Hands on

Bulbs are covered, potted plants are protected, and the ground seems sealed frozen for the season. But I bet there are some weathered hands out there — still with dirt in the nails and a few too many dried cuticles. It’s no good to leave skin exposed to the abrasive wind of a cold winter season. And for cracked hands, Crabtree & Evelyn stores offer Gardeners Hand Therapy. One application of this hand cream is like bathing your expressive digits in warm milk. Most lotions have an overly perfumed scent, and the most effective creams are usually as pleasantly packaged as a pharmaceutical tube of ointment; there’s nothing more conspicuous than lugging out Vaseline Intensive Care to shout you’ve got hands like Paul Bunyan. Gardeners Hand Therapy combines the best of both worlds: A lotion with a perfect cozy scent (it’s probably the added clover) and ingredients to turn fingers into rose petals. The packaging is as Olde English as only Crabtree & Evelyn can offer — the pumpkin-colored tube looks like an artist’s casing of oil paint. It even displays a small illustration of an 18th century woman tending to her plants. The 1.7 ounce tube fits in purses for quick applications on-the-run, and stockings can be stuffed for only $5.50. Locate the lotion at Crabtree & Evelyn’s Web site, www.crabtree-evelyn.com, or in the crowded malls of metro Detroit.