1The easiest way to treat dry skin is to spread on some skin cream.
2It rejuvenates the skin cells and acts as a protective barrier.
3This is particularly important in the winter
4when cold outdoor air and indoor heating suck the moisture out of your skin.
5If you have dry skin, it's wise to keep a good supply of skin cream on hand.
6It's not just dry air that makes skin flaky and itchy.
7Cancer treatments can also dry out the skin,
8along with other medical conditions like diabetes.
9The first ingredient is stearic acid.
10It's a wax derived from palm tree oil.
11The next ingredient is refined lanolin.
12It's blended with isopropyl myristate,
13a natural oil that helps soften the stearic acid.
14These ingredients make up what's called the oil-soluble phase of the recipe.
15Workers heat the stearic acid until it liquefies.
16Then add the blend of lanolin and isopropyl myristate and keep heating.
17While the oil phase is heating, they prepare the water-soluble phase of the recipe.
18The first ingredient is glycerin, derived from a vegetable source such as corn.
19They heat and mix it, then add purified water.
20They continue heating the mixture to just below the boiling point.
21Add a floral fragrance.
22Then pump the oil phase into the bottom of the tank.
23It blends in with the water phase while naturally rising to the top.
24They gradually lower the temperature.
25This makes the mixture creamy and bright white.
26After an hour of mixing, the skin cream is ready.
27They pump it out of the mixing tank to supply tanks that feed the filling line.
28This company packages its skin cream in jars for body cream and tubes for hand cream.
29Workers unpack boxes of plastic jars
30and line them up on a conveyor belt that feeds the labeling machine.
31Each jar passes a photo eye sensor.
32This sensor triggers the machine to spin the jar at the same speed as the adhesive label coming off the roll.
33Workers place the labeled jars onto a turntable that feeds the filling machine.
34Two single-file lanes each lead to three nozzles.
35The machine fills up to 125 jars per minute.
36Depositing 12 ounces of skin cream into each jar.
37The two lanes of filled jars merge as they approach the capping machine.
38The caps come down a chute to the machine's carousel.
39A device called a timing screw correctly positions each jar to receive a lid.
40The lower part of the machine holds the jar steady as an arm secures the lid in place.
41The next station on the line applies an adhesive label onto the cap.
42The jars of body cream are ready for sale.
43This factory also packages hand cream in a tube
44that you can keep in your purse or pocket.
45A mechanical arm places the tubes on a turntable cap-side down.
46The bottom of each tube is open and ready for filling.
47A nozzle squirts two ounces of skin cream into the tube.
48Then the machine heats the open end to soften the plastic.
49clamps it shut, then cools the plastic to a solid state,
50When you rub the cream on your skin,
51the key ingredients glycerin and lanolin pack a one-two punch.
52Glycerin is hygroscopic, meaning it draws water from the air to the skin.
53Lanolin smooths the skin, forming a protective film to lock in the moisture.