We Are All Keeping Our Hands Sanitized-But What About Hydrating?

Wash your hands for 30 seconds, use sanitizer, stay safe. This is something we all do regularly but with the rising concerns of viruses spreading we are washing and sanitizing even more. While this is great for prevention, where does it leave our hands? Dehydrated.

This time of year can already be tricky now that we are nearing the end of the dry winter months that have already left our skin feeling dehydrated. Now we are also increasing the amount of alcohol based products we are using on our hands which is leaving us feeling rough, tight and dry and aging the looks of our hands. This is an area that tends to age faster and we don’t want to encourage that anymore than possible.

We have put together a few products that will get you and your client’s hands feeling soft and silky smooth again. What is better is that many of these products also work as face and body products so you can revive yourself from head to toe or just focus on your hands at home or as a special add on service to mani’s and pedi’s or facials.

First and foremost, we need to be exfoliating. There is no use putting on all these luxurious creams, lotions and potions if the top layers is dead cells. All the hydration will be absorbed leaving nothing for the cells that truly needs moisturizing underneath. One of our favorites is the Eve Taylor Exfoliating Mousse.

It can be used in the shower for a full body treatment but works wonderfully as a hand and arm exfoliant. I like to call this a 3-in-1 as it has cleansing properties with its coconut based surfactants which will foam up when you add water to it providing a deep cleanse without over stripping the skin. There is a nice mix of poppy seeds and sea salt for the abrasive action which will slough off the dead cells promoting a brighter more even complexion and will enhance the product penetration of our following product picks. There are also some great ingredients like black pine and rosemary to aid in circulation and humectants to up skins hydration level. This exfoliator cleanses, sloughs off dead cells and hydrates, what more could we ask for?

Want to make the exfoliating mousse last longer? Sometimes we want to spend a bit more time on exfoliation if we have an area with more built up dead cells, all you have to do is add more water. Want to up the effect even more? Use a hydrolat or toner.

My personal favorite the Rose Hydrolat. Gorgeous aromatic aroma, hydrating, firming and you can even spritz on your face! This is a great way to boost the longevity of the exfoliant plus add additional benefits to improve the overall outcome.

Now that we have gotten rid of our old dead tired skin and are ready for more enhanced product penetration to have several options to up the hydration on the hands!  One of my go to products is the No.303 Eve Taylor Serum. Great for use on the face and body, it has a beautiful blend of essential oils like rosewood, rosemary, clary sage and galbanum to stimulate cellar renewal and provide support for cells.

This will help with anyone experiencing pigmentation concerns on their skin or stressed skin experiencing a lack of elasticity. There is also a powerful blend of base oils to support the lipid barrier,which in turn will help with overall skin function and hydration through oils such as rosehip, evening primrose and avocado.

Now to really up our hydration game, lets add a moisturizer. There are so many great options,and which one you pick will depend on your needs and preferences. So, what are some products we can choose from?

A favorite among our dry skin clients is the Moisturizing Body Butter.

It’s a thick creamy texture leaving a nice hydrating barrier on our skin; contains shea butter, olive butter and coconut butter. The body butter also contains sea buckthorn which has a very high vitamin content, and anti-inflammatory to aid with tissue regeneration.

Not a fan of a thicker body butter or cream texture? No problem, Rescue and Repair Moisturizer is just right for you.

This lightweight moisturizer that is perfect for dehydrated skin. To start off we have a great combo of your antioxidants to fight off free radicals with a mixture of vitamin A, C and E as well as Beta Carotene. This moisturizer also contains hyaluronic acid to boost the hydration levels of our skin which is greatly affected with using high amounts of alcohol based sanitizer, and chamonile extract to help moisturize and bring down inflammation at the same time. To top it off this also contains squalene to help hydrate the cells and provide antioxidant protection against oxidative stress.

Want to up your end game?

Use an aromatic candle to hydrate those extra dry areas of the skin. Rich in amino acids the soya in these 100% organic candles will reinforce the skins integrity. Light the candle, enjoy the luxurious aromatic experience, and once the wax has warmed use it to massage into dry skin areas. Coming is a variety of aromatic blends, we recommend trying Wild Fig and Grape or Relax & Self Indulgent – 2 very popular blends.

Added Bonus!

Try during your routine adding a masque to your hands. Great for this time of year is our Anti-Oxidant Masque.

A powerful mixture of Acai Berry, Vitamin C, Green Tea, White Tea, Red Tea and Vitamin E. This masque fights off free radical damage and brightens the skin. Rosehip, jojoba, avocado and sunflower oil moisturize and rebuild the lipid content in the skin with their high EFA content.

It is important we stay safe and keep washing our hands using sanitizer to keep us and those around us safe. This does not mean our hands have to suffer. For the amount we use them we need to give them some love and relieve the uncomfortable sensation so many of us have to live with that get dry dehydrated hands. Add this routine in at the end of your day so your hands can heal and hydrate as the rest of our body winds down for the night. Don’t forget-use these products to give the rest of your skin some relief too!

Written by Melissa Landry