Nothing gives away your age like your hands. Plastic surgeons have yet to venture into the surgery of the hands, but they are using injectable’s to help the back of the hands look younger. They also inject Saline Solution into various areas of the back of hand veins to prevent the blue from showing. Personally, I’m all for the creature-comfort treatments to make my hands appear younger.
Two days in my life are etched in stone. The day my mother put on a winter coat and literally turned white when her hand came out the sleeve. With tears in her eyes she said, “that is my mother’s hand”. At the time I thought it was a really odd statement. I was ten-years old.
Fast forward 54-years and I more than understand the statement. I put on a jacket and my mother’s hand came out the sleeve. At first it was sort of comforting to see her hand again (she has been deceased for 44-years). Then I realized the reality of it being MY hand and the comfort was gone in a split second.
What causes out hands to age quickly and show their age more than most other parts of our bodies. Simple. The environment, the sun and sun damage, gravity, age (of course) and daily abuse inflicted by us, not to mention neglect, again by us. So basically, our aging hands are self-inflicted to some degree.
The Pinch Test
Before you start beating yourself up, I want you to do a simple pinch test. This test will measure the elasticity that is still in your skin at whatever age you are.
Hold your forefinger out in a straight horizontal line.
Pinch the skin on your knuckle vertically and hold it for a count of ten.
Release it and see how long it takes to lay down flat again.
There is no correct amount of time, but here is a clue. Do this test on a teenager and the skin immediately returns to a flat position. I’m 64 and I stopped counting at 150. Elasticity? What elasticity? There is definitely none in my fingers. (or anywhere else on this body). My husband once asked why I took two hour baths back in the day and now I’m in and out in a flash. There are two answers. First, back in the day the paperback books were much better and worth relaxing and reading. Second, what woman wants to sit in a bathtub for two hours and be faced the entire time with the reality of her body and a bad book?
Our hands do so much for us during the day, yet we seem to just forget about them when it comes to skin and body care. Is it really possible to renew hands once they start the aging process? Yes, you can rejuvenate the skin somewhat, plump it up with product and prevent additional aging. The rule of thumb (that’s almost funny) is to treat your hands like you do your face. If you are not into facial skin care products, you treat your hands like you should treat your face. I’m not talking super expensive treatment products.
The basics should include the following; a sunscreen with SPF 15 or above, an exfoliant (home made or retail), an anti-aging or rejuvenating serum, a rich moisturizer (cream or lotion), Cuticle cream or oil (retail or home made), a masque (if you want to go all out) and gloves. You need white cotton gloves to sleep in once a week, rubber gloves for doing the dishes or any other extended hands-in-water activities and an assortment of cold-weather gloves to wear whenever the temperature drops below 40 degrees outside. I keep my older gloves in the car glove box, just in case the temperature drops unexpectedly or I forget to grab my gloves. And don’t even think about getting out of that warm car when the weather is cold without putting on gloves, even if it is to run into a store. Pockets do not replace gloves!
The Minimum Daily Hand Care Should Be
1. Apply SPF 15 or Above Sunscreen EVERY Morning.
2. A gentle cleanser to wash with – AM and PM.
3. Apply the serum over the entire hand and massage into every line and crease.
4. Apply a rich moisture hand cream or lotion every AM and PM. More often if possible
5. Cuticle oil or cream every PM
Total Daily Application Care Time = Five minutes at the most.
Why Sunscreen?
You’ve seen the dark hyper-pigmentation (aka age spots) areas on other peoples hands. Once they start there is no going back unless you have extensive laser treatments to the areas (careful, you may be trading a darker skin coloration for a pink or white skin color) or use a prescription skin lightener (expensive). FYI – Over-the-Counter skin lighteners will not work to the degree you are expecting because they do NOT contain the prescription-only lightening ingredient needed to lighten the skin. If you are not handed a prescription for the product it is an over-the-counter product – so choose wisely.
How To Use
When you get up in the morning and start your morning routine, leave some time to apply the sunscreen to your hands and concentrate on the backs of your hands and the lower arms, inside and outside. Be sure to apply after you have finished with any water you will be using in the morning. Also be sure to apply at least 30-minutes BEFORE you will be going out into the sunlight or daylight (cloudy days also count). The sunscreen needs time to be absorbed into the skin to work correctly.
Also be sure to keep hand wipes in your handbag or car in case your hands are still a bit slippery from the application. BE sure to wipe just the palm side of your hands and fingers BEFORE driving your car. You don’t want your hands to slip off the wheel while driving.
PM Treatment – Cuticles
They actually have a very important job when it comes to protecting us from infection. They seal the area between the nail bed and the skin, preventing bacteria from entering our bodies. Unfortunately the only time we seem to notice them is when they are injured and hurt like the devil, or when they are in the way of completing our manicure.
Do not cut the cuticle, always push it back very gently with an orange stick. If you lift the cuticle away from the nail bed you have damaged the seal and most likely your nail bed.
How To Use
Treat your cuticles every night and they will be very kind to you in response, for having given that special treatment. It can be as simple as massaging in some Vitamin E or C Oil, Rubbing over each cuticle with a Vitamin E Stick or actually using your favorite cuticle crème – the richer the better. It should take maybe one or two minutes at most. I keep a Vitamin E Stick in my nightstand and it is usually the last thing I do every night.
Once A Month
Pamper Your Hands With This Treatment
Treat yourself to a professional manicure (and pedicure at the same time – we are covering winter feet on Monday) and be sure it is one that used a wax hand bath. I can’t think of one cosmetic treatment that feels better than the wax hand and/or foot bath. It is sheer heaven!
Once a Week Do, A Home Treatment
Once you have had your professional treatment follow up at home with the following treatment weekly.
How To Do A Home Treatment
- Exfoliate your hands with a retail or home made exfoliator.
- Wash and rinse hands well.
- Apply the masque (if you are going to use one).
- Wash and rinse hands well.
- Apply the serum and massage into the lines and creases.
- Apply the cuticle oil and massage in.
- Lather on lots of hand lotion or cream. Massage into the cuticles while you are applying.
- Sleep in a pair of white cotton manicure gloves all night.
You will wake up to younger looking and delightfully smooth hands.
Other Things That Age Your Hands
Dark brown/wine/black nail polish colors. Watch five minutes of a soap opera or an early morning talk show. Look at the hands of the youngest talent on the show. It is amazing how old their hands appear.
Not wearing gloves
You should break out the gloves when the temperature fall below 40 degrees.
Smoking
Look at the difference in the lineage and loose skin on the backs of a smokers hands. The hand that holds the cigarette appears much older.
Hand Sanitizers
The excessive use of these alcohol and gel products dries the skin rapidly, creating rough, dry and chapped skin.
Washing Dishes Without Gloves
Use rubber gloves when possible. Before applying the gloves, apply a rich hand cream or oil to your hands and cuticles. Slip on the gloves and do the dishes. The warm dish water creates a hand-sauna of sorts, leaving your hands smooth and soft. You will want to lightly rinse and dry your hands when your dishes are complete so you will not transfer the oil/cream to other surfaces you may touch.