Winter Hand Care Tips

   This post is going to be a little different than normal.  But I hope some of you will find it useful or get some ideas of your own.  Every year, I can tell when winter is here.  Not just the first cold snap, but the full, here to stay winter.  How you ask?  My knuckles.  Not in an achy way, but in a they turn bright red, chap, crack, and try to bleed way.  I'm talking bright enough red Santa could guide his sleigh by them.  This is rather painful.  So this year I'm trying out some new things to maybe stop this from happening, or at least not be as bad.

   What's my plan?  Well here's a pic of the main ingredients:

   Step 1:  Drink more water.  This is the most important part.  If you keep yourself properly hydrated your skin will be less dry to start with and less prone to chapping.  Not to mention feeling better in general.

   Step 2:  Use a moisturizing hand soap.  These will be less hard on your hands and add moisture back into your skin.  Also make sure to fully dry your hands after washing- water and cold do not mix well and will prevent lotion from fully absorbing.  I've found that hot water, which you should be using to wash your hands anyway for better germ control, just feels better on chapped, dry skin.

   Step 3:  Moisturize frequently.  Right after washing your hands is a good idea, but really just whenever you think about it throughout the day.  The best time I've found to moisturize though is right as you go to bed.  It should be one of the last things you do.  This is also when you should use your thickest, heaviest moisturizer.  By using it right as you go to bed you don't run the risk of touching a lot of things and just rubbing all the lotion right back off.

   Step 4:  Gloves.  You're probably wondering why I have 3 different pair in the photo.  Well the blue pair are to wear overnight in bed.  First you moisturize like I mentioned above, then put the gloves on to really seal in the lotion.  And they keep your hands warmer which can make your pores expand and let in the moisturizer deeper.  The purple pair are just to wear when I'm outside to keep my hands warm and out of the wind.  The wind is one of the biggest factors in chapping.  At least for me.  The grey pair of gloves, which you'll note are fingerless, are for me to wear while swatching.  I was outside the other day taking pictures of several polishes and my hands were freezing.  Outdoor pictures require being outside for quite a while over the course of a swatch session.  But I can't wear regular gloves since they would cover my nails obviously.  But then I had a brainstorm, hey it happens occasionally, that fingerless gloves would keep most of my hand warm, but still let my nails show so I could keep taking outdoor pictures.  So you will start seeing swatches with me in gloves in the near future.  Trust me it is for the best of my hands.

   So that's my plan to try to keep my hands healthy, or at least healthier, this winter.  Do any of you ladies have any other tips or tricks to keep your hands soft and hydrated in the cold?  If so, I'd love to hear them in the comments below.  

   I have a couple notes about the picture.  First, you might have noticed the purple gloves have weird looking tips on the thumb and index finger.  These tips are special because they allow you to use a touch screen device, like say a cell phone, without taking your gloves off.  I tried them at the store and they work with my phone.  My question is why the heck did it take so long for these to come out?

   Second, the JR Watkins lotion, which btw smells JUST like lemon cake, is on a crazy amazing deal this week at Rite Aid.  All JR Watkins products are 2/$3 through Saturday!! The lotion above is normally $8.99 a bottle!  If you've never tried their stuff, check out some of G's reviews over at Nouveau Cheap here and here.  Her blog, which is awesome, is where I found out about this sale and I am so grateful.  Even though I want to eat my hands right now cause they smell so good.

   Third, I am not promoting using BBW hand soap, it's just what I have at home since I work there.  I really try not to use or mention stuff from work on here, even though I truly do love a lot of our stuff, because I feel it is a conflict of interest and I might come off a bit biased.  I'm also not saying you have to drink Smart water.  Again, it's just what I had on hand because it's what I tend to drink.