It's impossible to get used to dry, rough hands – however, if you wash your hands often and use disinfectant gels, you may struggle with this problem all year round. Hand cream alone is often not enough to effectively moisturize them. Dry skin needs regeneration, but not necessarily in a beauty salon – home remedies for dry, rough hands are equally good, especially since you probably have most of the necessary ingredients in the kitchen.
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Dry, rough hands may be a sign of a skin disease, for example atopic dermatitis, dermatological ailments, kidney or thyroid problems, and may also indicate a deficiency of certain vitamins, e.g. vitamin A, the presence of which is necessary for the regeneration of the epidermis.
However, skin dryness usually occurs as a result of external factors: frost, dry air in the room, strong detergents, water – and recently also, due to the coronavirus pandemic, due to the need to frequently wash and disinfect hands.
The skin of the hands is deprived of the natural protection that e.g. facial skin has, i.e. layers of sebum. Therefore, it loses moisture relatively quickly, becomes rough, begins to crack and burns.
Methods for dry, rough hands are worth using all year round – alone or as a support for cosmetics, especially hand creams. Which home hand care methods are the most effective?
Regenerating honey mask
This is the simplest and fastest way to treat dry, rough hands. Honey has regenerating and softening properties and is also excellently moisturizing. Preparing the mask takes literally a moment: simply apply honey gently to the skin of your hands (e.g. using a food brush), rub it in, leave it for 10 minutes, and then rinse it off. Honey that is slightly crystallized is best for such a mask because it does not run off your hands.
A moisturizing scrub with sugar and olive oil
If you have olive oil at home, after adding a bit of sugar, you can prepare an excellent homemade scrub with a light moisturizing effect. The peeling will remove dead skin cells, and the olive oil will moisturize and lubricate the skin – the skin of your hands will instantly look much better than before.
Preparing the scrub will take you a while: just add a tablespoon of sugar to 5 ml of olive oil (a portion equal to a teaspoon), then mix it and rub the mixture into the skin of your hands for several seconds, leave it for a while and gently wash it off with warm water.
Calendula bath regenerating hands
A herbal bath will also be very beneficial for dry, rough skin on your hands. A herb worth using is calendula, which has very good regenerative and anti-inflammatory properties. Calendula extract is used in ointments and creams for skin inflammation, as well as in preparations that accelerate wound healing and in moisturizing cosmetics.
Bathing in calendula decoction will accelerate the regeneration of the epidermis and reduce dry hands. The decoction prepared according to the instructions on the package should cool slightly and then immerse your hands in still quite warm water for 10 minutes.
Egg, potato and cream mask
Dry, rough hands can also be regenerated with a mask made from ingredients that everyone usually has at home – egg, potato and cream. Peel and cook a large potato, then crush it into a paste, mix with an egg and a spoonful of thick cream (to obtain a fairly thick consistency). Apply this paste to the back of your hands, wrap it in cling film, and after fifteen minutes, wash off the mask with warm water.
Linseed compress for irritation
Linseed, or flax seeds, are a valuable source of omega-3 acids, which are also important for the skin. Bathing in linseed is a great way to soothe irritated body skin, while the compress will effectively moisturize and regenerate the skin on your hands and will also speed up the healing of mornings.
You can prepare linseed jelly by boiling a few tablespoons of seeds in a small amount of water for a few minutes until you feel it thicken while stirring. Then remove it from the heat, put it in a bowl, and when it cools down, dip your hands in it for a quarter of an hour – if the jelly thickens too much, you can add a small amount of water.
Moisturizing coconut oil mask
At room temperature, coconut oil is white, opaque and has the consistency of hard butter. It is rich in valuable fatty acids, and the coconut oil mask moisturizes and regenerates the hands just a few minutes after application, leaving the skin soft and smooth. However, under the influence of the heat of your hands, this oil will immediately start to melt, so it is best to put on foil gloves immediately after applying it.
Smoothing mask with egg yolk and olive oil
If your hands are dry and rough, it is also worth using a mask made from egg yolk (a source of zinc and vitamin A) and olive oil (rich in unsaturated fatty acids). The recipe is also very simple: just mix the yolk with a small amount of slightly heated olive oil (a spoon or two is enough, depending on whether the mask is to be thinner or thicker).
Apply the mask to the backs of your hands, then wrap them with kitchen foil and additionally – to enhance the regeneration effect – with a heated towel.
