How to Protect Your Hands & Lips This Winter
It's always the same every year, the clock strikes midnight on the 1st December and you wake up with chapped lips, dry hands and no amount of hand cream or lip balm seems to do the trick. The dropping temperatures outside and constant central heating inside can cause havoc with your skin at the best of times, but the extremities of the hands and lips always seem to suffer the most.
We've shortlisted our favourite at-home products and treatments, plus our top tips, so you can combat dry, cracked hands and chapped, peeling lips this winter.
Top tip #1
The dropping temperatures means that the air becomes dryer, and the body cannot hold onto to moisture. The lack of moisture in the air causes dry skin and hands. Keep your hands protected with a pair of cosy and warm gloves.But don't just leave your gloves in the car for the mornings when the steering wheel is just too cold to touch. We recommend putting a pair of gloves on before you even leave the house!
Top tip #2
Washing your hands regularly can lead to dry hands as hot water and soap can wash away skin's natural oils. We recommend leaving a tube of hand cream right next to the sink to encourage you to apply a soothing and reparative cream straight after washing and drying your hands.If you are really struggling with dry and cracked hands, keep a tube in the car, at your desk and even in your handbag so you're never caught out. Read on for our product recommendations.
Top tip #3
Skin on the lips is thinner and therefore more delicate than anywhere else on the body. We are often all guilty of this one, but you must try to avoid picking, peeling or biting dry skin on your lips.Same with your hand cream, keep a few lip balms dotted around so you can keep your lips protected from the cold. Read on for product recommendations.
Hand creams
Taking care of your hands is essential at this time of year as dry hands can become cracked and sore if left untreated. We've shortlisted two of our favourite hand creams.
Cebelia Multi-Active Cream Hands and Nails
Cebelia Multi-Active Cream Hands and Nails provides immediate relief for dry, damaged hands and weak, split or cracked nails. Formulated with Natural sweet, almond oil, Vitamin A, Vitamin B, Allantoin and Glycerin, both hands and nails are nourished, strengthened and moisturised.
The gentle formula is suitable for daily use, delivering a powerful protective and repairing action.
VERSO Hand Serum
Slightly on the pricier side, but think of this as skincare for your hands! VERSO Hand Serum corrects and protects with Retinol 8 Complex, which is a stabilised Vitamin A complex and is eight times more effective than standard Retinol but with half the irritation.
This easily absorbed and instantly nourishing hand treatment contains UV filters and Turmeric Extract to protect skin from sunrays and prevent against premature ageing. Turmeric also delivers antioxidant effects.
Hand treatments
When a nourishing hand cream just isn't cutting it, treat your hands to a little TLC with one of these at-home hand treatments.
Skin Republic Nourishing Avocado Hand Mask
A sheet mask for your hands! Formulated with Avocado Oil, Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamins and plant extracts, this Rich, hydrating and nourishing hand treatment leaves hands moisturised and velvety-soft.
Plus the Skin Republic Nourishing Avocado Hand Mask is touch screen friendly so you can keep scrolling through social media or answering emails as you treat your hands. The good news is this hand mask is safe to use on natural nails, gel polish and extensions, so you can keep your festive manicure looking perfect.
Gaylia Kristensen Silk Luxury Hand Treatment 100ml
Hands can often be one of the first places to show signs of ageing, this intensive cream is more than just a hydrating hand moisturiser; it's a powerful, rapidly absorbing, anti-ageing and non-greasy treatment that protects the skin from environmental aggressors that cause premature signs of ageing.Amino acids and pure silk proteins hydrates and nourish the skin, combating dryness and softening cuticles. Hydrolysed Marine Collagen firms the skin to reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles, as well as strengthening the nails. The unique blend of botanicals, trehalose and vegetable proteins cleverly work to repair and prevent sun damage.
Lip hydration
Just like the rest of the skin on your face, your lips need hydration too to avoid becoming dry, cracked and uneven. Opt for a lip product packed with Hyaluronic Acid and other soothing and hydrating ingredients to ensure your lips are ready for the party season.
PCA Skin Hyaluronic Acid Lip Booster
Dramatically improve lip hydration with a combination of advanced peptides, hydrators and Ultra Filling Spheres, which work together to instantly hydrate, plump and boost lip volume.
Combat fine lines and wrinkles around the mouth area with powerful peptides that stimulate the production of collagen and various extracellular matrix proteins to increase lip volume and minimise the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
Ultra Filling Spheres made up of an advanced ingredient blend of Sodium Hyaluronate and Konjac Root to instantly hydrate and increase lip volume without irritation. Antioxidant-rich Vitamin E protects the skin cell membrane and fights free radical damage.
Image Skincare Ormedic Balancing Lip Enhancement Complex
Far more than a traditional lip balm, this ultra-hydrating and replenishing lip treatment contains a polypeptide complex alongside, avocado oil and Vitamin E, to instantly soothe dry lips and enhance the appearance and volume of the lip contours for naturally full lips.
The nourishing combination of avocado oil and Vitamin E delivers rich, natural moisture and a skin conditioning antioxidant for soft, hydrated and quenched lips. For a beautiful sheer pink tint, opt for Image Skincare Ormedic Sheer Pink Lip Enhancement Complex.
Lip treatments
If you are planning on sporting a bold lip this festive season, treat your lips to a pre-lipstick treatment to ensure your lips are soft, smooth and hydrated so your bold lip will last all day and all night long.
iS Clinical Lip Polish
Combat dry, dehydrated and flaky skin on the lips and achieve a healthy, glowing and plumped pout with a combination of Cocoa Butter, antioxidants and a natural sugar exfoliant.
This gentle exfoliating scrub is blended with rich botanical butters, natural sugar sucrose and powerful antioxidants Vitamins C and E to buff away dry, dead and flaky skin and reveal a soft, smooth texture.When used in combination with the iS Clinical Youth Lip Elixir, lips are plumped, smoothed and the lip contour is redefined. With regular use, lips are perfectly prepped for the application of lip makeup.
iS Clinical Youth Lip Elixir
Condition, hydrate and nourish lips with this intensely moisturising elixir. Rich in Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamins C, E, and B5, Shea and Cocoa Butter, and iS Clinical's proprietary combination of Extremozymes, this creme enhances, softens and plumps the overall appearance of the lips.
This nourishing creme complex hydrates, protects and redefines the lip contour for plumped and smooth lips. Enriched with Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamins C, E, and B5, Shea and Cocoa Butter, and iS Clinical's proprietary combination of Extremozymes, the Youth Lip Elixir delivers intense hydration that penetrates deep into skin to improve the appearance of dry and dehydrated lips.
Let us help you take care of your skin from top to toe! Speak to our skincare experts on 0113 282 7744, shop online or take our online skin test to receive personalised product recommendations direct to your inbox!
Written for you by: Alex, Face the Future
Image source: freepik.com
