Milk made smoothing hand buffer - hand cream discontinued by Cake Beauty - review by lexical

The Milk Made Smoothing Hand and Cuticle Buffer by Cake is intended to exfoliate the hands and tend to the cuticles, moisturizing and nourishing with a formula chock full of natural oils. If you have particularly dry hands, exacerbated by the cool winter air, this product may help to clear up some of that roughness and provide a little more moisture for your skin. To use it, you stir up the mixture, scoop a bit into your palm, and then massage it into your hands for 30 seconds. Presumably, the small sugar granules will help to exfoliate and the liquid it's suspended in will absorb into your skin to moisturize it. Cake claims that this will "leave your hands and cuticles perfectly manicured and incredibly nourished"!

While the product is marketed as an exfoliant for your hands, it performs just as well on calloused feet or rough knees and elbows. Avoid using it on more delicate areas as the sugar granules may be damaging for your sensitive skin.

The ingredients are as follows: sugar, grape seed oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, sweet almond oil, vitamin E, milk amino acids, phenoxyethanol, caprylyl glycol, sorbic acid, parfum, red 17, violet 2. I have a cousin who is allergic to red dye and would be unable to use this product, so be aware if you have dye allergies. It is phthalates, sulfates, triclosan, and paraben free.

This product separates into two layers, with the oil rising to the top and the sugar sinking to the bottom. It is somewhat difficult to mix up. Shaking it does little to incorporate the ingredients, so Cake includes a small plastic spoon so that you can use to stir the product.



When you stir it up, it becomes very thick. It is decidedly grainy, with visible sugar granules. Except for the layer of oil it is impossible to pour, so you need to scoop it out. It feels rough and greasy as you rub it into your hands.



Be aware that, as the product is mostly oil, it will leave grease stains on clothing and fabrics. Here it is after sitting on a piece of paper for a few moments. Notice the oil already soaking through the paper.

I do really love the smell of this line of products, though with the addition of so much sugar in the formula be aware that it smells extremely sweet. As with the Milk Made Frothing Bath and Shower Cream, the aroma lingers only about as long as the product lasts on your skin. Once you wash it away, the smell is only present for a short while after.

If you're unfamiliar with the Milk Made line, the scent is Raspberry-Vanilla. It smells a bit like a raspberry sweet, but it most reminds me of the artificial berry scent of the old Strawberry Shortcake dolls with a bit of extra warmth from the vanilla.

I would not recommend ingesting this product if you can avoid it. Though it is primarily sugar and oil, I can't imagine it's very good for you or pleasant tasting!

The unfortunate fact of the matter is that this buffer does not quite hit the mark. While I'm certain that the sharp sugar granules exfoliate somewhat, the purple liquid that holds the crystals is pure oil. Instead of absorbing in and leaving my skin feeling moisturized and soft, it leaves a greasy film on top.

The oil gets everywhere and so do the sugar granules. As you're rubbing it into your hands, crystals are dropping off left and right, so I recommend doing this over the sink with your soap and water at the ready. The instructions say to simply wash your hands and pat them dry, but unless you scrub it off thoroughly with soap and water, you'll have a quality that is not mentioned on the bottle - increased water repellence! Literally, if you drop some water on your hand, it will bead up and roll right off.

In short, Milk Made Smoothing Hand and Cuticle Buffer fails to leave my hands and cuticles looking and feeling even remotely as if they've just been manicured and, on top of that, it leaves an icky, oily sheen. While I absolutely cannot recommend this product for its intended purpose, use on the hands, I do recommend it for the feet. Since I am on my feet a lot, I often develop callouses, especially in the winter. Over the week that I was using this product, it definitely made a difference for my feet, though it doesn't do jack for my cuticles.

I used it daily in the tub or just before my shower. There is still a sheen of oil left on my skin, but if I use this product while I'm in the tub, I can let it soak into my feet while I relax, before washing off the remnants. It is less of a problem than it is with my hands, since I need them to not be greasy so I can read a book in the tub or turn the shower knob on and off.

This product comes in a sturdy plastic 4.9 oz. jar, with a white plastic screw-on cap. It comes with a foil seal on top that must be poked to open it up, because it doesn't have tabs on the side to pull it up. Shrink wrapped to the jar is a small plastic spoon. The jar's mouth is not quite wide enough and the spoon handle is not quite long enough to stir it up comfortably, but it is a nice inclusion since the product is difficult to mix just by shaking it. Once you use up a bit of the buffer, you can store the spoon in the jar, so it makes sense that they didn't make it any longer than it is. It fits perfectly, with the lid closed tight. Be aware that the lid may not always seal completely. As I was writing this review, some of the product leaked out onto my new couch and now the cushion is stained...Be careful!



When you've used it all up, be sure to recycle the container! I have used it seven times on my feet and hands (about three scoops each time) and the jar is half empty. I expect that it will last another week or so before it's gone.

The front of the bottle says: "Indulge with this spa-like hand buffer. Specially formulated with sugar, milk proteins, avocado and coconut oils, this vitamin packed recipe will leave your hands and cuticles perfectly manicured and incredibly nourished. Au lait!" It also says the same thing in French.