Act I: The Origin Story
2002 - NYC: We were living a busy, active life in New York. We gardened on our terrace, washed dishes, and worked with glass, stone, metal, chemicals, and concrete. We were rock climbers and scuba divers who went barefoot whenever possible. I had cracking, bleeding fingertips, and my better half had peeling palms. We both had hooves - not heels. Living in Manhattan, I had access to virtually every skin care product available and they were legion. We eventually tried enough of them to fill 2 medicine cabinets, not to mention trips to the dermatologists and prescriptions galore. But I never could find anything that actually worked - a simple, protective and moisturizing, all-natural, petroleum and preservative-free formula that I could carry easily in my bag. Lotions were too thin, heavy creams too greasy, most lotion bars or salves contained olive oil, which went rancid too quickly for my taste, or borax, which is soap. And none offered protection through a couple of hand washings.
One day in desperation, fingers bleeding, I set about researching ingredients and experimenting in my kitchen. It took six months of adding, subtracting and blending ingredients, in various combinations and proportions, to arrive at a product that softened my dry skin and healed my cracked and bleeding fingertips. Whoopee! A couple of friends noticed my lack of band aids and demanded the secret. So, I packaged up some tins of my "cakes" and handed them out. A couple of weeks later, over lunch, a good friend spent an hour talking me into selling what I had made. Our very first product was Heal My Hands Lavender Mint, in honor of the fragrance of an all-natural bath soak I once bought in San Francisco that I loved. The rest, as they say, is history.
-Claudia, Founder
Act II: The Next Chapter
Fast forward twenty-one years. In 2025, Claudia officially hung up her apron to enjoy a well-deserved retirement. But the story didn't end there. To honor my mother’s legacy and keep her incredible formulas alive, I stepped in to take the reins.
Today, the heart of Heal My Hands remains exactly where it started: in Mom’s kitchen. Only now, there are a few more hands at work. My daughter and I hand-pour every single batch together, blending the time-tested purity of my mother's original formulas with an exciting vision for the future.
While we will never change the core recipes that healed thousands of hands, we've spent the last 18 months growing to meet a whole new generation of hardworking hands. We’ve expanded from doing just one local show a year to planning over thirty! We’ve also introduced fresh, nature-inspired woodsy and citrusy scents, and launched deeply nourishing new staples like our Beard & Face Oil, Better Body Butter, Silky Salt Soak, and Triple Treat Body Scrub.
The Grand Finale: The Shared Mission
Heal My Hands still has no artificial ingredients, fragrances, preservatives, or petroleum. There are no additives, fillers, stabilizers, thickeners, or water. Our “cakes” are pure little powerhouses of emollient protection based in Jojoba and Lanolin—the real secret to why they work so fast.
We care deeply about you, about our products, and about our environment. We use the best ingredients we can source, choosing organic and local options whenever possible.
We love what we do because we get to help so many people. Thank you for taking the time to read about our family journey. We would be thrilled to have you as a customer for life, and we say with total confidence: our products really work!
Cheers,
Chandra & The Heal My Hands Family