Courtesy beautypress.com

A helping hand: Our hands are remarkably efficient work tools, and it’s hardly surprising that they are one of the most stressed parts of our body. Your hands are the first thing people notice about you second to your face: dry skin and unkempt nails ruin the impression of a well-groomed appearance. Beautypress offers advice on how to properly take care of your hands and nails.

Stay cool

No matter what the season of the year, our hands seem to never get a break. It’s time to give our hands a special treatment. Since neither the back of the hand nor the palms have little to no oil glands, a hand cream containing intensively nourishing ingredients such as urea, almond or evening primrose oil is going to be our best friend during the cold season of the year. The best bet is to always keep a tube in the handbag to be well protected while on the move. Ideally, the hand cream is applied after hand washing but for an intensive treatment, the cream can be applied overnight for chapped and extremely dry hands.

It’s Getting Hot in Here

During the hot seasons and even a skiing vacation, our hands don’t need less, but rather a different kind of care. The UV radiation of the sun, which is also strong in the winterly mountains in particular, stimulates the development of free radicals on the skin surface that leads to interrupt the distribution of the body’s own melanin pigment. To prevent this from happening, several brands are now offering anti-aging solutions for your hands: they not only contain the mandatory UV protection, but also ingredients protecting from hyperpigmentation and reducing already existing spots.

Peeled and Polished

Only applying lotion doesn’t cut it. From time to time, hands need to be treated with a complexion refining peel that makes them as soft as velvet. Due to how intense this is on the skin, this should only be done once a month. For your nails, rather than reaching for clippers, a file gets the nails in peak form and prevents the nail body from splitting. When taking care of your fingernails, the nails should extend past the fingertips by approximately 0.04 inch.

It’s Getting Colorful

Whether soft shades or rich colors, nail polishes can be found in all colors and textures. But the perfect look requires the right preparation as well. First, the cuticle should be gently pushed back. A special cuticle lotion moisturizes the skin and strengthens the nails to ensure a healthy growth and regenerate brittle, cracked nails. In addition, they provide the nail bed and cuticles with care and thus improve the overall structure of the nails. Next, use a nail polisher, which not only makes the nails shine but also evens up grooves and irregularities. A base coat prevents the natural nail from staining. After that, the nail polish can be uniformly applied starting from the cuticle to the tip of the nail. As a final layer, a topcoat is applied that protects the nail polish from chipping and gives the nails its ultimate shine.

Further Tips & Tricks

When doing household tasks such as cleaning or washing dishes it is recommended to wear gloves in order to prevent the skin from dehydrating, and to prevent irritation.

A bright skin tone is mostly conceived as being younger, whereas pigmented spots make us look older. This also applies to the hands, which is why they shouldn’t be neglected when it comes to sun protection.

Once in a while, you should complete intensive care such as a serum. This enhances the absorbing capacity of the skin, and it is advised to peel the hands prior to the application.

A special trick: Many dermatologists recommend their patients to apply their face care regimen using the back of their hands.

What do you do with brittle nails or white stains? Vitamins A and B and biotin are just as important for strong and healthy nails as calcium and magnesium.