This winter has taken a beating on my hands. You know it’s bad when you’re putting on your panty hose and your skin, not your nails, but your skin is snagging the hose!
Poor, little, reptile hands. *sigh*
So I challenged myself to remedy this. It’s not rocket science. Rough, dry skin needs exfoliation, hydration and discipline! The third being the hardest, of course.
Every day, twice a day, for ten days, I determined myself to exfoliate my hands with this scrub:
And then I’d follow up with this creme:
As a hairstylist whose hands are regularly either in 1) water or 2) wet hair, for years now I’ve appreciated that when I use Extreme Repair Hand Creme, it doesn’t feel washed off after one or two times at the sink. (Who has time to reapply all day long?)
After ten days, I’ve seen a pleasant improvement. Brian agrees that my hands are smoother and I’m just happy that they’re now in soft enough condition to not be snagging my clothing! And Bennett can’t talk yet, but I’ll bet he appreciates having a human hand caressing his cheek instead of ol’ crocodile paws.
Now, I’m fully aware that the results don’t look as dramatic as they feel, but I thought it was worth posting some Before & After pics to prove that I’m an average human being with average skin issues and that I’m not making up the challenge or exaggerating the results.
Before:
It’s a bit hard to tell, but on the side of the right index finger, you can 1) see some of the skin’s white scaliness, the middle finger next to it shows 2) some roughness in the top left corner and overall the skin just looks 3) tight, irritated and painful. Unfortunately, I bent my index fingernail backward two days ago and have had to keep it bandaged so as not to make it worse. (It actually bled!) But 1) that side is now much smoother, 2) the edges around the nail beds of all of my fingers seem tidier and 3) my skin seems to have more of a hydrated, less prickly appearance.
After:
Obviously I could have filed my nails and nipped any excess cuticle to make the After picture more attractive, but I feel like the results would have looked falsely enhanced that way. I’m gonna keep being a good girl and I expect this to just continue getting better! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to even out my fingernails.
It is so clear with one look, we are working women who exemplify our desire to wash hands with great consistency.
I know how you feel. I wash my hands sooooo much at work and almost the same at home. I guess that’s a good thing but it does a number on my hands. So bad that the skin cracks open in random spots. Owie!