We don’t tend to think about a specific hand care routine. Often our hands just get the excess moisturiser rubbed into them that we don’t want to waste! Our hands go through so many daily stresses, they actually deserve a care routine in their own right.
We’ve put together 5 simple steps that you can take to help you build a good hand care routine before we head into winter.
STEP 1: Regularly apply hand cream
La Chatelaine Hand Cream Trio Tin, Gifts for Mom, Natural Hand Lotion Gift Set, Made in France with 20% Organic Shea Butter, Nourishing & Moisturizing (Gardenia, Orange Blossom, Oud Rose) 3 x 1 fl. oz
Regularly applying moisturiser to your hands will transform the look and feel of the skin on your hands. The washing, drying and sanitizing of our hands multiple times a day dries out the skin on your hands. A good moisturising hand cream will simply give back some much needed hydration. You can apply hand cream morning and evening or multiple times a day, it’s up to you but if you make sure you’ve got one thing in your handbag, let it be hand cream.
Also if you apply hand cream just before bed this will allow overnight repair and hydration so you wake up with beautifully soft and conditioned hands.
STEP 2: Exfoliate
Hand Mask, 5 Pairs Hand Moisturizing Gloves Repairing Hand Mask for Extra Dry Skin Spa Masks, Exfoliating Hand Peeling Mask, Repair Rough Skin for Men & Women (C)
Just as you would exfoliate the skin on your face and body, it’s a good idea to do the same on your hands when you exfoliate your body once a week. Exfoliating with a gentle scrub will remove the top layer of dead skin cells to reveal fresh skin underneath keeping your skin looking revitalised and glowing. You can simply use your regular body exfoliator or if you don’t already use one, we can recommend one for you.
Guinot Gommage Facile is a great all over body exfoliator that you use in the shower. Whilst exfoliating your body, don’t forget to do your hands too! Gommage Facile contains loofa fibres. Loofa fibres are extremely resistant and have been used by women since ancient times to soften and deep cleanse the skin. They provide gentle exfoliation, for a pleasant and effective scrub.
STEP 3: Correct
As we get older, our hands start to show the wear and tear they have been through. The skin on our hands becomes even thinner, starts to lose its elasticity and becomes more wrinkled. Age spots, darker areas of pigmentation can also develop from years of exposure to the sun. There are hand creams that contain active ingredients that work to reduce the appearance of pigmentation on the hands.
Mary Cohr New Youth Hand Care is a rejuvenating, anti-brown spot cream. Packed with vitamins including vitamin C, it helps reduce the signs of ageing and tackles dark spots and pigmentation. Active ingredients hydrate and protect the skin.
STEP 4: Protect With Sunscreen
Gloves In A Bottle Shielding Lotion Sunscreen SPF 15, 3.4 ounces
Not only should we wear an spf everyday all year round on our faces and neck but we should also apply it to our hands. UVA rays from the sun penetrate deep into our skin causing damage, premature ageing and worse case, skin cancer. Take a minute or 2 after applying spf to your face to rub some into your hands focussing on the back of your hands and knuckles.
You don’t need a separate SPF cream just for your hands, simply apply the same one as you would use for your face. We like Dermalogica Invisible Physical Defense SPF30. This is a physical sunscreen that uses ultra-fine zinc oxide to form a physical layer on the skin to reflect away any harmful rays from the sun. Invisible Physical Defense suits all skin tones and skin types.
STEP 5: Dig Out Your Gloves
Sort yourself out with a pair of gloves that you are happy with now and when the temperatures drop, you will be ready! Wearing gloves, mittens, fingerless gloves or whatever you fancy is a really easy way of protecting the skin on your hands from suffering the harsh cold weather!
It’s also good to get into the habit of wearing suitable gloves to protect your hands when you are doing cleaning or gardening activities that you know could be harsh on the skin on your hands.
