How To Stop Your Hands Ageing Before Their Time
Like necks, ageing hands have a way of creeping up on you. Seemingly from one day to the next, age spots start appearing and veins pop out in a way previously only seen on your grandmother. If you wonder why this happens when your face still seems to be doing fine, the answer is straightforward. You very likely have been looking after the latter with decent moisturisers, non-stripping cleansers and daily sunscreen, while leaving your hands to fend for themselves bar the odd lick of hand cream. I always think the difference that has probably caused in terms of crepiness, pigmentation and lines on the backs of your hands versus your cheeks is actually a great way to prove that consistent skincare actually works.
So, whether like me you’re already being confronted with your negligence or whether you want to significantly delay the sight of your own ageing hands (so you’re not tempted to wear those silly gloves like Madonna), I’ve listed the skincare and skin tweakment-based strategies that’ll go far to fix things.
Kind Cleansers
Unless you’re a medic or there’s a pandemic, you don’t need to wash your hands with soap, alcohol, bactericides or skin barrier-stripping detergent washes. All not only cause instant tightness, they break down the skin’s natural lipid barrier over time, making hands consistently more prone to dryness, irritation, and speed-up signs of ageing.
Always reach for a non-SLS hand wash, although some are more stripping than others. Hand washes that claim to be natural or organic can, in my experience, be as drying as any wash, so are no shortcut for finding a mild one. Hydrating or dry skin hand washes are a better bet for the most nourishing options. Here are some of my favourites:
Face-Worthy Hand Care
If you have a hand cream that you love enough to use it all the time, change nothing – consistency really is the key to slow-ageing skin. But if you want to trade up to a product that will tackle signs of ageing to boot, you now have a lot of good options. Here are some of my favourites:
The No-Grease Hand Plumper
EGF Hand Serum, £39 | Bioeffect
Not only is this serum weightless (ideal if, like me, the reason you don’t use hand cream is because you can’t bear the feeling on your hands), it could double as a face serum. Featuring epidermal growth factor, niacinamide and ceramides, it restores the skin barrier, plumps and fades hyperpigmentation without any irritation.
Visit LookFantastic.com
The Age-Busting Hand Hack
Anti Ageing Super Hydrator, £18.99 | Hada Labo Tokyo
I’ve used this as my hand serum for years, even though it’s not necessarily meant as one. A water-light serum that leaves skin silky, it immediately plumps and comforts thanks to collagen (an effective hydrator) and works on signs of ageing with retinyl palmitate, a gentle retinoid. For a huge 150ml bottle of serum, it’s a real steal.
Available at Superdrug.com
The Hand-Saving Steal
UV Protect Hand Cream, £9.99 | E45
Lightweight, fragrance-free and easily absorbed, this has a proper broad-spectrum SPF plus antioxidant vitamin E for effective UV protection, which is and remains skin ager No1. At this price, you couldn’t do much better.
Available at Superdrug.com
The Classic Treat
Ginger Hand & Body Lotion, From £19.50 | Origins
I favour fragrance-free products for my reactive skin, but I’ve always loved Origins’ Ginger hand lotion for its fast absorbency and bright, juicy, instantly uplifting scent. Now in a new pale green bottle and marketed for the hands as well as the body (and why not, but I will keep it by the sink), it features protective vitamin E and remains as good as ever.
Available at JohnLewis.com
The Brown-Spot Buster
Age Spot Correcting Hand Cream SPF30, £14.50 | Eucerin
Eucerin’s patented thiamidol active has good clinical support for interrupting the formation of age spots, while this not-too-rich cream also has effective plumping ingredients. Most importantly, it has an SPF30 which is as essential for preventing signs of ageing on the hands as it is for the face.
Available at Boots.com
Clinic Tweaks For Hands That Need A Little More Help
If gnarliness or excessive discolouration bother you, there are non-surgical procedures that work as well on the hands as they do on the face. But, says Dr Ross Perry, clinical director at Cosmedics clinics, “the skin on the hands is very thin and, as a result, treatments need to be delicate and done with a duty of care. Some can be counterproductive, so you need to proceed with caution.”
Best For Age Spots
“When it comes to the brown dots or age spots that so often occur in people over 50, intense pulsed light (IPL) is my go-to treatment,” says Ross. “It tends to work incredibly well to reduce the pigmentation, whether it shows as small singular spots or larger areas, because you can control the settings depending on what you’re working at.” The Q-switched Nd:Yag laser is better for breaking up the melanin clusters that form more insistent and ingrained age spots. “Once treated, the lesions normally go a darker colour for about a week but, two weeks after that, they tend to be gone,” Ross adds.
Cost from £250. Visit Cosmedics.co.uk
Best For Bony Hands With Prominent Veins
Caused by age-related loss of fat tissue and muscle mass, suddenly-gnarly looking hands with prominent veins and tendons often appear in those delightful menopausal years and beyond. If they’re an eyesore to you, a bio-stimulating filler can make a dramatic difference. There are several options, but Korean-born dermatologist and cosmetic physician Dr Shinny Cho strongly favours Radiesse. “This gel has a density that offers reliable camouflage of veins immediately after we inject it in the backs of the hands. Over the space of several months, its regenerative calcium hydroxyapatite molecules stimulate the skin’s own production of collagen elastin and hydrating substances, thickening and plumping it to smooth texture and make veins look less prominent long-term. “It moves naturally with the skin and there is much less of a risk of lumpiness as with other options,” says Shinny. A single session often suffices, with results lasting 18-24 months.
Cost £450. Visit FutureCareMedical.com
Best For Crepiness
If hands are just beginning to show crepiness without much volume loss or you want to prevent the signs of ageing altogether, Radiesse Hyperdilute is a great option, says Shinny. Featuring the same regenerative molecules as Radiesse but diluted significantly with saline, it provides a ‘skin quality upgrade’ that will get rid of thinning, finely wrinkled areas in favour of thicker, springier and more hydrated skin. Two to three sessions are recommended, spaced six to eight weeks apart, with results lasting 12-18 months.
Cost £450. Visit FutureCareMedical.com
Follow @TheOGBeautyBoss
DISCLAIMER: Features published by SheerLuxe are not intended to treat, diagnose, cure or prevent any disease. Always seek the advice of your GP or another qualified healthcare provider for any questions you have regarding a medical condition, and before undertaking any diet, exercise or other health-related programme.
Read More From Inge Van Lotringen
DISCLAIMER: We endeavour to always credit the correct original source of every image we use. If you think a credit may be incorrect, please contact us at info@sheerluxe.com.
/https%3A%2F%2Fsw18.sheerluxe.com%2Fsites%2Fsheerluxe%2Ffiles%2Fwebsite-images%2F2025%2F03%2Fsign-up-pop-up.jpg?itok=TZtXX_xL)
