5 Handcare Tips to Get You Through Winter and Beyond

Certainly in winter our hands take an extra beating. Harsh temperatures, dry air, adding to an even already strict washing routine takes its toll. Our hands have some of the thinnest skin on our bodies and are among the first places we all start showing signs of age, as the skin there is very prone to dehydration and sagging. Today for you, I bring some of the best of handcare philosophy to keep them soft, supple, and comfortable all season long and onward.

Get Some Gloves For All Occasions: During the cold months, it is easy to think of putting on gloves to keep the hands warm. However, gloves can also offer extra protection to the skin on our hands from moisture loss and from foreign agents. Many people swear by using rubber or silicone gloves as they wash dishes to keep hands from absorbing the chemicals in dish soap. Also, wearing soft cotton gloves after you slather your hands in hand cream is a great spa treatment for your hands as you sleep. Think of it as an overnight sheet mask for your hands! Doing this even on just a weekly basis will help plump up your hands and also be great for the cuticles too.

Check Your Temperature: As we all are always washing our hands, it can be very easy to just flip the water on, rub our hands together with soap, and go. But it pays to be mindful of the water temperature as we wash. Water should be lukewarm to warm, especially for the purposes of killing germs, but never too hot. Water that is too hot overdries the skin and too cold can lead to inflammation, causing red and sore skin. Side note: it may sound trite, it is also important to remember to dry the hands thoroughly after washing since leaving water to drip off the skin causes water to also leech out from within the skin, leading to dryness and more cracking.

Take a Look at Your Hand Cream Ingredients: Though putting any moisturizer on the hands can make them feel instantly better (and look it too), there are some ingredients to look for that are especially good to look out for in choosing a hand cream. Creams rich in glycerin, for example, really help the moisture barrier and for all that hydrating goodness stay in a long time without usually leaving much of a greasy film on the hands. Those with almond oil or castor oil are especially great to massage around the cuticle area to promote faster nail growth, and those with oatmeal or sea salt can also help heal the skin and relieve any itching if you've just used an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Indulge in a Massage: It may seem strange to think of massaging your hands but many people believe that, just like on our faces, that massaging our hands really helps to stave off fine lines in the hands, grow stronger nails, and even help relieve general stress and tension, especially if you have a job that requires a lot of typing or a lot of fine motor skill activity. The good news is you don't need to do anything fancy to get a good hand massage, just simply slowing down the process of applying your hand cream or cuticle oil and working in small, circular motions around each finger, in the palms, and then on the backs of the hands will do the trick!

Try Exfoliating: Just like our faces and bodies, our hands can really benefit from a good scrubbing every now and again. As with the massage, exfoliation is another great way to boost circulation and therefore renewal to the skin of our hands, but it is one of, if not the best, remedy to deal with chapped skin. I do personally enjoy physical scrubs on the hands, as the skin is so thin there but prone to such dryness that I find acids sometimes a bit strong. but I don't think there's any need to buy a dedicated scrub for the hands. A small amount of any trusted face or body scrub you like applied after washing, will do, or you can try a DIY sugar or salt scrub with maybe a few drops of tea tree, peppermint, or lavender for extra freshness circulation, and help with nail growth.

Our hands give us a lot in work, play, and everything in between. I think a fun and profound way to explore beauty as well as self-care is certainly to give them some extra love during this time of busyness and going forward!