healthy hands.
You may automatically focus on looking after the skin on the face, around the eyes, down the neck and décolleté but have you thought about your hands lately?
Well YES, we all have in the respect of frequent washing and excessively using hand sanitiser - But what about treating them? Despite the fact that our mitts are every bit as exposed as our face, they are often neglected and lucky if they get a cursory coat of hand cream!
In fact, our hands are one of the first places on the body to show signs of ageing and that's down to the skin being thin, especially on the back of our hands. They often get a hefty dose of exposure to various elements and weather conditions and with the lack of collagen and elastin in the first place - means quickly the skin can become dry, crepey with noticeable age spots.
Dry hands are one of the most common winter skin woes and with the excessive hand washing/sanitising, this will be an added ‘stressor’ to the skin on our hands this winter. Stripping away our natural oils and damaging the skins barrier, I felt the need to help you with some handy beauty tips - excuse the pun, I just couldn’t resist!
So how are we going to prevent any further pre-mature ageing on our hands?
TO KEEP HANDS SOFT AND YOUTHFUL
Think about using nourishing hand washes and sanitisers to prevent stripping the natural oils, hand cream is key to lock in hydration and help nourish the skin. Try to moisturise your hands after washing or sanitising them to keep them hydrated, soft and more supple. Look for rich ingredients when shopping for creams, such as shea butter, rosehip oil and vitamin E.
TREAT AND PREVENT AGE-SPOTS
If you want to target pigmentation or dark spots, the ingredients typically associated with the face will work the same way on the hands. If you use brightening skincare then use the excess product on the back of your hands - it’s an easy habit to get into whether it’s a serum, exfoliator or SPF! Otherwise you are looking for ingredients like vitamin C to brighten and liquorice to break up melanin (the dark spots).
HELP WITH THINNING SKIN
In this case you would need to stimulate elastin and collagen production, look for retinol (derived from vitamin A) in creams as this will plump and enhance the appearance of the skin - along with peptides to help build the skins strength and resilience.
LIFESTYLE HAND CARE
Get those gloves out! Firstly marigolds, protect your hands when washing up and from harsh chemicals while cleaning. This is probably one of the biggest issues and I’m guilty as charged but keep them yellow hand saviours next to the sink to remind you to put them on!
During the colder months our hands cannot retain moisture and this can often lead to dry, chapped and cracked skin. You can help prevent this by keeping your hands warm - get your mitts in your mittens!
Lastly, get a pair of cotton gloves for an overnight treat. Apply your treatment or cream before bed, followed by the gloves and you will wake up with soft, hydrated, youthful hands.
Skin is skin and just because it’s not on the face it shouldn’t be any less important.
