10 Essential Steps For Soft, Sleek And Beautiful Hands

Last updated on : November 25 2021

Everyone wishes for dreamlike, soft, sleek hands with the perfect trim and coat. However, most of us only end up with patchy, wrinkled hands with rough nails.  

Even the prettiest of rings fail to create any significant appeal if our hands look unappealing.  

Interestingly, getting fairy tale hands does not take much rocket science. All you need is to educate yourself about the science behind hand and nail care. 

This quick 10 step guide will help you crack the secret recipe of getting perfect soft, sleek, and beautiful hands. 

1. Rule Out Medical Reasons

In most cases, the root cause of unappealing hands or poor skin texture lies in hygiene or cosmetic factors. 

However, many people take up at least basic measures such as washing and moisturizing. But end up still having rough hands because of dermatological reasons such as eczema, Psoriasis, or other allergies. 

Since hand care may require you to use products loaded with different ingredients that your skin might react to, if you suffer from rough hands, you must start by seeing a dermatologist and rule out any underlying medical conditions or allergies.

Your doctor will run some tests and will check you for allergies and other relevant issues. If a medical condition is detected, he might prescribe you some medicines or even medicated soaps, moisturizers, and other products. 

In that case, follow your doctor's advice and only use products recommended by your physician. 

2. The Basic Lifeline 

Once your medical diagnosis is sorted, it is time to jump on the remedy bandwagon.  

All skincare experts will tell you that drinking adequate water is essential for youthful skin. Being adequately hydrated is true for your facial skin and your hands, feet, and overall body skin. 

Dermatologists recommend drinking at least 3 liters of water in 24 hours for healthy skin. If you are living in a hot and humid climate, your water intake should be even more. 

You can also add detox water and Vitamin C-based juices for much better and quicker results. 

3. Wash Your Hands The Right Way 

The global pandemic has ensured that people maintain hand hygiene and wash them often to keep them clean. However, your general hand wash ritual takes care of the hygiene part, not the beauty part. 

Using the wrong products and washing your hands the wrong way can do more harm than good. It would be best to use a suitable gentle hand wash that is not too harsh on your skin.  

When buying a hand wash, pay attention to ingredients in case you are allergic to the formulation. If your doctor has already prescribed you a medicated soap for any skin condition, stick to your doctor's advice.  

Do not scrub your hands too harshly. Massage gently for a few minutes and rinse thoroughly. 

Many people tend to wash their hands with dishwashing soap while working in the kitchen to save time. But dishwashing soap can cause irreparable damage to your skin because these cleaning agents are loaded with harsh chemicals.  

Place an additional hand wash on your kitchen sink if you do not want to rush to your bathroom for a quick hand wash.

After hand wash, use a soft towel to gently pat dry your hands. Do not scrub your hands with a towel. Unless very necessary, try avoiding hot-air dryers to dry your hands.

4. Moisturize Generously 

While washing your hands is great for keeping them clean, it also ends up taking away your skin's natural oils in the process. As a result, you end up with dry and wrinkled hands. 

Likewise, if you live in dry climatic conditions, your hands are likely to have dry skin. Please make sure you always carry a moisturizer or a hand cream and apply it after every hand wash.  

If the weather is dry, keep applying it every few hours even if you have not washed your hands. If your hands are already parched or are exposed to dry conditions, use a moisturizer with a rich formula. 

Body butter works excellent for dehydrated skins. Alternatively, moisturizers containing glycerin, Aloe Vera, and Shea butter are also effective healing dry skin. 

Some people end up getting eczema and rashes because of dryness. In that case, coconut oil and jojoba oil are very effective in healing your skin.

5. Sun Protection

Just the way your face is at risk of UV rays, the same stands true for your hands. Unprotected exposure to sunlight can damage your skin.

Keep applying good sunscreen every two to three hours for the best protection. Ideally, use a sunscreen with a minimum SPF 50 with a PA+++ specification for the highest sunburn protection.  

6. Avoid Contact With Harsh Chemicals

Many of us are very hands-on with household chores. We usually handle cleaning agents such as dishwashing soaps, detergents, surface cleaners, bleaches, and other harsh acidic cleaning agents.  

When these cleaning agents come into direct contact with your skin, they can cause irreparable damage. 

When handling such chemicals, a pair of non-permeable silicone gloves are always your best friend. Make sure to wear gloves when working to protect both your hands and nails.

7. Avoid Biting Your Fingers And Nails

As unusual as it might sound, finger biting is a widespread habit. 

A lot of people tend to bite their fingers unknowingly while working or when under stress or anxiety. 

When you bite your fingers, your hands contact the enzymes in your saliva that are meant to break down your food. What breaks down your food can also break down your skin, and the result is ugly-looking fingers, often with bruised or discolored skin. 

Be very cautious if you have a finger-biting or nail-biting habit and avoid it altogether. See a therapist if you have severe anxiety or stress-related issues. 

8. Embrace Short Nails

Thanks to the beauty industry, people have always romanticized long nails. Long nails are often associated with a symbol of sensual beauty.  

Since most people find it hard to keep and maintain long nails, nail extensions such as acrylics have been a massive rage for quite some time. 

Salons and spas are full of clients getting acrylics and other extensions done and redone every few weeks. 

Unfortunately, extensions are temporary and require fixing every few days. Moreover, getting these extensions means applying glue and adhesives on your nails and then scraping and reapplying every time you get new ones.  

It is a myth that your hands will not look appealing if your nails are not of a certain length. The beauty of your hands is about how healthy and smooth your skin and nails are, not only about their size. 

Learn to embracer shorter nails. If you are into polish or nail art, you can still find many ideas for short nail designs over the internet. Shorter nails are not only hygienic but also easier and more economical to maintain.  

9. Avoid 'Over' Manicuring

Undoubtedly, well-trimmed, nicely shaped, and glossy nails look very appealing, and usually, a good manicure is the only way to get that result. 

However, many people are too rough on their nail beds and scrape off their cuticles to make their nails and fingers look sleeker.  

Cuticles are nature's safety mechanism for not letting dirt and pollutants settle into your nail bed. When you scrape off your cuticles, you eventually expose your nails to all kinds of contaminants that are not good for your nail health.  

Therefore, you need to push your cuticles to the back only slightly instead of eliminating them. 

Some salon service providers do go rough with the cuticles to impress the clients with the results. If you are getting a professional manicure, make sure to let the manicurist know that you do not want to have your cuticles touched. 

Ideally, keep a manicure kit at home and trim and file regularly yourself. You will do a massive favor to both your nails and your pocket. 

10. Buff Over Polish

Nail freaks generally swoon over getting their nails polished and then sporting them.  

For some people, a new polish is a mood lifter, and therefore they keep getting their nails polished and repolished too often. 

Polishing undoubtedly adds shine and color to your hands. However, there is a catch to it. Nail enamels are formulated using harsh chemicals. Moreover, polish removers have potent acid-based agents which are harmful to your nail health. 

Every time you get a new polish done, you are exposing your nails to all these agents, which will harm your nail health in the long run.

Interestingly, you can save yourself from all those chemicals and still get your nails to shine naturally by buffing them. Nail buffing blocks are now readily available in the market and are very economically priced.  

A regular nail buffing regime will give your nails a natural shine without any polish. That being said, if you wish to use color by all means, then invest in high-end enamels and removers only, such as OPI or Essie, which have more nail-friendly formulations.

Conclusion

If you're after soft, sleek, and beautiful hands, then try our 10 step guide. It will help you remedy any hand and nail conditions you might suffer from today get you practicing the best habits onwards.   

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