Re: hands and hand cream/lotion. I have been plagued most of my adult life with a weird skin problem that no dermatologist has been able to properly diagnose, though a couple have said it appears to be a mutant form of exczema (sp?). I get very small patches of extremely dry skin that ultimately crack and bleed. I get these on tips of my fingers regularly, which makes playing the piano very painful. I have been prescribed many an expensive "remedy" over the years (Protopic for example goes for over $100 a tube!), none of which worked. I finally defaulted to lotions last year and though I still have the problem, it's better than it's been in a long time.
Which brings me to this perhaps funny anecdote from yesterday: two women I know recommended a little item called Bag Balm, which I'm sure the women here know about. I had never heard of it before (though DS Betsy told me she used it for what women use it for, LOL). Well I left the cannister out in the car, which Betsy took and left out in the sun the other day. I got to the car yesterday morning to find my entire back seat swathed in a thick, gooey coating of Bag Balm. Oy and vey. We are still cleaning it.