Are Your Hands Aging You?  

It's time for some extra love for our hands. 

We all want healthier, glowing skin that's well taken care of, including, of course our hands.

Covered In This Tutorial

1. Why we need to work on our hands;
2. Product recommendations for healthier and better-looking hands; and
3. Starting a morning and nighttime hand care routine.

Why We Need to Work on Our Hand Care

In all of my skincare tutorials, I always emphasize that when you do your facial care routine, you also want to apply your routine down the neck and on to the chest, because it will show up later.

Let's not forget our hands and forearms as well! 

As we age, we can get red, scaly, bumpy growths on our forearms. Also, as we age, our skin thins. Dark spots appear from UV damage. The elasticity slows down. Your nails can get brittle and ridges appear. 

There are things we can do to help prevent these common skin problems from happening for as long as possible.  

Photo-aging

Photoaging is essentially the cumulative damage to our skin caused by exposure to sunlight and ultraviolet (UV) light. Responsible for 80 to 90 percent of visible changes to the skin, photo-aging is the result of daily sun damage you’ve been exposed to through the years. You can help brighten and smoothen the skin of the hands and help improve your nails also!

Products for Healthier and Better-Looking Hands

Keep in mind, It's a process! It can take 6 to 12 weeks to see results because as we improve the care of our hands, new skin cells are being built from the inside, and they have to make their way to the surface. That takes a while. 

Sunscreen

Yep. I said it again.

I always emphasize using sunscreen.

About 80-90% of the external signs of aging are due to sun cumulative sun damage. We need to be really diligent with sunscreen (and of course, take our vitamin D supplement to maintain our strong levels for optimum health.) 

• Eucerin Daily Hydration Moisturizer and Sunscreen Hand Creme. I like that it has licorice root in it that helps prevent dark spots. However, I also prefer a sunscreen for my hands that is water resistant, since washing our hands is a thing. And though I wanted to feature it for the brightening benefits of the licorice, this one is not. A good consideration is to use a water resistant hand creme and apply a serum which contains licorice root to get the benefits that way. (Keep reading...)

• Aveeno Positively Mineral Sensitive Skin Daily Sunscreen Lotion. This one is water-resistant and good to use for the hands. Just one example. Peruse the many suggested water resistant sunscreens I have for you in the SBM Amazon Sunscreen Shop and Hand Care Shop.   

Sunscreen Driving Gloves 

I love my sun protectant driving gloves! Every time I get in the car, I put my fancy gloves on for extra sun protection. Along with sunscreen, consider protecting your hands while you drive. 

An Anti-Aging Hand Creme 

• Eucerin Advanced Repair Hand Creme. Its key ingredients include urea and alpha hydroxy acids (AHA), which hydrates, strengthens, brightens, and smoothens the skin and nails.  These are humectants, responsible for the plumping and smoothing of the skin. The AHAs also help lift up the dark spots. I've been using this religiously every night for two months, and I see the difference in the brightness of my hands and in my cuticles.  

A Weekly Hand mask

Once or twice a week, give yourself a hand mask. After applying the hand repair creme, I recommend applying a richer cream on top like the CeraVe Eczema Relief Creamy Oil or Aquaphor Repairing Ointment. This will help heal the skin and seal in the moisture of the hands even more so, while hand masking. 

Apply the cream on the back of the hand and pull it to the fingers and in between the fingers and the cuticles and nails. 

Slip a pair of cotton gloves on to help the heat of your hands seal in the hydration and emollience.  

Bright On Brightening Facial Serum.

And here it is.

You want to use melanin production blockers like licorice root, which is one of the ingredients of our Bright On Brightening Facial Serum.  Licorice root is anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and contains melanin production blockers which inhibit future pigments from developing. It also has brown seaweed, Halidrys siliquosa extract which works before, during, and after the suns impact to reduce and soften hyperpigmenation.  

Vitamin C Serum. In the morning, I use our Vitamin C Serum on my face, and then add a dollop of the serum on my hands as well. Vitamin C is really well-studied for skin brightening and collagen building. An amen for our hands.  

Behave 1% Retinol Moisture Creme. After I apply my Bright On at night, I apply Behave. Retinoids have been studied for decades and found to help in collagen building and lift the brown spots on the skin. I use a pea-size amount to the hands. This is best to be used at night because retinoids can be damaged by the sun. 

Radiance Reveal Exfoliant or Clear Skin Serum. As I apply my leave on exfoliant I am sure to apply some to the back of my hands as well, as the AHA's and BHA;s are brighteners, aid in hydration and help to lift dark spots. 

SHOP Hand Care

	Aveeno Positively Mineral Sensitive Skin Daily Sunscreen Lotion	Driving Gloves	Eucerin Advanced Repair Hand Creme	CeraVe Eczema Relief Creamy Oil

Bright On Brightening Facial Serum	Vitamin C Serum	Behave 1% Retinol Moisture Creme	Radiance Reveal Exfoliant	Clear Skin Serum

A Quick Note on Hydroquinone

Hydroquinone has been the gold standard of removing dark spots, but it is a temporary fix. I recommend using it for maybe 4-6 weeks and then stop using it. It does work, but not everybody loves the ingredient and it is a bit controverial. However, if you are using products with licorice root, AHAs, retinol, you may not need it anymore.  

Morning and Nighttime Hand Care Routine

Morning

1. While going about your daily facial care routine, use what's left on your hands and apply to the back of your hands, or give a small dollop to the back of one hand and use the other hands backside and massage the product in. 
2. In this way, apply your leave-on exfoliant  (Radiance Reveal or Clear Skin Serum).
3. Apply your Vitamin C Serum
4. Apply sunscreen - don't be stingy  

Nighttime

1. Apply Bright On Brightening Serum to the backs of your hands
2. Apply retinol (Behave 1% Retinol Moisture Creme)
3. Apply hand creme every night, before bedtime
4. Give your hands a nourishing and brightening hand mask at least once weekly 

It may sound a little overwhelming as you start the routine, but once you get it nailed down, it becomes a HABIT.   

Nail Care

On the days that I don't use nail polish, I use OPI Nail Envy. It helps strengthen the nails and the pale pink finish is nice!

Watch the Video Tutorial in Full 

SHOP TODAY'S MAKEUP LOOK

Whisper Mineral Eyeshadow	Almond Mineral Eyeshadow	Soft Black Mineral Liner	Blush Mineral Rich Lipstick	Fine Angle Brush