Weekly Waftings: Best Autumnal/Wintry Scented Lotions & Hand Creams

I just love this time of the year! Though the weather is decidedly on the gloomier side, I still find so much to enjoy. I like to refer to this as the ‘crossover holiday season:’ that magical time of year where we’re in between the pumpkin holidays and the wintry holidays. You can enjoy the best of both worlds for so many things right now: both pumpkin spice and eggnog lattes, both pumpkin spice beers (Elysian!) and dark wintry ales (Ninkasi’s Sleigh’r!) And all of my favorite sports (soccer, football, and hockey) are going on at the same time!

This crossover season also applies to all sorts of lovely scented things, including candles, perfume, and my feature today: hand creams and lotions. Please also see my ultimate guide to relief for dry hands here, which includes lots of non-scented choices.

Bath & Body Works Christmas Cookies

• Notes: creamy cookie dough, almond biscotti, caramel woods
• This Fragrance Also Available In: fine fragrance mist, super smooth body lotion

This perennial favorite from Bath & Body Works is a yummy-smelling fragrance that will remind you of baking fresh sugar cookies on a chilly day. Being the gourmand lover that I am, I enjoy it so much, I went ahead and got the body wash, too! Side note: for this and the next fragrance, I have last year’s packaging but the scent notes are still the same. I don’t see the body wash on B&BW’s website this year but it looks as though Amazon still has some!

Find it here:

Christmas Cookies – entire line (at Amazon)

Bath & Body Works Merry Cookie

• Notes: lemon icing, warm sugar cookie, shredded coconut, vanilla bourbon
• This Fragrance Also Available In: single-wick candle, 3-wick candle, gentle foaming hand soap, hand cream, travel size fine fragrance mist

This is another dreamy cookie fragrance from Bath & Body Works. To be fair, it’s quite similar to Christmas Cookies so if you have one, you probably don’t need both (unless you’re a sucker for all of their cute packaging like I am, lol) It’s slightly different with added notes of coconut and light lemon. And I would say that Christmas Cookie is a touch lighter-smelling than this one. Both are great choices, though!

Find it here:

Merry Cookie – entire line (at Amazon)

Camille Beckman White Pumpkin & Cardamom

• Notes: sweet white pumpkin, spicy cardamom
• This Fragrance Also Available In: hand & shower cleansing gel, silky body cream, travel size glycerine hand therapy

This incredible scent is spicy pumpkin pie perfectly portrayed as a hand cream. You can even smell the crust! Camille Beckman’s glycerine hand therapy is the best of the best for dry hands and I consider it the gold standard. If you suffer from terribly dry skin as I do, I cannot recommend this brand’s hand creams enough. They REALLY work. Side note: at the time of this writing, I see that this fragrance is currently on sale! Great news but also a cue to stock up if you’re interested as there’s a chance it may be going away for the season (and possibly forever). I find that this small company usually puts items on sale as they are being phased out.

Find it here:

White Pumpkin & Cardamom glycerine hand therapy (at Camille Beckman’s Amazon store)

Camille Beckman Peppermint Hot Chocolate

• Notes: cool peppermint candy, velvety milk chocolate
• This Fragrance Also Available In: hand & shower cleansing gel (in option of both glass or plastic packaging), silky body cream (in option of both glass or plastic packaging), travel size glycerine hand therapy

Camille Beckman has carried some lovely holiday fragrances over the years, including their own version of holiday cookies and a yummy caramel apple offering. But this year’s scent has to be one of my all-time favorites. A yummy mixture of peppermint and chocolate in their wonderful glycerine formula, this fragrance will bring back memories of sipping a hot chocolate with a candy cane meting in it at Grandma’s house. I can’t say enough about how I’ve loved shopping from this family-owned business over the years. The customer service is excellent and they always include free samples with every order.

Find it here:

Peppermint Hot Chocolate glycerine hand therapy (at Camille Beckman’s Amazon store)

A Few Honorable Mentions:

L’Occitane A Winter Walk (Seasonal Limited Edition)

• Notes: juicy fig, sparkling mandarin, soft musks
• This Fragrance Also Available In: ultra light body cream (2 sizes), rich body lotion, travel-size light hand cream, body shower cream, lip balm, extra-gentle soap

L’Occitane is always coming out with new fragrances for their popular and much-loved shea butter hand creams and I’m a huge fan of this year’s limited edition holiday offering. A Winter Walk features a sophisticated blend of mandarin and fig, and I definitely detect some fir tree in there, as well. This sparkling scent instantly brings to mind a fabulous holiday party full of folks having a merry time.

I do feel the need to mention one little quibble I have with this product. I believe it’s due to the nature of it being a ‘whipped’ light cream formula but there’s an awful lot of what, in my family, we refer to as ‘snackmosphere’ in the packaging. Unfortunately, I had to press on the tube for a long time before any product came out and by then, it had already used up over an inch and a half of the packaging. A little disappointing because this is NOT an inexpensive lotion. But that slight annoyance aside, I absolutely love this unique and very holiday-forward fragrance and you can never go wrong with the wonderful hydration L’Occitane’s shea butter products provide.

Ed. note: updated for Holiday 2024; L’Occitane now has different limited edition fragrances in place of A Winter Walk.

Find similar here:

L’Occitane Holiday 2024 Collection (at Amazon)

L’Occitane Honey Harvest (Seasonal Limited Edition)

• Notes: organic spring honey
• This Fragrance Also Available In: ultra soft cream, bath pearls, lip balm, extra-gentle soap, Hugs & Kisses gift set

Another favorite L’Occitane scent of mine is their yummy Honey Harvest. This delicately-spiced, rich, warm honey fragrance smells great year-round but feels especially appropriate during the holidays. It has such a cozy vibe, like being snuggled in a warm blanket and sipping a cozy herbal tea that’s been sweetened with honey.

Unfortunately, this limited edition seasonal scent has become trickier to find, much like A Winter Walk, Golden Latte, and Green Chestnut. Links below to Amazon and eBay where you might get lucky! 🤞

Find it here (maybe?):

Honey Harvest (at Amazon)

Honey Harvest (at eBay)

Camille Beckman Tuscan Honey

• Notes: warm amber, vanilla, creamy honey
• This Fragrance Also Available In: hand & shower cleansing gel, silky body cream (in 2 sizes), bubble bath, 6 different sizes of glycerine hand therapy, glycerine soap, French milled soap, perfumed body powder, fragrant body mist, eau de parfum, travel-size roll-on perfume, fragrant drawer sachet

I have one more Camille Beckman fragrance that I feel is worth mentioning, Though not officially a ‘holiday’ scent, this warm and cozy fragrance is perfect for the cooler months. And being a long-time signature scent of theirs, it is offered in a TON of different products. I know I’m pushing this hand cream a lot but it REALLY is that great. It also makes an amazing and thoughtful gift/stocking stuffer for the folks on your list with dry skin.

Find it here:

Tuscan Honey glycerine hand therapy – 6oz (at Camille Beckman’s Amazon store)

Tuscan Honey entire line (at Camille Beckman’s Amazon store)

Williams Sonoma Spiced Chestnut

• Notes: buttery chestnut essence, aromatic cinnamon, clove
• This Fragrance Also Available In: hand soap, dish soap, candle, fragrance diffuser, and several gift set combos of those items

Lastly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my favorite go-to November scent that I’ve purchased every year since I can remember: Williams Sonoma’s Spiced Chestnut. I usually purchase the hand soap and this year is no exception but they do carry a lovely hand lotion in this fragrance, too, as well as some other home fragrance products. Their Hand Soap and Hand Lotion combo that comes in an attractive metal caddy is especially a winner.

Find it here:

Spiced Chestnut – entire line (at Williams Sonoma)

Mrs. Meyer’s Acorn Spice line (at Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Amazon store)

So there you have it, my lineup of the best holiday-scented hand lotions to keep your skin soft and hydrated all through the harshest months. Is one of these already a fave of yours? Or maybe there’s a new discovery here that you now won’t be able to live without? Let me know! ☃️

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