You're In Good Hands
and if you're not, you'll be there soon
Who’s ready to talk hand care? 🙌 I sure am. My hands are ‘roided up and ready to go (for those who care, it’s Betamethasone).
Thank you all for your feedback and kind messages to last week’s issue–I’m glad so many of you found it informative and even happier that a few of you were able to solve your own hand rash mysteries. As promised, today we’re getting into the tips and recommendations for our new era of hand care.
Why is it so hard to give our hands the care they deserve?
Based off my own observations and after talking to many of you, I really think it all comes down to the fact that we do not have any patience and we do not like to be inconvenienced. We hardly have the patience to let products absorb on our face, why would we be better about our hands? Think about how many times you put hand lotion on, then immediately wipe the excess off on your pants. Or how often you apply a hand product only to wash your hands again 20 minutes later. Products don’t even have the opportunity to work before we go about disrupting them. It’s not deliberate, it’s just automatic–we apply stuff to our hands and then go right back to using them. Let them rest!
We also need to be more mindful about when we choose to apply hand products. Maybe don’t apply the hand cream right before you need to get dressed or type on the computer. This is why overnight hand care is going to be a big part of our strategy. It’s the only time we can really just let them be! Similarly, we need to take advantage of other times we are stationary, like keeping hand cream and cotton gloves near your couch so we have no excuses not to do a little mask while watching TV. A little planning is going to go a long way for our poor phalanges.
We are not good at conceptualizing cumulative. It comes up a lot when talking about sun exposure. Walking to the subway without sunscreen may only mean 10 minutes of exposure at a time, but that very quickly becomes hours in the sun. We make up excuses to justify these little transgressions, telling ourselves that we don’t do it all the time, but we do. And I’m just talking about the face here. We’re way worse when it comes to applying sunscreen on our hands during these quick little excursions outside. Beyond sunscreen, there are other instances I find myself ignoring the cumulative effects of a behavior on my hands. About a year ago, I would sometimes come home from work with a weird rash-type thing on a very specific area of my left hand. It looked like (and was) contact dermatitis, and turned out to be from repeatedly swatching products in that same area on the back of my hand. Even though I would wash it off, it all added up. We do things like this all of the time without realizing because our hands are at the forefront of every action we take! We need to consider what we are exposing them to and how frequently.
We must improve our hand washing protocol. We need to dry our hands completely after washing them. The onset of my dyshidrotic eczema was partially due to the fact that I wouldn’t thoroughly dry them after washing, leaving the barrier vulnerable and making it easier for anything I came into contact with to penetrate into my skin. In my case, cleaning chemicals, skincare products etc. But drying them completely isn’t enough! We also need to replenish the skin with ceramides and lipids and all the good stuff that seals those cracks and reinforces our skin barrier. Our skincare routine doesn’t end when we wash our face, so it shouldn’t end there for our hands. Of course, we also need to be realistic–we wash our hands far too often to do a whole routine every time. So we need to make our hand care routines count when we are able to do them and use products to supplement our shortcomings.
A final interesting thing I’ve noticed is that hand care is a weirdly loyal category. Unlike the rest of the face and body, we’re not constantly looking to upgrade our products or try the newest hand cream launch. Once someone finds a hand product they like, especially hand soap and hand cream, they tend to stick with it. On the flip side, many people are still in that discovery phase, never able to find the miracle hand product they’re looking for. Just food for thought if you are developing any hand care.
5 Products You Need in Your Basic Hand Care Toolkit
The types of products every single person needs. Hand care is so personal and you may already be loyal to something, which is great, I’m not telling you to change it. But if you do need to build your kit or want to try something new, you’ll find recommendations below for all of these categories, plus more.
An everyday, no frills, fragrance-free hand cream
A treatment or specialty hand product suited to your concerns
Sunscreen
Cotton gloves
Dishwashing gloves
Most ingredients have some sort of scent, many of which are horrible. Unscented means that a product has added fragrance chemical ingredients to neutralize an odor. Fragrance-free means that a product does not contain any added fragrance chemicals. Something that is fragrance-free can still have a scent, but that’s the natural scent of the ingredients.
I usually am not a stickler for fragrance-free products and don’t think fragrance is necessarily always as big of an issue as people make it out to be. That being said, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s worth considering for hand care. Fragrance chemicals are one of the top causes of irritation and allergic reactions in formulations, which is why people with allergies or sensitive skin tend to avoid fragrant products. A risk with fragrance is sensitization, or becoming sensitive to an irritant by frequent exposure. Our hands are extra susceptible to this risk, so I think it’s important that your hand care arsenal includes a fragrance-free, basic hand cream that you can always rely on and be able to use even if your hands are particularly irritated or dry. You’re free to use a scented hand cream as much as you want, but with the frequency we want to be applying hand cream, I’d encourage you to have both.
Your treatment or specialty hand product might be an extra thick hydrating night cream, a hand cream with retinol or something else. You may use these products once daily, once weekly or as needed. You can have more than one.
Sunscreen, obviously, is of the utmost importance. Make sure it’s water resistant so you’re not completely screwed if you wash your hands. It’s really hard to keep sunscreen on your hands, so try to apply it last before leaving the house. You can technically use any water-resistant sunscreen, but many people struggle with the greasiness on their hands. Some brands have hand sunscreen, which is formulated to absorb faster, but for some reason most only have SPF 15 or 20, but it’s better than nothing if you consistently use it. Personally, I use a stick because it eliminates the grease and is so easy to apply on the go throughout the day.
Meet your new best friend, cotton gloves! You will wear these at night to let your products really absorb and wake up with fresh baby hands. They also feel nice and soft. (They also will prevent your dog from licking off your hand cream.) The ones I linked below are machine washable. I’ve been using them a few times before washing. I also cut the tips off a couple pairs so I could wear them during the day and type.
Washing dishes is one of the scenarios where we need to think about the cumulative impact on our hands. How often do you just quickly wash one dish with your bare hands? No more! Just wear the dishwashing gloves, it takes 2 seconds to put them on and it’s a more pleasant dishwashing experience.
More Recommendations
My top picks for hand soap, hand sanitizer, hand cream, treatment products, tools and more.
Hand Soap
I actually wrote an article for The Strategist about hand soap last year, so I’ve spoken to a lot of experts and been sent an extraordinary amount of soap to test. The jury is still out on the efficacy of antibacterial soap compared to regular soap and the FDA maintains that washing your hands for 60 seconds with any soap is the best way to prevent illness and disease. I still like to use it when I need extra assurance of a thorough cleanse, but these are my other standby soaps:
Prequel Gleanser Non-Drying Glycerin Cleanser: this is a hand and body wash that someone recommended to use as hand soap because it’s soooooo non-drying. It feels a little strange at first but it’s so so good. I keep this next to my antibacterial soap in my kitchen.
Mrs. Meyers: still my favorite affordable, easy to get brand.
D.S. & Durga Big Sur After Rain: It’s just the best to smell on your hands.
Diptyque Exfoliating Hand Wash: when I need something heavy duty/want my bathroom to look fancy for guests.
Hand Sanitizer
I also wrote a piece about hand sanitizer, which goes deeper into the science and regulations. Besides good ‘ol Purrell, the two I use the most:
Noshinku Pocket Hand Sanitizer: lives in every pocket and purse. My favorite is Limon.
Palma de Salus Hand Sanitizing Serum: this is like a moisturizing hand serum sanitizer, so it feels better, but it’s not like a quick sanitizer that completely evaporates. It’s in a nice looking pump, so I keep it by the front door.
Everyday Hand Cream
Nécessaire The Hand Cream: my beloved, my go-to $20 gift. It’s exactly what your everyday hand cream should be plus peptides.
Corn Huskers Lotion: Iowan corn farmers know what’s up. This one feels a little more instantly restorative, but I prefer the consistency and experience of Nécessaire.
Gold Bond Ultimate Healing Hand Cream: solid drugstore option.
A DM from a follower a few months ago.
Luxury Hand Cream
Specialty Hand Serums, Treatments and Masks
Prequel Hand Wrap: an upgraded version of Gloves in a Bottle, this is one of the best hand products I’ve used in recent memory. It forms a water-resistant shield on your hands that doesn’t disappear after washing. I try to use every morning before any other hand products. Work it in well, wait a minute and it will fully absorb.
Bioeffect Hand Serum: growth factors for your hands! Layer under any cream.
Soft Services Theraplush: has retinol, is worth the price for the stability and thoughtful packaging, designed to live on your bedside table so you actually use it.
Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream: My derm recommended this one & I loooove it. It’s super concentrated 40% glycerin and is pretty greasy, but you can use just a little dab on the back of your hands or slather it all over + cotton gloves at night. This one could be your everyday hand cream if you have a little patience. I don’t know what makes it Norwegian.
Fenty Hydra'Reset Intensive Recovery Glycerin Hand Mask: a rec from MSMMBI, I also really like this mask + cotton gloves overnight. It also features 40% glycerin, but a thick-lotion formula. It is scented, so I have been using my Neutrogena Norwegian instead.
Paume Hand Mask: unscented, comes in a huge pump, nice consistency.
Aveeno Repairing Hand Mask: a sheet mask for your hands!
Aveeno Baby Soothing Bath Soak: for severely compromised, dry, red, irritated hands.
Sun Protection
Any sunscreen will suffice, just use it. Preferably water-resistant.
Tools
Omnilux Hand LED Glove: it’s as good as I hoped! You can use any LED device, but this makes it so easy and it’s portable. I’m very pro buying thoughtfully designed things that encourage you to actually use regularly.
Nails
We can dive deeper into nails another time, but while we’re here…I leave both of these things in my coffee table drawer to encourage use.
Dior Apricot Cuticle Cream: the one and only sticky orange goop. Use the *tiniest* bit on each cuticle and give it a few minutes to absorb. Great opportunity for cotton gloves. Also an excellent gift.
Dr. Dana Nail Renewal System: works as promised, a total reset for nails, especially damaged ones. It’s so satisfying to use, even Alex likes it.
Office Hours Reminder
Join us for Office Hours on Sunday! This exclusive weekly opportunity is available to paying subscribers.
Every Sunday at 5pm EST, I’ll begin a new thread for the week in Substack Chat, where you can ask me anything. Every Monday from 5-6pm EST, I’ll be in that chat live, answering questions for the hour. That way, if you can’t make it, you can submit any time after 5pm Sunday and still get an answer. If you can make it live, join in! You can ask questions in real time and (hopefully) interact with others in class ;)
Discount Codes
Dermstore: JOLIE for 15% off (some exclusions but works on Bioeffect!)
Dr. Dana Nails: JOLIE15 for 15% off
Nécessaire: JOLIE10 for 10% off
Paume: JOLIE15 for 15% off
Sachi Skin: JOLIE20 for 20% off (I don’t link any Sachi in this issue, but this is an exclusive code that’s only active for a short time before it goes back to 15%!)
you can find all of my discount codes here
Have a great week!
xx,
Jolie