Easy anti-aging hand care routine by the CEO of Hand Perfection, Ellen Sirot
By: Carla Snuggs
Have you ever seen someone who looked youthful and vibrant, but their hands looked old, wrinkled, or worn? Hands are our fastest aging body part because they have very delicate skin, we wash them dozens of times each day, and they are our everyday tools. Yet, they are often neglected in our beauty routine, leaving them looking older than our faces and bodies and actually aging us!
The two big issues for the delicate skin of our hands are environmental assaults, such as sun and the cold, and our constant washing of our hands! We know sun is damaging to our skin and we make sure our faces are protected, but the hands are often our most exposed part so we make sure to protect the skin on our hands as well! We recruited Ellen Sirot, professional hand model and CEO of Hand Perfection, to obtain a quick and easy hand care routine. Below is Sirot’s anti-aging hand care regimen that is easy to work into your daily routine and will help keep your hands looking and feeling their best.
Step 1
Begin daily use of a hand cream with an SPF of at least 15. This will be useful to have on throughout the day as you go in and outside, while driving, under UV lights at the nail salon, even in the office under strong lights!
Step 2
We all are washing our hands dozens of times each day, often with harsh soaps or dehydrating anti-bacterial soaps that literally strip the moisture out of our hands, leading to aged, dried, wrinkly hands! Switch to a gentle, sulfate-free cleanser to nourish hands while washing. Try to skip the anti-bacterial soaps or use one without alcohol. And always use dishwashing gloves around the house for cleaning and sticky home situations so you can actually avoid excessive non-essential hand washing. Lastly, remember to gently pat dry the hands; do not stretch out the skin and try to apply a hand moisturizer while your hands are still damp. Water dehydrates the skin, so gently applying a moisturizer will lock hydration back into the hands.
Step 3
Take a minute each day to focus on your nails and cuticles, which often get dry and damaged from neglect and the on and off of nail lacquer. Apply a gentle nail-specific oil to condition dry, jagged cuticles and nourish and strengthen nails. This will help to avoid jagged cuticles and constantly chipping/breaking nails. It is fine to put oil on over polish, and this even helps to lengthen the life of your manicure! Gently push back cuticles with a washcloth while you are in the shower or after you have applied oil to avoid cutting the skin of your cuticles. This mini manicure only takes a minute and makes a huge difference.
Most importantly, get in the habit of treating your hands like jewels, not tools. Instead, use the tools to help your hands, such as letter openers, scissors and bottle openers which help us avoid hand harm. It’s incredibly important to have hands that look as good as the rest of you so put this anti-aging skincare routine in place. Plus a soft, healthy hand looks and feels great!
Image Courtesy of Thebeautybean.com
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