Dry Cracked Hands
Uniquely packaged in a fluorescent lime-green canister with tangerine print, a rubber grip and a holographic lid, the can is shaped like a hockey puck, unlike most cosmetic packages.That's why it has won awards for packaging design and innovation in a new category of cosmetic products in hardware and home improvement stores. "We have a leading skin therapy for not only men, but anyone who works with their hands, or whose hands are affected by the work they do." she said. And O'Keefe has gone head-to-head with 111 worldwide cosmetic retailers like Estee Lauder at the 18th annual DuPont Awards for Innovation and Packaging. Her product won the gold award for the design of Working Hands packaging, the highest award for packaging designers. The DuPont event is an international, independently judged competition to recognize food and nonfood industry advances that utilize plastic packaging materials. O'Keeffe's Working Hands also won the editor's choice award from Cosmetic and Personal Care Packaging, a magazine that chooses an innovative package yearly. O'Keeffe was surprised to win. "With all these creative engineers from around the globe, here I am in Central Oregon, just imagining a fun package that's practical forthe consumer," O'Keeffe said. "It's quite an honor."The recognition has helped O'Keeffe spread the no crack hand cream sales to every state. One year ago, Rev. Sydney Titus picked up a can of Working Hands cream at a store in her hometown of Grapevine, Texas. The chaplain hadn't heard of Working Hands and thought she'd give one last shot at curing her painfully dry cracked hands and dry cracked feet. "Being a chaplain, I'm working with 100 patients a day," Titus said. "I'm constantly on my feet and constantly washing my hands, so my cuticles and hands were a mess. And my dry heels ... let's just say I couldn't wear sandals." Within two days, Titus' skin started to improve and now she orders O'Keeffe's products online. She has lotion cans in her bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and purse, in case of emergencies. She says it makes her job at Richardson Regional Medical Center easier. The lotion comes in 3.4- and 5-ounce cans and also in a sterile tube. O'Keeffe's Working Feet cream for dry cracked feet also is available in a new azure blue can, similar to the Working Hands can. O'Keeffe, a pharmacist, originally invented the product 11 years ago for her father, a cattle rancher in the Klamath Basinwho since passed away. Work on the ranch created dry skin on hands so badly that they bled. His had such dry feet that they developed deep, infected cracks and he endured multiple foot surgeries as a result of the infections. In an attempt toalleviate her father's agony, O'Keeffe began working on a hand repair cream help heal her father's skin. Since then, she's perfected the product's chemistry and created the new green package that has received international recognition. Her dry hand lotion popularity goes beyond its flashypackaging, she said. Most hand creams are made from a mix of oil and water, but O'Keeffe's product has no oil. Instead, it is made from water and glycerin, which draws moisture to the skin. She also adds a chemical agent to keep the moisture from evaporating off the skin. And it has no fruity, flowery or talcum powder smells. "Our skin therapy has no fragrance, it smells like air," she said. "That's a big advantage for men who don't want a smelly product." She says the product is perfect for those who work outdoors or with gloves. "This is skin therapy for the hands that go under all those construction gloves," O'Keeffe said, adding that it fits right into a tool chest. "The color is manly, it doesn't look like a cosmetic. Is it car wax? Is it boot grease? That's helpful because working men don't see themselves as using cosmetics." "I use it on my face, hands, feet and body," she said. "I have fairly dry skin that I inherited from my father, so I couldn't live without it." What worked for her, worked for her father."My father had splits in his hands for 30 years," O'Keeffe said. "Prior to this product, dad would use lotion normally used for cow udders. The barrier cream did seal his skin but never healed it. This product heals splits from the inside out." For more information about O'Keeffe's Working Hands, visit
www.okeeffescompany.com
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