Beauty Column Charlotte Vivien
How to take care of your hands in 3 easy steps!
We have been washing and sanitising our hands a lot in the last few months. This can cause havoc to our skin and nails.
We all know how important it is to keep them clean to avoid spreading the virus, but we also have to make sure not to damage the natural protective barrier on our skin (Hydrolipidic film). You may have already noticed your skin being dryer and flakier.
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
The importance of keeping your skin healthy is not just important for cosmetic reasons but also for functional reasons.
The hydrolipidic film is found on the skin’s surface, it acts as a barrier, participating in exchanges between the skin and the outer environment. It consists of an emulsion of water (hydro) and fat (lipos). Its main function is to be an external barrier and defend the body against aggressions (virus, bacteria, UV rays…)
One of the functions of the hydrolipidic film is to repel foreign bodies. It also helps maintain the skin’s suppleness. Thanks to the presence of mildly acidic components, it creates a hostile environment to bacteria.
The other important element of your skin is the intercellular cement found in between each skin cell.
Photo: Canva
To protect you further from potential infection by a virus or bacteria through damaged skin, you should start taking care of your hands now more than you did before.
The three steps I recommend are the following:
1. Swap your hand wash with a cold processed soap
You can find them in many artisan stores and markets. The beauty of cold processed soap lies in the extra oil they add to the soap to not only clean your hands but maintain that delicate fatty layer of your skin.
2. Exfoliate
When your skin gets dry you accumulate dead skin cells. If you apply any skin treatment on top of dead skin cells, they will not penetrate the deeper layers of the epidermis. There is no need to buy an expensive scrub. Mix some Himalayan salt with some organic coconut oil and rub all over your hands then rinse off. A great two in one treatment, no dead skin cells and lovely hydrated skin.
3. Moisturise
There is often the misconception that we moisturise from the outside in, in fact we moisturise from the inside out. We just need to maintain the water in the cells of the skin. To reinforce this barrier, we need to provide the skin with the fatty acids it needs to boost its ability to maintain moisture in.
Many hand creams you will find in stores will make your skin feel fabulous as soon as you apply it, but before you know it you have to reapply 6 or 7 times throughout a day, if not more. Your skin has now become reliant on that cream. This happens frequently with silicone or paraffine based creams. Their role is to create an artificial barrier on the top of the skin, but sadly not help the skin heal its own natural barrier. They may also contain fragrances that can irritate the skin.
To really help your skin use oils and butters that will replenish the skin with fatty acids. Look for natural organic hand balms that have oils, butter and waxes. They will be your saviour!
Look for products containing any of the following ingredients: Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Mango Butter, Hemp seed oil and Beeswax just to name a few. The quality of the results depends on the quality of the ingredients, always choose organic!
Massage into the cuticles to promote healthy strong nails as the alcohol in the hand sanitizers fry out the nails. A great oil for nails is Organic castor oil, a gentle massage of the nail bed will really help to strengthen them.
Tip:
Look at the ingredients on your hand cream, if it contains ingredients that finish in -one (dimethicone) or -ane (cyclopentasiloxane) they are silicones and to be avoided. The other one is Paraffin, it is a by-product of the petrochemical industry with a potentially negative effect on the environment.
About the author:
Charlotte is a specialist in organic dermo-cosmetics and Co-Founder of M&O Naturel. Formally she was a midwife. She is a bi national Swiss/ British citizen and lives in the French speaking part of Switzerland with her husband of Caribbean origins. Her skin-care creation was inspired by her son who suffered from eczema. After failing to find a suitable and natural product Charlotte decided to test various formulations using oils and butters. The eczema fully healed within 3 months. After this success she decided to retrain in organic cosmetic formulations. In 2014 she launched her own skincare range with co-founder and husband Dennis. The goal of M&O Naturel is to create products to help people achieve healthier skins using the best natural organic ingredients. www.monaturel.ch , www.moncosmetics.net (blog) www.instagram.com/monaturel
