How to start an anti-ageing routine for your hands

Beauty experts talk all the time about anti-aging skin care routines for the face and neck, but how often do we give hands the TLC they deserve? The thought of a hand care routine might sound a bit indulgent, but it makes sense when you consider that hands are one of the first spots to reveal your age. The first part of establishing an anti-ageing hand care routine? Recognising the huge role sun exposure plays in the ageing process.

According to experts, cumulative sun exposure over many years can lead to brown sun spots, irregular pigmentation, thinning of the skin and wrinkles. Regular sunscreen application can obviously protect you from sunburns and skin cancer, but it can also do a pretty solid job of shielding your hands from the ageing side effects of the sun. Sadly, though, hands can sometimes become an afterthought when you’re focused on covering the rest of your exposed body in SPF.

The hands are not protected as well as other areas of skin and are exposed daily to the sun. Ultraviolet radiation from the sun causes about 80 percent of the skin changes that are associated with ageing. Many people neglect the hands when they are applying sunscreen or the sunscreen gets washed off and is not reapplied.

You might not intentionally forget to protect your hands with sunscreen, but doing so clearly has cumulative ageing effects. Sun exposure is responsible for its fair share of ageing, but UV rays aren’t the only reason your hands might be looking a bit less youthful.

Hands are exposed to wind, rain, work, sun and water, and as a result they age faster than other areas of the body. Routine daily habits like frequent hand washing, doing the dishes, cleaning with certain chemicals and forgetting to apply hand cream can seriously dry out your hands — and set the stage for ageing later on.

Certain medications, medical conditions or hereditary factors can also be responsible for thinning skin on your hands. And let’s not forget one of the most obvious causes of ageing hands: ageing itself. As you age, the elasticity of the skin on your hands as well as the abundance of collagen begins to dissipate, making the skin on your hands look and feel more fragile.

Just like the skin on our face and neck, the skin on the back of our hands has its own unique set of needs. And when you think about it, you use your hands for just about everything — cooking, cleaning, typing, exercising, etc. Start an anti-ageing routine for your hands today by trying the new hand and décolletage range from Matsimela and give your hands a bit of extra TLC.