I happen to be a manicurist by profession, so here are a few things to do.
- check what you do with your hands throughout the day; chances are there are things you're doing that are robbing your skin of moisture: soap and water are very drying, as is paper, dirt, and chemicals, and even the most simple cleaners. - use rubber gloves for dishes, housecleaning and yardwork. The thick ones are good for rough jobs, and the thin ones are good for jobs where touch is a bit more important. The thin ones are disposable, and often available at drug stores or hardware stores. They often come in boxes of 100; try different brands to find ones you like better; be sure to not get them too tight, your fingers poke through then ends if they're too tight. - buy a new pair of rubber gloves for dishes, and pour a very generous amount of oil or cream in them, then do the dishes in really hot water; your hands will get a hot oil treatment while you do the dishes. Once a week, turn them inside out and wash them or put them in the dishwasher, then refill with oil. - if you're stubborn and won't wear gloves, you will continue to have bad skin forever. If you're stubborn, change your attitude and get used to gloves. - Add spoons, forks, knives, etc, to your garden tool box, and use those in the dirt, not your hands. Dead head flowers with little pointed scissors. (I have VERY long nails, yet I have a massive yard, with flowers and vegetables, and I do all the work myself; I live in rubber gloves to do this. In fact, I use them so much, that my arms end up all tanned and my hands are white. But I keep my long nails, and have amazingly soft hands. I use only plant based oils on my skin.) - plant based oils/creams/lotions are far superior, as the molecules are small enough to penetrate the skin. Petroleum and animal based oils/cream/lotions have larger molecules that are harder to soak into the skin, and some only stay on the surface. Often they make formulations that feel nice, but do little for long term moisturizing. These can be used together though. Use plant based oils/creams/lotions to moisture, then petroleum based oils/creams/lotions as a barrier, to protect your skin from allowing the environment in. - if you use nail polish, only use non-acetone polish remover, as acetone can be drying to the skin. Using cotton balls with the remover makes it work better. - most drug store lotions are garbage. This is not an area where you want to cheap out. There are plenty of salon lotions that are not very good either, so learn to label read. The first few ingredients should be plant based products, and ideally they should all be plant based. - glycerin is actually very drying if you have dry skin, and especially if you live in a dry area. - if you want a simple, frugal solution, use olive oil as your moisturizer. You can mix and match many oils to find a combination you like: olive, grapeseed, coconut, flaxseed. (NO canola, corn, safflower, sunflower, soy oil) - find someone who makes homemade soaps and creams, and try some different formulations. Keep in mind that homemade does not necessarily mean chemical free. Good chemical free oils/creams/lotions will have a very short shelf life, sometimes only a couple months, and this is good, these products are meant to be used, not stored. Find a massage therapist, they have access to simple oils, and you could get a bit more exotic combination of oils, those that are good for the skin but not available at the grocery store. Be careful that the oils that you get that are added to the base oils/creams/lotions are pure essential oils and not perfume or fragrance oils. You are looking for healing, not just pretty smell. Essential oils do smell nice, but often their smell fades fast. Again, you're looking for healing here, not just pretty smell. - stop washing your hands too much throughout the day. Often people wash way too much when cooking. Only wash if you're actually unsanitary. Getting a little water from the veggies does not require soap and water, just use a tea towel to wipe off. Same thing if you get a bit of oil on yourself, just wipe off. If you watch cooking shows, you'll see many of the cooks just wipe themselves off and move on. - hand sanitizers are brutal on the skin. Most of them work by being alcohol based, and this alcohol works by evaporating all the water in your skin, as most "germs" need water to live. But this just robs your skin of all water, and the alcohol also breaks down the oils in your skin, and this is removed along with the water. Antibactrial soap is also extremely bad for the skin. Thora -----Original Message----- From: Paula Perry [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: June 17, 2006 5:30 AM To: [email protected] Subject: CS>dry itchy hands Does anyone have a good remedy for dried out, itchy hands? Nothing seems to be working very good. Thanks, Paula
