The Importance of Hand Cream

(2 ½ minute read)

When was the last time you looked at your hands? I mean really looked. Not just the nails, but the backs of your hands and down around the wrists? Our hands do so much for us - and we are pretty helpless without them - but do we look after them as much as we should?

The effects of hand neglect

I lost the diamond out of my engagement ring not long ago and whilst we found it (yay!), I found myself looking at the backs of my hands and wondering how I suddenly had old lady wrinkly hands. I mean I have so many tubes of hand cream around the place, surely my hands shouldn’t look that bad! Then I remembered COVID. Over the past two and a bit years we have been focused on washing and sanitising our hands over and over to keep us safe and well, even timing our hand-washing to “Happy Birthday”. We are sanitising constantly whilst out and at home. I for one can’t be bothered moisturising my hands just to sanitise them again a short time later - and you can tell! However, wrinkly hands and soft brittle nails are not really what I was hoping to achieve this year!

Hand creams protect and nourish both your hands and nails (image credit: pixelshot via Canva)

The best ways to care for your hands

There are four ways to help protect and repair our hands:

1.  Moisturise – moisture helps our skin retain its youthful elasticity and prevents dryness and wrinkles, so keep a  hand cream on hand (no pun intended!) at all times.

2.  Protect – wear gloves when cleaning and gardening etc. - chemicals can strip the skin of its natural oils, damaging our hands.

3.  Exfoliate – dry skin is dry skin, no matter where it is on our body - while we exfoliate the skin on our body and face, we often forget our hands.

4.  Sunscreen - don’t forget your hands! The sun is very damaging and causes premature ageing and sunspots. Hands are particularly vulnerable so using a good quality  natural sunscreen on your hands is very important.

Recommendations?

As always, when it comes to caring for your skin, we recommend choosing products made with natural and organic ingredients. Three of the most popular natural and organic hand creams at Naturally Safe Cosmetics include:

• Sanctum Hand & Nail Repair – 81.72% certified organic with Vitamin E, Macadamia Seed Oil and Olive Fruit Oil
• Eco By Sonya Hand & Nail Cream – with Organic Mango Butter, Sunflower Seed Oil and Aloe Vera Juice
• INIKA Organic Phytofuse Renew Hand Cream – with 70% organic ingredients including Rose of Jericho, Coconut Oil and Avocado Oil

So, ladies (and gents), it’s time now to get our hands back. Yes, COVID is still in the community (not to mention the common cold and flu) and having clean and sanitised hands is still very much a priority. However, we need to dust off the hand cream and start using it again regularly. I have started applying it a few times a day and I can already see and feel the difference. I have a hand cream in my handbag and another next to my bed for use before I go to sleep. It takes less than a minute to apply and you will love the way your hands look and feel.

We can’t turn back the clock entirely, but we can bring life and health back to our hands.