So, I've been learning to play guitar for a little over a month now. First on a borrowed electric guitar, and now on my own (blue Jet JS-450 HSS), which is actually much more comfortable - lighter strings, lower action, perhaps also a better neck and fingerboard profile for a relatively small-handed person, but it's hard to know without precise measurements. Just to make it clear: fingertip pain and damage is much less of a problem than I expected. But I still could use a bit of advice.
Background: I have suffered from allergy and eczema since early childhood and I have extremely dry skin. So much that, for example: during the heating season (when the air in my apartment is drier) skin on my thumbs next to the nails tends to split by itself. It's very painful, sometimes bleeds a little, is a problem in certain household chores (I live alone). On the other hand, even before I started learning guitar, I used to cut my fingernails ultra-short (I also don't use any nail polish, or any other makeup; in fact, I don't even OWN mascara, lipstick, eyeliner and such stuff) - both because of my allergy (to prevent myself from being able to damage my skin too much when scratching), and because I'm asexual and therefore prefer looking more androgynous and not being attractive to men.
My fingertips have already become harder, but during this week I gradually lost some epiderm from all fretting hand fingertips. It just kinda splits near the nails and peels. It's much less painful than in case of these thumb nicks... when the epiderm peels, underneath is just an intact pink layer. It seems to grow back already slightly harder compared to my right hand, and not "back to square one" in terms of harder fingertips.
Any advice? I realise that I probably should use handcreme more. I just... often forget, and try not to use A LOT of it because I'm not a rich person... of course handcreme is not expensive, but I just tend to experience a lot of stress at the very thought of money... Creme brands may not sound familiar to users from outside Poland, but I use Ziaja hypoallergenic handcreme with cotton extract. I also have Mediderm creme, which I use mostly as face creme, and which probably could be used as handcreme too - it's sold in really huge 500 g plastic jars. (Compare it to typical face creme, with tiny jars in relatively big boxes, a thick bottom... it's just very unfair to users, producers of typically medicinal creme seem much more fair...) Mediderm is slightly more greasy (and my skin is so dry that it doesn't even seem to absorb oily creme), but perhaps could be useful as handcreme too...