There are many benefits living in Colorado such as sunny skies and seeing the fresh fallen snow on our amazing mountain back drop. With the good also comes the bad. Our winters here might be considered mild, however one thing I hear many people complaining about is how dry their hands are.
There are many reasons your hands crack and sometimes even bleed which can make it painful to even touch water! So here are some useful tips for keeping the dryness under control.
First of all, I am a huge believer in using good product. Finding lotions with no perfume added can be tough to find. There is a difference between added perfume and a scent that is naturally there because of the ingredients. For instance, if your lotion smells like grapefruit, but it contains no grapefruit oil in the ingredients, your lotion has perfume added which can irritate your already agitated skin. When shopping for a lotion look for these ingredients: Jojoba oil , avocado oil, coconut oil, hyaluronic acid, honey, sweet almond oil, sunflower oil, grape seed oil, vitamin E and C and shea butter.
Make sure you apply lotion after each hand wash. Your skin actually absorbs more moisture when it’s damp. Take a table spoon or two of coconut oil; put it in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Remove and rub all over your hands and then wear vinyl gloves for 10 to 20 minutes or doing this overnight can be even more beneficial, if you can handle it. You may also use olive oil if you’re not a fan of coconut. Coconut has some added value besides its moisturizing content. It’s also an antiviral meaning it inhibits bacterial growth; it contains the good fat and is high in antioxidants.
Internal hydration affects your whole body. If you’re not drinking a lot of water, chances are your skin is feeling and looking like it. Health professionals say drink 8 to 10 glasses of water a day. However, as not everybody is the same size this may need to be modified. You need to drink enough to water to help your specific body properly function. Here is a simple formula you can do. Take your weight and divide it by 2, and that equals how much water in ounces you should drink daily. Example: a woman at 140 lbs. should have 70 ounces of water a day. If you want to think of it in cups, then this woman, if she is truly drinking one cup per serving that equals 8 ounces we would take the 70 ounces and divide that by 8 (which is one cup) then she should drink 8.75 glasses a day.
Make these tips part of your daily routine if the dryness is severe. If less severe, once or twice a week should do the trick. Your skin deserves the very best.
Jennifer Fulcher
aquafleur 