Easy Winter Hand Routine for Smooth and Healthy Skin

Tools and materials:

• Hand lotion
• Cuticle oil
• Olive oil

Why are our hands and nails so dry this time of year? The answer is simply it's due to a lack of moisture.

There's no humidity outside during the winter. We spend a lot of our time indoors where the heat is on, and the air is also very dry.

We probably spent a little more time washing our hands this time of year as well just to avoid germs and help prevent us from getting sick. Excessive washing can also lead to a lack of moisture.

But there are some things that we can do about it!

Your skin's barrier is a mixture of proteins, lipids, and oils. Depending on your genetic makeup, you may have more or less of those resulting in excessive dryness or pretty hydrated skin year-round.

If your skin's barrier is weaker, you'll notice that you have more sensitive skin. It may be more common for you to experience itching irritation or eczema and you likely have very dry hands in the winter. 

So how do we treat it? How do we rejuvenate our skin's barrier? Well, it's simple, we need to moisturize. We need to replace that lack of moisture.

So, unfortunately, you can't do this by hydrating by drinking water. We have to apply moisture directly to the skin. And we do that with lotion.

Moisturizing your hands once a day is really going to do nothing. It's going to treat your hands for that brief moment but, as the day goes on, that moisture is going to disappear and the skin's barrier is not going to retain any of it.

So you have to get into the habit of moisturizing frequently. 

1. Hand lotion

You want to find a lotion that has really great emollients and humectants in it. You want a really oily lotion, something that you notice on your skin.

If you apply a lotion and your hands feel a little slippery afterward, that means that emollients are present, and that is a good sign.

If you apply a lotion and your skin drinks it right up and it disappears, it probably is not the best product to be using.

If your skin is already damaged and you need to repair it, you may want to opt for something that's a little thicker. Something like petroleum jelly or an Aquaphor.

These kinds of moisturizers usually have those heavier ingredients which will intensely moisturize and rehydrate your hands. The thought of slathering Vaseline all over your hands is really not desirable, so I would save that treatment for the night.

Try to really lather your hands up before you go to bed and you'll wake up with the smoothest hands and fingers. Even better, if you have a pair of gloves you can pop on. They sell gloves specifically designed to rehydrate hands overnight.

Cocoa or shea butter are also really great lotions to have on hand as well as anything with beeswax they're just incredibly hydrating and they will give your skin that moisture that it's really craving.

2. Cuticle oil

If you want to target your nails specifically, I cannot rave any more than I already do about cuticle oil.

If you have not introduced cuticle oil into your daily routine, you're missing a major step here.

I use a sweet almond cuticle oil that I developed. Sweet almond oil is one of the key ingredients, as well as Argan Oil and vitamin E. All the things needed to repair rehab and rehydrate your fingernails.

The best way to have hydrated hands and nails is to prevent them from ever getting dry.

Try to develop daily habits where you find yourself regularly moisturizing your hands and nails.

If you do this, you won't really have to treat damaged nails or skin, you'll just be maintaining them.

3. Warm oil soak

Another thing you can do is a warm oil soak. Get yourself a tub or a bowl of really warm water, add a little olive oil and just let your hands sit in there for a while.

Just let them absorb that moisture and just really rehydrate. You will notice a big difference.

Easy winter hand routine

I would love for you to leave a comment below sharing your suggestions for how you treat or repair really dry damaged hands and nails in the wintertime.

For more beauty content, check out my Streak-free Tutorial: How to Float Nail Polish.