Melanie Lampro

Our hands put up with an awful lot. Washing, cleaning, weather, gardening, cooking, carrying shopping, opening boxes, tapping away at keyboards and phones. Most of the time we don’t give them much thought until they start feeling dry, rough or sore.

A bit of regular hand care doesn’t need to be complicated. A decent wash, some moisturiser and the occasional bit of extra attention will usually do the job.

And after the amount of handwashing most of us did during that year, I think we all learned rather more about dry hands than we ever expected to.

Start with the washing

Handwashing is obviously non-negotiable, but some soaps can leave your hands feeling stripped and tight, especially if you’re washing them a lot.

I prefer something that cleans properly without making my hands feel as though they need rescuing immediately afterwards.

ALL IN HAND from TEMPLESPA is a lovely option for everyday use.

Give dry hands a scrub now and then

If your hands are feeling rough or flaky, a little exfoliation can help shift the dry bits and leave them feeling much smoother.

You don’t need to scrub them to death. Once a week, or simply when they feel as though they need it, is plenty.

Or make your own

If you haven’t got a scrub to hand, sugar and olive oil will do the job perfectly well.

You’ll need:

• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of olive oil

Mix them together into a grainy paste, massage it gently over your hands and then rinse with warm water.

The sugar does the scrubbing and the olive oil stops the whole thing feeling too harsh.

I sometimes find this easier to use because of my fibro. I can make as little as I need, control the texture and use very little pressure.

If I want a ready-made product version, SUGAR BUFF from TEMPLESPA is the one I normally reach for.

Hand cream. Lots of it.

This is the bit that makes the biggest difference for me.

Keep a hand cream somewhere you’ll actually use it. Beside the bed, next to the sink, on your desk, in your handbag. There’s no point owning a lovely hand cream if it spends six months hiding in a bathroom cupboard.

PALM BALM from TEMPLESPA is my everyday choice here.

Don’t forget your nails and cuticles

Dry hands often come with dry cuticles too, so it’s worth giving those a bit of attention while you’re there.

A small amount of oil or serum massaged around the nail and cuticle area is enough. You don’t need to turn it into a twenty-minute ritual unless you particularly want to.

FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH from TEMPLESPA is made for exactly this.

A hand massage is rather nice too

Use a bit of hand cream and take a couple of minutes over it.

Hand massage images courtesy of TEMPLESPA.

1. Spread the cream

Rub your hands together and spread the cream over them using long, upward movements.

2. Work around the heel of the hand

Use your thumb to massage the heel of each hand, just above the wrist, using small circular movements.

3. Massage the palm

Move up towards the area just below your fingers and use little circles to work across the palm and around the joints.

4. Give each finger some attention

Massage each finger from the base towards the tip, giving it a very gentle pull as you go.

5. Finish with long strokes

Finish with long, gentle movements from your fingertips back over your hands towards your wrists.

And that’s it. It takes a couple of minutes, gets the hand cream properly worked in and feels particularly lovely before bed.

And what about when you’re out?

I used to love TEMPLESPA’s hand sanitiser, ALL CLEAN, for keeping in my bag, but unfortunately it hasn’t been available for some time.

I still live in hope of it coming back because it was genuinely brilliant. It even had a little spalebrity moment when Nicole Scherzinger mentioned loving it back when it was called TAKE A GRIP.

In the meantime, the best replacement I’ve found is Aesop Resurrection Rinse-Free Hand Wash. It’s made for exactly the same sort of situation, when you want to clean your hands but there’s no sink handy, and it comes in a properly handbag-friendly size.

It’s not ALL CLEAN, and I’m still allowed to sulk about that, but it’s a very decent substitute.

A few things that actually help

• Keep hand cream beside the bed and use it before you go to sleep.
• Keep another one somewhere you spend a lot of time, such as your desk or sofa.
• Wear gloves when it’s cold or when you’re doing jobs that are hard on your hands.
• Give rough hands a scrub occasionally rather than waiting until they’re really dry.
• Don’t forget the cuticles.

That’s really all there is to it

Hand care doesn’t need six steps every night or a special Sunday ritual.

Wash them without stripping them, moisturise them regularly, sort out the dry bits when they appear and give your nails and cuticles a little attention while you’re at it.

Your hands do enough work. They’re allowed a decent hand cream.

Discover more about the TEMPLESPA products featured in this blog post. Visit my Personal TEMPLESPA Website or use the links below.

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FEATURED TEMPLESPA PRODUCTS

This list is provided for reference. Your ideal routine may include only a small selection of these products, depending on your skin, lifestyle, and tolerance.