Q. I am looking for a rich hand cream with a physical sunscreen for my very sensitive reactive skin, which has a tendency to rosacea. A. We applaud the principle of protecting your hands, which are often neglected compared to the face. But after spending some time searching, we are unable to find a targeted hand cream that only employs a physical sunscreen, rather than chemical.

There is a range (albeit quite small) of hand creams that do contain an SPF but these are invariably chemical, or a combination of chemical and physical barriers.

Our best suggestion is to use sun block over a hand cream. In fact, one reader in a similar situation uses SunSense Sensitive SPF50 sunscreen, which is free of chemical absorbers, lanolin and fragrance. She applies this over NATorigin Hand & Nail Cream, which has been shown clinically to increase hydration by 60 per cent after one hour and maintain that for at least three hours. This 98 per cent natural product is hypoallergenic and considered beneficial for allergy sufferers based on consumer opinion and approved by Allergy UK.

Alternatively, if you just want to use a single product, you could use a rich hand cream at night (such as the NATorigin product above) when there is no need to protect against UV rays, and a sunscreen during the day. Since most sunscreens need topping up every two to four hours anyway, this would mean your hands being re-moisturised at frequent intervals.

The sunscreen we suggest you consider is Green People Scent Free Sun Lotion SPF25, which is formulated for sensitive skin. Key ingredients are organic aloe vera, edelweiss, green tea, rosemary extract and beeswax.

SunSense Sensitive SPF50 sunscreen/£16.99 for 100 g tube at www.crawforshealthcare.com

NATorigin Hand & Nail Cream/£9.25 for 60 ml at www.natorigin.co.uk

Green People Scent Free Sun Lotion SPF25/£18.95 for 200 ml at www.greenpeople.co.uk