Our hands get chapped, scratched, and burned—they’re constantly at work. Yet most women want soft, delicate hands.
So how do we take care of them? Wash your hands with warm water; it opens pores and helps cleanse the skin. To maintain skin elasticity, apply a hand cream as often as possible. While applying it, massage from the tips of your fingers up to your elbows. Clench your fingers into fists and rotate your wrists a few times in each direction. That improves circulation and relieves fatigue.
What about cracked skin? At least once a day, soak your hands in a bath of whey or buttermilk. If the cracks are deep, soak your hands in a starch solution (one tablespoon per liter of water), then rinse with warm water and apply glycerin. At night, wear cotton gloves. Potato cooking water can whiten and soften the skin, so save it and soak your hands in it for 10–15 minutes in the evening.
Treat even minor scratches right away: apply hydrogen peroxide or an antiseptic, bandage the wound, and wear a finger cot if you continue with household chores.
One more reminder: take care of your hands. When taking something out of the oven, don’t rush—put on oven mitts, because burns, especially those that blister, take a long time to heal. If you get burned, apply sunflower oil or a slice of raw potato immediately to the affected area. Wear rubber gloves when painting your nails. If you’re working in the garden or handling plant debris, protect your hands. Follow these steps and your skin will retain firmness and elasticity.
Hands look beautiful when the nails are well-groomed.
A manicure, done weekly, takes no more than 15 minutes. You can easily fit it into your schedule while watching TV. Gather everything you need: a bowl of warm soapy water, a towel, a nail file, clippers, a wooden stick with a tapered end, nourishing cream, nail polish remover, and nail polish. Remove the old polish. Soak your hand in warm water for a few minutes. Trim your nails carefully with clippers, then gently trim the skin around them. Shape your nails with a file and apply cream to the skin around your nails.
Apply two coats of nail polish. Ideally it should match your lipstick; if not, choose soft pastel shades. Bright polish isn’t recommended for wide, short nails; soft pink is a better choice. Red polish with sparkles looks stunning on long, well-shaped nails.
Women often ask how to keep their nails from becoming brittle. Soak them in warm sunflower or olive oil with a few drops of lemon juice to strengthen them. Apply oil solutions of vitamins A and D to your nails. Our grandmothers used another method—wax thimbles: they melted wax, dipped their fingertips into it, and slept with it on. In the morning they removed it.
We hope these tips help strengthen your nails. If your nails are naturally soft, keep them neat and short.
