OK...this may sound gross but while I love to get my hands dirty, I hate dirt under my nails and like you don't like gloves. So...I scrape my nails along a bar of Dove extra moisture soap and then put a bunch of icky lotion on my hands and under nails. When you wash your hands after gardening, the soap under the nails and lotion makes the dirt slide off and it seems that they are less dry. It especially works on the dirt under the nails issue :D