For chapped hands.

[webbmaster]

Boy are my hands chapped from all the hand washing we have to do now. The best product for this is O'Keeffe's Working Hands, comes in a green round container. I like that there is no odor and also that it works amazingly quickly. You know, for your riffle stacking practice and coin tricks etc.

[Jonathan Townsend]

+1 for O'Keefe's. Be aware that it can sting a little.

[chetday]

I rub in a little coconut oil when my hands get too dry. Works great.

[webbmaster]

Hi, and where does one get coconut oil ?

[webbmaster]

Not to answer my own question, but to throw into the mix the fact that I've heard two sources mention that Vernon swore by RoseWater (again, where would one get rosewater?) to ward off the dry hand syndrome (I seem to remember this being in the context of Billiard Ball manipulation). My friend had taken some lessons from Mr. Vernon and said Billiard Ball set was covered in this brownish sticky stuff (rosewater). Also, Chapstick, works. Jack Chanin used ear wax (!). Anyway Chet, is coconut oil odorless ? I feel that is the key. If not, I'd be looking into a new Neutrogina product designed and newly being advertised for chapped and split hands. It even has a special nozzle to get the stuff down into the cracks of splits. Lady sleight-of-hand specialists take notice.

[Chris Aguilar]

Boy are my hands chapped from all the hand washing we have to do now. The best product for this is O'Keeffe's Working Hands, comes in a green round container. I like that there is no odor and also that it works amazingly quickly. You know, for your riffle stacking practice and coin tricks etc.

Yeah, great product. My wife and daughter have dry skin issues, are sometimes allergic to other lotions, creams and this works great for them (and myself!).

[Brad Jeffers]

Vernon swore by RoseWater to ward off the dry hand syndrome

I think that would be rosewater and glycerin, not just rosewater.

[DanZ]

Geno Munari's Houdini's Magic Shop sells something called Chamberlain Lotion the ad for it reads:

CHAMBERLAIN LOTION
Hand lotion used by JIMMY GRIPPO and DAI VERNON, famous card experts. Chamberlain golden touch lotion; Lavender Vanilla Scent. If you are a card magician this is for you.
Skin conditioner lotion for manipulators.

https://www.houdini.com/catalogsearch/r ... mmy+grippo

[DanZ]

Digging deeper I realize this is the famous Golden Touch Lotion. https://www.chamberlainlotion.com/index.php

[Tom Gilbert]

I like Chamberlains Golden Touch, although a little bit of an odor to it. Provides decent tack. It's said Vernon used to carry a small bottle of it.

[Leo Garet]

I'm sure all the products mentioned do their job.

I use, and have always used, a bog-standard cheapest-I-can-find hand moisturiser.

They likely don't suit everybody, but they suit me.

Just lucky, I guess.

Tea-Tree Oil has its uses and comes in handy now and then.

[webbmaster]

But where would one get rosewater and glycerin too for that matter?

[Richard Kaufman]

They are easily purchased.

Generally people now use Okeefe's.

[Tom Gilbert]

What works for one may not for another. Depending on skin type, or the cause of them being chapped or dry. It's worth trying a few different things. Fr. Cyp recommended Corn Huskers Lotion, but it didn't work for me and seemed to make the cards dirty more quickly.

[Richard Kaufman]

Jennings and Marlo used Chamberlin's. I keep a bottle here and sniff it once in a while. I am immediately transported back to Larry Jennings living room 25 years ago.

[Dave Le Fevre]

But where would one get rosewater and glycerin too for that matter?

I bought mine so long ago that I couldn't remember whether I'd bought glycerin and bought rosewater and mixed them. So I've dug out the bottle, and I find that it's simply called Glycerin and Rosewater. Boots brand.

Googling Glycerin and Rosewater offers Boots and other sources. Dunno whether you have Boots pharmacies in US.

[Dave Le Fevre]

Fr. Cyp recommended Corn Huskers Lotion, but it didn't work for me and seemed to make the cards dirty more quickly

I got some in order to facilitate the palming of coins. It seems to help. But since it leaves my hands slightly sticky, I can see that it might make cards dirty.

Annoyingly, it's not available in UK. So my brother got me some from Canada.

[chetday]

Coconut oil's available at my local supermarket, so I'd assume you could find it in the oil section of yours. If not, amazon.com has many different brands of coconut oil for sale. If you want to try it for dry hands, buy the smallest bottle you can find because you'll be amazed how little of it you'll have to use for dry skin. I should also add that you can use it to cook/fry with. Coconut oil will also pop the best-tasting popcorn you've ever dug into.

Unless your house is very warm, coconut oil will be in a semi-solid state and a little bit (I mean a little bit) goes a long, long way in softening and moisturizing dry skin. It has no smell and once it's fully absorbed, your skin will be soft, fully moisturized, and will feel wonderful.

Note: I have no financial interest in the coconut oil industry!

[webbmaster]

There's a run on Coconut Oil in Aisle 5 ! Thanks, Chet. True about the Corn Husker's Lotion - didn't work for me. Not exactly on the topic but with this Corona Virus thing, I've been wearing Latex Gloves a lot and have found that I can handle cards pretty well. I'm doing backpalming with blank backed cards which show as white between the gloved fingers.

[Jackpot]

...Vernon swore by RoseWater... Chapstick, works.... Jack Chanin used ear wax (!).... Chet... coconut oil... Neutrogina....

And many other choices have been shared.

Let us not forget: "He was meticulous about his hands. After spending months together, his wife realized that the "medicine" that he applied to his hands to soften them every night was actually his own urine."
On page 60 of The Last Greatest Magician in the World by Jim Steinmeyer.

We are fortunate to have so many more choices today than Thurston had.

[chetday]

I'd not heard of urine as a hand softener, though I've been told peeing on one's feet in the shower will cure athlete's foot, and I've read that some folks in India find that sipping an ounce or so of each morning's bladder's expulsion to be a health-enhancing drink. Me? I'll stick to coconut oil, thankee.

[webbmaster]

These last few got my laughing.

[webbmaster]

I kept meaning to get coconut oil, but each time in the store I forgot to get it. Too many distractions in my local Stop and Shop. But, I came up with something to add. Dr. Oz was showing how to wash your hands correctly. When he was showing "don't forget your thumbs" I was reminded of the Vernon Hand Wash and now when I'm done, I produce a card ! Ha Ha. When you have to say Ha Ha it means it wasn't a great joke. Sorry.

[Jack Shalom]

We've long used coconut oil to cook with at our house--it's very good when you want to cook at high temperatures. But to me, at least, it does have an odor--coconut-like, unsurprisingly.