Cold Weather Hand Care - By Sue Bannon
The winter season can be rough on your entire body. Your hair is dry, crackling, and full of static. Your skin is dry, itchy, and flaking. Plus, your nails can become brittle, crack and peel. The dry air in the winter months literally sucks the moisture from your body which really puts a damper on your beauty routines. However, your nails don’t have to take the brunt of it if you take proper care.
The lack of moisture in the winter air is the main cause of dry, brittle nails in the colder months. The warm air in the summer months holds more moisture than the cold air in the winter, that cold, dry air seeps into your home every time you open or close the door which in turn causes you to crank up the heat. However, the warm air added by the heater doesn’t do anything to affect the humidity levels. In turn it leads to a whole lot of dry skin, brittle nails, and staticky hair.
A few helpful tips, not just for the colder months:
- Use hand lotion at least three times per day, but it would be better to slather it on after each hand washing that gets done throughout the day.
- Consider wearing rubber gloves while doing the dishes. Dish soap is quite harsh and cuts grease on the dishes so in turn it’s removing the natural oils from your skin.
- Use a thicker hand cream at night. This thick cream will seal in the moisture while you’re sleeping. Some people like to wear gloves that keep the moisture in, but if you can’t sleep in gloves, like me, a thick heavy cream will do.
- Use cuticle oil at least one time per day. Putting it on once in the morning and then again at bedtime is best. The oil will keep your cuticles from turning into a chewed-up raggedy mess. No specific cuticle oil in the house, a dab of olive oil works just great!
- Keep your nails a little shorter in the winter months. Having longer nails will lead to more snags and breaks since they will already be a little more brittle than usual.
Happy healing, and Happy WINTER WONDERLAND!
