Most women spend time caring for their facial skin, but often neglect their hands to a great extent. Even having decorated or polished nails won’t cover up hands that are wrinkled and old looking. And since the state of our hands can give away our age to some extent, anyone who wants to look younger should give their hands some TLC.

Here are some tips to keep your hands happy

• Wear cotton gloves outside if you are working in the garden or mowing.
• Wear rubber gloves while washing up and when using harsh chemicals for cleaning.
• Don’t put your hands in really hot or icy cold water as this will turn them red and the hot water will take all the natural oils out of them.
• Wear sunscreen on the backs of your hands – and lower arms – when driving for long periods. Don’t put it on your palms as it can make your hands slippery. You can also wear fingerless gloves while driving to protect your hands from sun damage.

• Smooth in moisturizer each night. If your hands are very dry, put on extra and wear soft cotton gloves to bed. Make sure you massage it into your fingers, nails and cuticles
• Never bite your nails or your cuticles.
• If the skin on your hands seems to be getting loose, exfoliating it can help to tighten it up and increase the silky smooth feeling. Make sure the scrub is oil-based if you don’t want dry hands.
• Apply moisturiser after your bath or shower as this is when it will penetrate best and lock in the moisture.
• Dark spots and freckles on the backs of your hands are caused by sun damage. These can be treated to fade them away so your hands look younger.
• Get a manicure every so often to ensure your nails are as pretty and healthy as possible
• Some people get injections into the back of their hands to plump them up and restore that youthful look.
• Add a small amount of liquid foundation to a somewhat larger amount of hand cream to disguise spots and veins on the backs of your hands.
• Give your hands a massage with olive oil using small circular motions.
• Have a good diet to ensure overall health.
• Drink plenty of water especially in the summer, to make sure you don’t dehydrate as this too, can cause wrinkles.

Usually, any face cream can be used on the hands to good effect, but especially the cream meant for the delicate area under the eyes. The backs of your hands especially have thin skin and are more prone to damage as it is more exposed than your palms.