Après la douche, je mets de la crème sur mes mains.

In French, nouns usually need an article. Douche is a feminine noun, so la douche is the normal form.

So après la douche literally means after the shower. In everyday French, this can also simply mean after showering.

Because the verb is mettre, and with je in the present tense it becomes je mets.

A few present-tense forms are:

• je mets
• tu mets
• il / elle / on met
• nous mettons
• vous mettez
• ils / elles mettent

So je mets means I put / I am putting.

Yes. Mettre literally means to put, but in French it is also very commonly used for putting on or applying a product.

So je mets de la crème is a very natural way to say I put on some cream or I apply some cream.

French can also use more specific verbs, such as appliquer, but mettre is very common in everyday speech.

De la is a partitive article. It is used when you mean some of something, without saying an exact amount.

So:

• de la crème = some cream
• la crème = the cream, meaning a specific cream already known in the conversation

Here, the sentence is talking about using some cream in general, so de la crème is the natural choice.

Une crème would usually mean a cream, as in one item or one type of cream, not just some amount of cream.

Compare:

• Je mets de la crème = I put on some cream
• J’achète une crème = I’m buying a cream / a cream product

So in this sentence, de la crème is better because the focus is on using some cream, not on one product as an individual item.

Because sur means on.

If you apply cream to the surface of your hands, French uses sur:

• sur mes mains = on my hands

That matches the English idea very closely here.

Dans mes mains would mean in my hands, as if the cream is physically sitting in your hands or you are holding it there.

But if you mean that you apply the cream onto your hands, sur mes mains is the correct choice.

So:

• sur mes mains = on my hands
• dans mes mains = in my hands

Here, mes mains clearly means my hands.

French often uses the with body parts in reflexive constructions, for example:

• Je me lave les mains = I wash my hands

But in your sentence, the structure is not reflexive: je mets de la crème sur mes mains. Because of that, using mes is very natural and clearly shows whose hands they are.

You may also hear reflexive versions such as je me mets de la crème sur les mains, where les is used because the reflexive pronoun me already shows whose hands they are.

It would be understood, but it sounds less natural.

Après la douche works very well at the beginning because it sets the time first:

• Après la douche, je mets de la crème sur mes mains.

You could also put it at the end:

• Je mets de la crème sur mes mains après la douche.

Both are correct, but the original sentence is smoother and more natural.

No. In mets, the final s is silent.

So je mets is pronounced roughly like zhuh meh.

A useful thing to notice is that:

• mets
• met

sound the same in normal speech.

This is very common in French: the spelling shows grammar, but the pronunciation does not always change.

Crème is pronounced roughly like krem, but with the French r.

A few pronunciation points:

• è gives an open eh sound
• the final e is not pronounced
• the r is the French r, not the English one

So it is basically one syllable: crème.

Yes, it is natural and correct.

It sounds like ordinary everyday French for talking about a routine. A native speaker could easily say this.

You might also hear small variations, such as:

• Après la douche, je me mets de la crème sur les mains.
• Après la douche, je mets de la crème sur mes mains.

Both are understandable and natural, with slightly different structure.