Stay away from perfumed creams like Bath and Body Works if your skin is truly dry the perfumes will only dry it out more. I've been using Eucerin original moisturizing lotion on my body for the last two years and I LOVE it. I use their cream (which is like butter) on my hands and feet.

i suffer from psoriasis, so along with that, my hands are SO dry! I found this aveeno lotion that has done wonders. It's new, it's Positively Nourishing 24-hour body moisturizer. It smells so good and it leaves my hands feeling smooth.

I also got this cream called Working Hands. It has a waxy texture to it, but it stays on your hands after several washings, and it heals any cracks you have within a couple days. This stuff you can either order online (just google Working Hands) or you can get it at Lowe's Hardware.

I've used bath and body works antibacterial for a couple of winters now. Not at work, just around home a couple of times a day instead of washing. My daughter introduced me to B&BW Antibacterial Moisturizing Hand Lotion. It's making a nice bit of difference.
I don't think my knuckles have cracked since I got it.

I just talked to the dermatologist last week about my dry skin. He said vaseline on dripping wet skin will do the trick. So he got my hands wet and put a dab of it on me and told me to rub it in...my what a difference. My skin is smooth and soft. No dry, scaley skin for me. I do immediately after I cut the shower off or before all the water is out of the tub. More cost effective as well!!!

Ooh, I've never heard about using vaseline when I'm wet! Thanks JiggleFree! I'm going to try that.

I have horribly dry skin, especially in the winter. My legs look like scales (those dry skin lines) . . . yuk. I recently became an Avon rep and the other day while getting into my stash of stuff from my kit I came acrossed a tube of Skin So Soft Gelled Body Oil. The kind I have is called "soft & sensual." That stuff is amazing! Didn't matter what kind of lotion I used before, by noon I was itchy all over from the dry skin. I've also tried the EVOO and baby oil while still wet from the shower. With this, my skin still feels nice 24 hours later and it has a nice clean smell. I'm not a fan of anything perfumy - I like the way this smells. I just ordered myself two more tubes of it because I definately don't want to run out.

i love gold bond - my mom's a nurse & has to wash her hands a million times a day, so that's what she uses. i also like jergen's shea butter.

I have to recommend CeraVe cream– it comes in a tub at Walgreens. It works really, really well! In fact my mom started using it because her hands were so dry and all the wrinkles disappeared from her hand. So she started using it on her neck/chest and wrinkles disappeared from there too. So if you need something for dry skin and want to reduce wrinkles I recommend it!

http://www.cerave.com/index.htm

I use Vaseline's Cocoa Butter. Amazing stuff and cheap too!

same here Allison. Just got it not long ago & love it.
I had been using Nivea (however that is spelled) but the Vaseline cocoa butter is just as good - if not, better. My skin is VERY dry, not just in winter but all the time. Sometime I have to use layers to get relief. Crazy.

I use Johnson's baby oil GEL with shea and cocoa butter.

I'm usually big on bath and body works but during winter, this stuff saves me from scratching myself to death lol.

You put it on as soon as you get out of the shower, WITHOUT drying off, and it kind of locks in the water from your shower and makes your skin super soft. And it stays on, which I love versus having to reapply lotion constantly. Maybe not everyone has to reapply lotion but I do because my skin gets crazy dry in the winter time.
So there's my 2 cents. :)