Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream

Janet Carr

Dec 9

I had to buy a new tube of Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream yesterday because my skin was windburned and chapped from being out in the winter cold and nothing else was helping. The cream was on deep discount at my local department store and cost $18.

Eight Hour Cream was developed in 1930, and a tube is sold every 30 seconds. It is named after one of Elizabeth Arden's clients who used the balm on her child's knee and witnessed a visible improvement eight hours later. Fun fact: Elizabeth Arden was born Florence Nightingale Graham.

My mother loved Eight Hour Cream, and used it on my chapped skin, rough elbows and knees, and lips when I was young. Because of that I find the fragrance very familiar and comforting. I have been buying it for as long as I can remember, and it is my go to for dry winter skin. It IS perfumed (though they do make a fragrance-free version), it IS heavy and greasy. But it works. I warm a tiny bit in the palm of my hand and then apply it sparingly. It is an emollient (covers the skin with a protective film to trap moisture) so it seals the affected area allowing it to heal.

Ways I have used it over the years

to soften cuticles
to soothe chapping and windburn
a tiny amount for flyaway hair
as a face mask for very dry skin
on rough dry heels, knees and elbows (I have Heels from Hell)
lip balm/gloss,
cheek and eye gloss

I have had Eight Hour Cream in tiny tins, and have also tried the other products in the range (lip balm, facial moisturiser, hand cream and body lotion, for example) but the original tube is the best.

When it is very cold here in Sweden, skin gets very very dry. Outside when it can be -30°C, the wind and cold chaps and dries your skin. Inside the central heating dries it out even more. The constant changes in temperature are often the final straw. My eyes water, my nose drips, my lips crack, my cheekbones ache. So I apply this liberally at night, and lightly over my lips and cheekbones in the morning.