How and Why You should Care for your Hands

Ok, lets cut the chase! This is for you especially if you are in your 20′s or 30′s. If you don’t want to show your age in 10-15 years, you’ve got to take care of your hands. Most of us focus on our faces and necks in terms of anti-aging but pleeeease don’t forget the hands! If you are looking at your hands right now and thinking, “they look fine to me,” trust me, it sneaks up on you. Wrinkles…discoloration…blah blah blah. However, if you’ve just hit 40, there’s still time to do some good. Sometime ago, I read the story of a lady who went out with her husband. While at a gathering, she met a very attractive lady who looked no older than 20. She was surprised to learn that the lady was actually 35. Truly amazed, she asked her husband how old he thought she was and he guessed correctly. When she asked him how he knew, he replied, ‘her hands’. I don’t know about you, but I sure wouldn’t want my hands to give me away. The rules for caring for hands are the same for caring for any skin. However, because our hands are so exposed to the harshest things in our environment, they need some extra protection. 1. Watch out for toxins in your dish soap and hand soap or basically anything with dyes, synthetic fragrance, or anti-bacterial chemicals. Moisturize immediately after doing the dishes and if possible take a travel size bottle of a gentle moisturizing hand wash in case you need to wash your hands when you’re away from home. Use sunscreen, too, if you can’t avoid the sun. A bit of what you use on your face works, or maybe a higher SPF if you need it. 2.Use a nice, thick body butter throughout the day and while you are at it, massage some into your cuticles and nails, too. Shea-butter and pomegranate oil are fantastic. 3. Do a little nighttime ritual of massaging oils/butters on both hands and feet before you get into bed. Some aromatherapy can be incorporated here. Putting product on right before going to bed lets it sit for a good long while and can be very valuable on its own. You see, that’s not so hard. If you prefer to use the traditional hand cream, you can put in a few drops of oil or melted shea butter. I too am just getting the hang of it. You can thank me later.