoliator, helping to gently slough of ragged, excess dead skin on your cuticles. The gel-cream formula is also slightly lighter than many others, ideal for those who don’t like ultra-thick creams on their hands.