Beauty: Creams

1 Old favourite Endless Moisture Replenishing Care Body Cream for dry to very dry skin £6.84, E45 (www.E45.com). This rich, perfume-free moisturiser is a great all-over body cream. However, depite being marketed as ideal for eczema sufferers, it failed to improve the condition of this tester's pesky patch of extremely dry skin.

2 Skin deep Ultra Hydrating body moisturiser 4.88, Jergens, at Boots and Superdrug. In these credit-crunched times, we are always looking for cheap and chic beauty products that do the same job as their more expensive cousins. This cream, which comes in at under a fiver, incorporates jojoba oil, which makes it rich and yet highly absorbent. Choose from four different types.

3 Miss Whippy Vanilla Ice-Cream Girl 2.99, Just desserts (www.getyourjustdesserts.co.uk). It comes in attractive 1950s-style packaging designed to look like ice-cream – although it warns "not for eating, just for treating". The vanilla scent is rather overwhelming when you first open the tub, and the cream is thick in appearance. However, it really moisturises your skin and the scent becomes more subtle, though still sweet, when applied. It's probably slightly heavy to use on a daily basis but does make a nice treat.

4 Winter warmer African Red Tea Self-Heating Body Souffl HHHH 60, Ole Henriksen (www.beautybay.com). The self-heating aspect of this richly indulgent cream might freak some people out, but it's a real treat on a chilly morning – perfect for stimulating circulation. Just apply to damp skin and you'll slowly warm up.

5 Are you worth it? Body Treatment Cream 165, M Lab, at Harrods (www.harrods.com). With an endless list of ingredient that includes peptides and hydrators, 55 per cent of which are "clinically active", and a price tag that would give you wrinkles, this product had a lot to prove. It soaked into the skin like talc, and left the tone more even and dry areas such as elbows and tops of thighs notably softer. It depends on your budget, but this is definitely a luxury worth lusting after.

6 Beauty with a conscience Flower Dust Lotion 21.50, Madara (www.madara.co.uk). This moisturiser comes in recycled packaging and is made of entirely natural ingredients, including seaweed. It is a light lotion that is easily applied, but our tester wasn't convinced that it does what it says on the tin (or rather, the cardboard). It promises to shimmer and give a light tan, but made little difference to a pale Celtic complexion, and the shimmer quickly faded on a night out.

7 Touch of velvet Moisturising Body Cream 26, Nude, at DollyLeo (0131-315 2035, www.dollyleo.co.uk). Our tester was a little overwhelmed by the strong scent of this, but what it loses in the olfactory department it certainly makes up for in texture, leaving the skin feeling luxuriously soft.