Wrinkle-Free Hand Tips

Together with your eyes and your neck, your hands will probably be your biggest age traitors. I'm sure you've seen a lot of women with firm, relatively unlined faces-- and hands which are dry and wrinkled. Your skin on hands (like that around eyes and on your neck) is extremely thin; take a moment to feel how tightly stretched it can be. It also contains relatively few oil and sweat glands. Combine this with additional facts: first, your hands take a daily beating while you expose them to extreme temperatures (say, in cold air and warm water); second, that you use them a whole lot; and third, that you sometimes forget to look after them. Think it over: Each and every time you lather on skin cream, do you slather both hands with a moisturizing lotion, too? And every time you apply a sun screen onto your face, do you use a sun screen on your hands, too?

The following is all that you should learn about caring for-and de-aging- your hands.

Moisturizing

• Many hand models have said their secret's vitamin E oil; they say it keeps their hands smooth and moist (and it also heals wounds overnight).

• Once a week give the hands a facial (it's much easier-and less time-consuming than a manicure because you do not have to worry about smudging polish). Here's how: Apply a moisturizing face mask to the fingers and to the top of your hands up to around your wrist; allow it to dry and then wash it off with tepid water. Follow by slathering on the rich, emollient hand cream, especially on skin round the cuticles (if you don't have a high quality one, just use your facial moisturizer or, better yet, your night cream or soak hands in extra virgin olive oil as warm as is comfortable for ten minutes. Dab off the surplus with a tissue). Then place on pure cotton gloves (you can find cheap ones at the dollar store). If you're able to sleep like this, awesome; otherwise, remove them in an hour. I promise you can see a difference right away!

• Fantastic news for hands that usually dry up and crack during winter (cold weather is often a killer for hands: Not enough moisture in the air outdoors and dry steam heat inside combine to damage the natural moisture shield that protects hands from becoming dry). Hydrocortisone cream which is sold over-the-counter is often a super healer!

•  The same deficiency of moisture that dries out your hands in the winter months also affects your nails and cuticles, which, though they've got absolutely nothing to do with wrinkles, can help with making hands look unappealing and older than they are. Keep a cuticle cream beside your bed and rub in a small amount before you turn out the light.

• Whichever moisturizer you decide to apply to the hands, ensure that it stays easily accessible or you will never use it. Keep a smaller tube of hand cream in your bathroom and nearby the kitchen sink. At the office, leave a sizable bottle inside the bathroom (also one in your desk drawer, too). Enlist your co-workers into taking turns replenishing the supply. Tip (learned through personal experience): Choose something inexpensive so people aren't inclined to take it home with them.

•  Also super healing: milk. Just soak hands inside a bowl of warm milk for 10 minutes, rinse and moisturize.

Cleansing

• Get in the practice of using lukewarm instead of hot water to scrub your hands--it's a lot less drying.

• Recently I began using a scented body wash to scrub my hands- they feel wonderful after plus they smell like the rest of me, too.

• During the cold weather months make sure you wash your hands with just a mild soap. In fact, if the hands are very chapped and cracked, it's a wise decision to utilize the same cleanser (moisturizer, too) you utilize on the face.

• After washing your hands, don't dry them fully ... and apply a moisturizer (it'll lock in the water).