Dry hands are a common phenomenon I suffer with not only of the colder months but am susceptible to all year round and it is a topic I often only see other beauty bloggers and YouTubers talk about come the Winter months. Paired with the ongoing cold weather we're having (she says, wearing three layers and having to resort to putting the heating on end of March - bar the sporadic few-day Easter heat wave that's surprised us all) we've also had just over a year of high-intensity, frequent hand washing and alcohol gelling around the clock for our hands to contend with! To say that my hands have been in poor shape is quite the understatement! My usual Winter-worst, rough, dry hands have become year-round red, sore, cracked hands and, more often than not, I find my hands so dry they crack and bleed. Paired with the nifty tips I've learnt over the years keeping my susceptible dry, cracked hands at bay; some words of wisdom from my mother of whom I inherited this wonderful gift from; a healthy obsession with all things beauty; and these dermis-stripping-testing-times, I have come to refine and rely on my very best top tips for fixing my dry, sore, cracked hands at their worst condition and I thought what better than to share it with all!
If you like me are often finding yourself wincing at the thought of moving your hands at the moment, for fear once again your hands are so dry they crack and bleed, or you are desperately seeking to resolve red dry hands, I have put together below my top tips I resort to, to fix my dry, sore, cracked hands when they are at their very worst.
From one fellow dry hand sufferer to another, here's my quick top tips I rely on to fix my dry, sore cracked hands...
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Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional in skincare nor a qualified dermatologist. The tips and advice in this post is purely based upon my own opinion, experiences and learning, whether that be from formal education or from the opinion or experiences of others. These are just ways I have found work for me to keep my dry hands at bay and resolve my sore cracked hands and are my opinions on why I think these tips have worked for me and my skin.
1. Hand cream, hand cream, hand cream
I cannot stress enough, I think the most significant tip I have ever learnt for keeping my dry hands at bay and preventing reoccurrence of dry, sore cracked hands is regular hand creaming! Hand cream acts like the oily barrier to your outer dermis (top layer of skin) that both helps lock moisture in and keep skin supple, soft and together. When that oiler barrier is lost your skin can kiss good bye to moisture, sumptuous softness is lost and the cracks begin to show. Hand cream is like my replacement oily barrier and I find hand washing is my biggest source of loss of that oily barrier and thus moisture. On a big cleaning day I can find my hands the driest, sorest and cracked and often succumb to hands so dry they bleed. Thus I aim to apply my hand cream whenever I can after hand washing and as often as I can throughout the day. Bare minimum I aim to apply my hand cream at least once a day and for me that is often bed time. If you can only commit to remembering to apply your hand cream every bed time it is an ideal time in my eyes as it gives your hands the night to let the cream sit and oily barrier do its job to allow your skin underneath to repair, without being stripped away by washing. To ensure I try and apply hand cream as often as possible otherwise, another really good tip I've learnt is keeping a hand cream in all my everyday 'handy' places. For instance, I keep a head cream at my bedside, in my dressing gown pocket for around the house, on my desk, in my car, and in my work pocket. I find this makes it a little easier to remind me to keep applying my hand cream as often as I can throughout the day and helps get me into the habit of regular hand cream application. The more often I apply my hand cream throughout the day the faster I tend to find my hands repair, which is joyous on a really bad day when they are cracked and bleeding!
Keeping a hand cream 'handy' wherever you may be is the best tip I could advise!
Without restoring that oily barrier you have no environment to lock in the moisture, only exacerbating the dryness and the drier things get the sorer I find my hands, resulting in eventually falling victim to the dreaded hands so dry they crack and bleed.
2. A good hand cream
Needles to say, regular hand cream application is key in me healing up my sore, cracked hands but without a good hand cream I can get nowhere!
There really are some hands creams out there I have tried and just do not work. A hand cream that does not moisturise, who would have thought!
Out of all the hand creams I've tried - hop over to my various empties posts to see my thoughts on a selection of hands creams I have tried over the years and some of my holy grails - I find the most effective and ones that really work at fixing up my sore cracked hands are the buttery, almost fat-based, oily creams. Although the more water-based ones can be great at quickly absorbing they really do nothing as for leaving a protective oily barrier to allow my skin to heal underneath and moisture to be locked in - I'm looking at you Superdrug own brand hand cream, a prime example! No matter how often you apply them you just get no where! So take your time and enjoy delving through and testing the hand cream market because there really are some excellent buttery hand creams, some that do leave quite minimal residue yet still leave a protective casing to your skin and some that are a little more luxurious that are perfect to sit and work wonders for your hands as you rest through the night. I am currently using and loving the LUSH Handy Gurugu, which has the most amazing, mesmerizing completely thick, buttery texture but leaves an undetectable nourished balmy layer to my hands! It really is quite magical how it works!
3. Beauty sleep for your hands
As I noted before, bare minimum I will at least always apply hand cream every night before I go to bed. Having a hand cream at my bedside is a good way to remind me and it has easily integrated into my nighttime routine and become a thoughtless habit. Likewise as I discussed before, if anything, popping a bit of hand cream on overnight at least gives the cream time to sit on your hands and mimic that lost oiler barrier to allow your skin underneath to soften and retain the new moisture if exudes, promoting healing of cracks and rebuilding of a protective natural oily layer.
4. Maximize your hand cream retention (Bed sheets, the hand cream thief)
Now sometimes when my hands have been exceptionally dry, sore and cracked and I have been desperate for the healing powers of my hand cream I have resorted to wearing gloves over night, following hand cream application. Akin to wearing your socks over night after applying foot cream to maximise skin softening, I find wearing gloves after applying hand cream at night can just take the edge of the sheets stealing my hand cream and it transferring all over the bedding when I hop into bed. I wouldn't say it makes your hand cream work any better but it certainly gives a little more relief and keeps the hand cream where you need it when your hands are really, really bad.
5. Are you hand washing the right way?
Did you know there's a correct way you should be washing your hands to avoid drying them out? I did not know this until recent years myself! Now if you're a soap-before-water-person listen up! I was told if you apply soap before wetting your hands when hand washing it results in drying out your skin. This then leaves you susceptible to dry, cracked hands, of which bacteria can harbour and live within the cracks and thus reduces the effectiveness of the whole purpose of hand washing in the first place! Back to the dry hands at matter though. To avoid drying your hands out and those oh so painful sore, cracked hands, so dry they crack and bleed, ensure to wet your hands thoroughly prior to soaping whenever you wash your hands. This helps the soap to lather efficiently and without such a stripping manner to your skin.
6. Dry to defeat the dryness
And lastly, one my mum has always told me and maybe in fact just and old wives tale (I'm not sure if this actually does make any difference but nevertheless I feel like it makes a difference for me and my hands. Make sure you dry your hands thoroughly and completely each time after washing. I have visions in my head of my mum often repeating to me when I was younger "dry your hands properly or they'll get chapped". Although in the laws of physics, in my general understanding of it, moisture on the skin should simply evaporate or blow away I've often felt not drying my hands properly leaves me susceptible to dry patches. Thus whether it be or whether it not an old wives tale, I always try to ensure to dry my hands thoroughly whenever wet.
And then apply hand cream and do it all over again!
And that my friends it how I have been fixing my troublesome dry, sore, cracked and red hands. If you are also a fellow dry hand sufferer whatever the weather do comment below if you also have any nifty tips you've collated for keeping them at bay - we'll have a full force for fighting these pesky dry hands! If you try any of the tips I'd love to know if it helped you. Why not share your hand transformation too! (I found it quite difficult to picture my hand-formation, if you will, as you can see above but I'm sure they'll be many of you much better at documenting this than I am). And if anything, if you're a lucky one who isn't suffering with sore, cracked and red, dry hands at the moment I'm quite sure they'll be someone you know who's desperate to fix their sore, cracked hands and get them back into shape so be sure to give the post a share! As the chances of getting back out and about come a little closer let's get our hands at the ready to dazzle and shine our jewellery or flaunt or colourful Summer nails that we can finally show off.
P.S If you'd like to know and in true Ellie fashion, I still haven't fulfilled my New Years aspiration of painting my nails yet! I must go and do it now! - I promise I'll show you when I've done them; that's a pact!
Until my next post,
Ellie Xx
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