I have tried many leather gloves, and they do not fit my hands very well. I now, only wear goat skin leather gloves, they are a little softer and fit so much better.

I too have really dry skin and the dirt seems to dry it even more. I use Bag Balm. It is mostly lanolin with a bit of petroleum jelly. It is designed for dairy cow udders, now that bit of tender flesh is exposed to all kinds of weather not to mention the twice daily tug tug tug....I get mine at the Grange, but it is out there in box stores too, check the pet products departments first. It is great to put it on with socks or cotton gloves for overnight softening, I use it before and after any hard hand usage, such as cleaning and gardening. It is great on baby bottoms to prevent diaper rash and a small amount rubbed into dry ends the night before a shampoo will help the hair. The reason it works so well is that most moisturizers just sit on the top of the skin, sort of a moisture seal. Lanolin actually penetrates the skin cell wall to repair it and to keep the cell hydrated. Loosing moisture in the cell is the reason your skin is painfully dry. It is not expensive, a big can is about six dollars and will last for months.

Have you tried Avon's Moisture Therapy Intensive Hand Cream and also their Silicone Glove? In the winter, my hands get chapped/cracked and this is the only thing that consistently works for me. I would use the silicone glove before working in the garden and then follow up with the hand cream. I can put on the hand cream at night without a glove or sock & wake up with smooth hands. You can order Avon online. Good luck. :-)

Corn huskers lotion helps.

Bag Balm at night wearing a pair of socks helps quite a bit, so does a sloughing cream... you can make you own by using honey and sugar, or olive oil & sugar or ground nut shells. Use that every day, it'll combat the wear & tear your hands get outside

I absolutely hate wearing anything on my hands or my head!
I use "Hoofmaker Hand and Nail Therapy" (Intensive Protein enriched Moisture) by Mane and Tail. I love it because it helps both skin and nails and yet does not leave a greasy feel. The bottle says it was oringinally made for horses to moisturize dry cracked and brittle hooves and over time the people that were applying it found how it helped their hands and strengthened their nails.

I Know I have spring fever gettind the garden started I dont like to ware gloves I like the fell of the dirt.

I am originally from NJ and used to get those skin cracks especially near my thumb nails when I had kids in diapers (my hands were always wet it seemed). A woman I worked with told me that NJ construction workers recommended Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream to her so I tried it. It worked! Saved my poor hands ever winter since. It comes two ways: regular Hand Cream and Fast Absorbing Hand Cream. It's found in a small 2 or 3 oz. tube (which is white with a Norwegian flag at one end) and you don't need much for it to work. I use the regular at night before going to bed and the fast absorbing during the day. What a difference it makes for me. Hope this helps. Other than that the Udder Cream and Hoof Cream seem to be the best. (Ask any farmer!)

Slather your hands with BagBalm, place them in disposable rubber gloves for about an hour, and they will be fine.

I use sugar & mineral oil scrub on my hands after working outside. It softens and gets all the gritty junk out from under my nails, etc. Works great!! In the shower I use salt & grapefruit scrub on my feet & elbows. I love that..get it at Trader Joe's in a jar.