At times such as this with pandemic just climbing to the peak behind your windows we definitely do one thing more than anything else: washing our hands. Soaping, lathering, rubbing, scrubbing, brushing and all the hot water inevitably lead to us having dry hands. Also being a makeup artist sanitation is key to your job safety so using a lot of alcohols and hand sanitizers with high alcohol content on your hands is inevitable which only affects your skin even worse.
Having dry hands with the sandpaper feel and all the micro cracks is one of the most unpleasant sensations and I’d love to share a few tips on what I do to keep my hands moisturized.
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First of all start using hand/body lotion. I mean constantly! My favorite one is from Neutrogena and it brings relief and heals your skin just after a couple days of using it, it also completely absorbs into your skin after a minute or so without leaving any stickiness or oily feel which is just perfect if you’re a makeup artist. I also absolutely love Weleda’s Skin Food and most of makeup artists I know have it handy in their kits already, the only downside to it is that because it has so many natural oils in it your hands would have a bit more of a slip so I’d recommend tissuing the excess off after a minute or two. To actually help you’ll need to use it every single time after you wash/sanitize your hands with alcohol so essentially the best way is to store a bottle of lotion right next to your soap and a small one I your purse.
Secondly, invest in some hand masks. The market right now has a ton of options and my favorite one has avocado oil in it, a lot of them have keratin and/or paraffin in them and that helps the feeling of your hands being moisturized really last. They’re very simple one-use hand masks soaked with serum on the inside and you put them on for 20-30 minutes and the difference you feel after is unbelievable. I tend to use those once or twice a week.
In case the idea of going through single-use hand-masks drives you crazy you can also go for my personal favorite tip because it’s one of the most natural and long lasting tricks. Invest in a few pairs of white cotton gloves. Why a few you might ask? I like keeping mine clean so after using them once I put them in the wash. Before going to bed I just love using some rich shea butter mixed with a little bit of Vaseline that creates a protective film on your skin and lets it recover and also feel free to use any of your favorite rich moisturizers like Weleda’s Skin Food or Aquaphor or hand cream from Neutrogena is also great, put the gloves on and go straight to sleep because you won’t be able to swipe and like anymore. Leave it for the night and you’ll be awakened to the most silky smooth feeling hands. Doing it for an hour or two while watching your favorite show would also do the trick. If you do it even every other day you won’t have the need to use as much hand lotion as you used to.
And my final tip is either go do a paraffin manicure (please check with your salon if they provide the service because it’s quite rare) or invest into your own paraffin melting device, it can be an investment (they run deals on those quite often) and it definitely has the most long-lasting effect comparing to anything else. It is a bit time consuming (mostly on the part of waiting for the paraffin to melt) but whenever you’ve got a day off or maybe just an evening off that can definitely be done really easily!
How to do a paraffin bath for your hands at home you ask?
The paraffin melter I have usually takes a couple hours to melt the paraffin so I would turn it on on the “melt” and set the timer, you want to make sure that it’s on a firm heat-proof surface so never set it on your bed or couch. After that you don’t want to use the paraffin straight away, you want to let it cool off just a bit so I change the setting to “warm” for at least 20 minutes and up to 40, you want to test the paraffin’s temperature before using.
When you feel comfortable with the temperature I would start with washing my hands and applying a hand moisturizer, you can definitely use a bit more than you’d normally would because your skin would absorb it with the help of the heat.
Next you want to start layering the paraffin. You want to hold your fingers slightly spread out and be careful not to touch the bottom of the basin because it’s the hottest part. You dip your hand in and then take it out and let paraffin set for 30-40 seconds, I recommend doing 7-8 layers. Then we want to preserve the heat as long as possible so I’d usually use a pair of plastic gloves (some melters come with those but a small plastic bag would do as well). Be careful not to move your fingers too much because it would cause the paraffin to break and we don’t want it just yet. After that I wrap my hands into a big towel and watch a program/listen to music etc. You can’t really do much with your both hands being covered in paraffin and wrapped up so enjoy some relaxing activities, you can try meditating finally!
I like to leave the paraffin on for as long as it stays warm which is about 30-ish minutes and it’s really easy to take the paraffin off, it pretty much comes off as a glove.
I remember the first time I did it as a part of a manicure procedure I just couldn’t believe how soft my hands felt and the feeling stays with you for quite a bit. In the photos with the hand comparison the top hand has just had a paraffin bath so you can see for yourself that the difference is very significant.
I have a list of all my favorites for had care attached here for anyone to get inspired or maybe try something right here.
Stay safe, positive and please do wash and sanitize your hands as often as possible!
Photos: Jay Mathews, Evie Ry
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