Everyday care for your hands

Our hands work tirelessly every day. Whether that’s typing away on your laptop, holding shopping bags, or chopping up vegetables. Skin gets dry, nails get chipped, fingers get cuts. That’s why it’s important to follow a daily hand care routine. In this article we’ll talk about how taking simple steps daily can help the appearance and health of your hands, nails and skin.

Sun protection

Using SPF daily protects your skin from sun spots, freckles, moles, and importantly, skin cancer. Apply sunscreen to the backs of your hands before you head out in the morning, even during the winter. You won’t see the results immediately but in ten years you’ll be thanking yourself! The sooner you establish this daily regimen the better.

Fight off “Text Claw’

A lesser talked about topic when it comes to hand health, but the health of our tendons and joints in our hands is really important long-term. Our fingers and hands are often in unnatural or strained positions when typing on keyboards or swiping on large smartphones. Excessive motor activity can lead to painful tendons and joints in your hands, wrists and forearms. Spend one minute a day lightly stretching your hands to release the tension.

Anti-ageing efforts

They say you can tell someone’s age by looking at their hands. Our hands start showing signs of ageing in our 20s, but most people won’t recognise the signs of ageing until their 30s or 40s. We all get wrinkles! As we age, we lose elasticity in our skin, which causes wrinkles. There are plenty of daily changes you can make to slow down this process. Experts say sun damage is the biggest culprit. SPF is definitely your best friend!

At LeSalon, we’re big fans of moisturising. One of the reasons is its anti-ageing power – excessive dry skin can lead to wrinkles as the skin cells shrivel. Moisturisers can help hydrate the skin and mask fine lines and wrinkles. So slather on the cream at least once a day and also overnight. Other tips to tackle elasticity loss are drinking plenty of water each day, taking fish oil tablets, and eating foods rich in collagen, like almonds, peanut butter and salmon.

Nail upkeep

We actually have a dedicated guide to maintaining beautiful and healthy nails – head over to that for lots more detail!

But just to recap: Keep your cuticles hydrated with daily application of cuticle oil. Don’t pick off your cuticles or trim them too close – this can cause cuts and open wounds, which in turn attracts bacteria and infection.

Keep the skin on your hands moisturised (yes, that word again!). This becomes particularly important in the winter when the air dries out your skin. Also, try not to bathe in hot water as it dries out your skin and strips away essential oils.

All about the aesthetics

We’ve focused on the health side of hand care so far. Another aspect is appearances. The reality is most people judge a book by its cover. Since our hands are on show all the time, it’s only natural that we want them to look clean and healthy. If you follow all of the aforementioned steps, your hands will look and feel amazing. The main thing is to keep your hands soft and smooth with daily moisturising and keep your nails clean and healthy. For some extra sprucing up, book yourself in for regular manicures – twice a month will do. A glossy polish adds a glam factor that unpolished nails just can’t attain.

A helping hand

Clearly, hand care is important on so many levels. Just spending a few minutes a day can make such a difference, especially in the long term! Do your hands need some more attention? We can always give you a hand! Book a manicure with us, we even have add-ons, like hydrating hand masks and nail repair, that could help you out.