Hand Care – Anti-Aging Tips and Routine

Beauty Hands

Hand Care Anti-Aging Tips for Keeping Hands Graceful

Because they are so exposed, hands are the first part of the body to show signs of aging and the hardest to disguise. Protection is crucial when caring for hard-working hands and good anti-aging tips for the best anti-aging routine are as follows:

Moisturize liberally with hand cream, preferably after every time you wash them.

Wear an SPF 15 sunscreen even on dull days – some hand creams contain this factor.

Avoid contact with detergents and always wear gloves for housework and gardening.

Smooth general roughness and get rid of grime and stains by massaging with the same exfoliant that you use on your face, paying extra attention to the knuckles.

Help counteract any redness by applying a green-tinted facial moisturizer that sinks in imperceptibly.

Keep fingers nimble and flexible with a regular massage and exercise routine and keep nails attractively and simply groomed.

Coping With Age Spots

Ultraviolet damage is hands’ worst enemy, causing skin slackness, loss of tone and solar lentigines – the classic age spots, which the French so charmingly call “cemetary medals”. These flat brown spots are due to uneven clumping of melanin pigment and can be faded to a certain extent. Used regularly, creams containing hydroquinone (2 per cent strength is the legal limit in both America and Europe) work by breaking down the pigmentation just below the skin’s surface. The body then metabolises it as any other waste.

Nails – Protective Accessories

Nails fulfil the vital function of protecting your extra-sensitive fingertips and improving your ability to pick up. Experts believe it’s taken over 300 million years for the sheets of horny keratin protein that form the nail,s to evolve into smooth, translucent plates. What appears pink and sheeny is mostly composed of dead cells: the soft matrix at the base is the only living part of the nail. Here, new cells grow and push up older, dying cells that harden into protective shields.

Unlike hair that grows in cycles, nail growth is continuous, although rates vary children’s nails take six to eight weeks to grow from base to tip; adults’ three to four months. After the age of 40, nails become more horny and ridged as cell turnover slows. Nails grow faster on your writing hand, probably due to increased circulation to the fingertips. They also grow faster in summer than in winter, when cold weather hampers circulation, especially to the extremeties. Pregnancy, sunlight and exercise also speed growth.

The Importance of Diet and Moisture

Strong, healthy growth relies on a good diet. Keratin contains high levels of sulphur and selenium and moderately high levels of calcium, potassium and trace minerals. Iron and zinc deficiencies cause brittleness, as might a lack of sulphrous amino acids, vitamin B1 (thiamine) and vitamin C. Tests on smokers’ nail clippings have found all the vital minerals to be in lower concentrations than non-smokers, possibly because smoking inhibits circulation. But it is a myth that gelatine strengthens nails and white spots are more likely to be caused by past prodding and damage to the base than a lack of calcium. Research by manufacturers of nutritional supplements for hair and nails shows that the trace mineral silica helps strengthen the cross links that bond the keratin layers together and so helps prevent splitting and flaking.

A nail’s water content is crucial; if it contains less than I2 per cent water it will flake, split and snap. Detergents strip protective oils from the skin and nails, so they are unable to conserve their own moisture. This is devastating in winter, when central heating indoors and freezing temperatures outside mean critically low ambient moisture levels. Regular massage with a little oil followed by lashings of hand cream help rehydrate both hands and nails. Protect them by wearing gloves in cold weather and rubber gloves to do the housework. especially band washing.

Grooming Your Nails

Long nails are synonymous with elegance – they make short fingers look longer and give the hands a well cared-for look. But if they’re too long they tend to look ludicrous worn with today’s paired-down, simpler fashions. Shorter nail shapes also look less claw-like on older hands, which may have thinner fingers and pronounced knuckle joints.

Keeping nails at a practical length is a way of preventing breaks and splits, as the longer the nail, the greater its flexibility will be tested. An ideal, flattering length is just beyond the fingertips, where the white edges can be shaped to echo the curve of the half-moons at the base. Forget nail extensions: they damage the natural nail plate, are expensive to maintain and rarely look natural.

Hand and Nail Troubleshooting

Soften rough, dry hands:

Massage in plenty of hand cream. Slip on cotton gloves (from photographic shops) then latex surgical gloves (from pharmacists). Leave for two hours or overnight.

Strengthen weak brittle nails:

Paint with a protein or polyester resin formula (from pharmacists or salons). Massage oil into the nail base daily and moisturise well.

Mend split nails:

File down nail to minimize snagging. Patch each split with a waterproof, transparent nail bandage (from pharmacists or salons). Then apply polish or nail strengthener.

Seal flakes:

File down nail as far as you can. Prevent split from deepening by buffing off the top layer of the nail at the tip until it’s smooth and even. Top with nail strengthener.

Smooth ridges:

Buff the nail surface smooth with the fine, sandy side of a buffer. Polish with the smooth side. Use a ridge-filling base coat under polish.

Follow these anti-aging tips for beautiful hands. Care of your hands now will keep them young looking, naturally, for longer.