Take Care Of Your Hands & Top Tips To Keep Your Hands Healthy and Beautiful

 It is said that the hands tell you how old a woman is. No matter how old you are, your hands tell an observer a lot about yourself as a person. Dressing up in fancy clothes is of no use if you do not take care of your hands and feet. While speaking or communicating with others you use your hands to express yourself, emphasize a point etc. Hands play an important role in communication. Imagine what life would be like without your hands.

It is a part of the body that you use the most, you cook with them, get dressed with them, write with them, empathize with them and shake others hands when you meet them. Take good care of your hands and treat them well as they are essential for your existence.

Here are few hand care tips:

• The skin on your hand is thin and delicate; therefore take special care of them.
• Moisturize your hands at least four times a day.
• Use your face exfoliator on your hands once a week.
• Once a week apply your face cream on to your hands before you go to bed.
• For dry hands after washing your hands with soap, wet them again. Pour salt on your hands and then scrub them under water. Dry hands and apply moisturizer on them.
• For greasy hands, after washing your hands rub cornmeal on them.
• Wear rubber gloves while working at home and in the garden.
• Protect and prevent your hands from aging and abuse.
• Protect your hands from the ravages of changing weather.
• Protect your hands while working in the sun.
• The best way to take care of your hands is to protect them on a daily basis.

The condition of the hands depends on the care you give them. The skin on the back of the hands is soft and thin and prone to early wrinkling. Whereas the skin on the palm is thick and tough. The palm has no sebaceous glands, thus no natural lubrication thus they can  become dry and rough.

(1) After your bath or any washing , always massage your hands with a lubricating cream. In fact, barrier creams should always be used when tackling particularly dirty and greasy jobs.

 (2) Get into the habit of giving yourself a weekly manicure, which will make your hands look good along with helping them to combat  annoying problems like chipping, splitting, peeling and cracking.

 (3) If your nails persistently split and chip, then they probably need strengthening by regular use of one of the many nail hardeners in the market.

Exercising the hands can help to make them flexible and improve circulation. Try performing these exercise at least 6-10 times a day.

 (a) Clench your fists tightly for a second and then throw open the fingers as wide as possible.

 (b) Place hands in front of you, palm down. Press the fingers tightly against each other and then thrust them apart as widely as possible.

 (c) Allow the hands to be limp and relaxed. Then rotate them from the wrist in circles, first clockwise and then anticlockwise.

 You can give an instant refresh treatment to your hands  at home by soaking your dry hands in warm olive oil. Fill a teacup with the warmed oil, dip in your fingers and let them soak for a few minutes. When you remove them rub the oil into your hands and allow as much of it as possible to be absorbed before rinsing away the excess. Alternatively, you can smother your hands with rich cold creams.

 (4) Every night, before bedtime, massage your hands with a cream for few minutes.

Here are a few ways in which you can take care of the skin of your hand.

• Moisturize your hands as many times as you can in a day. Dry skin looks wrinkled and can easily be damaged.
• Wear gloves while washing dishes, dealing with chemicals and while gardening.
• Protect the skin on your hands from the sun.
• Ensure that your hands are dry. If you have water on your hands it will evaporate drying your skin.
• Take special care of your hands once a week. Give your hands a herbal oil massage once a week.

• Herbal Hand Bath: Boil one quarter of water and add one tablespoon of herbs (use one or all of these: chamomile, nettle, sage, coltsfoot, calendula). Let this mixture cool and soak your hands in it for 15-20 minutes. Dry your hands thoroughly and apply nourishing moisturizer.
• Homemade Nourishing Hand Cream: Mix one teaspoon of honey with 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter. Add one tablespoon of strong herbal mixture. This will make a very rich cream, that will take a while to absorb, but will make your hands soft and smooth.
• For dry skin: Mix one tablespoon glycerin, one egg yolk, two tablespoons of vegetable oil, juice of one lemon, 3 to 4 ounces of herbal infusion or rose water. Apply this once or twice a week.
• Mashed potatoes with milk make a great hand mask.
• After cooking with eggs, before you throw the eggshells away, scrape out the remaining egg white and massage it into your hands.
• Rub a piece of lemon on your hands to give your skin a more even tone.
• After washing dishes with detergents wash your hands with sour milk or with a vinegar and water solution (1 tablespoon of vinegar per 2quaters of water). This will restore the pH balance of the skin.
• Keep your hands warm as colds often start as a result of cold hands.

For an emergency treatment for coarse, rough skin, apply cream lavishly at bed time and go to sleep with cotton gloves on.