I don’t know about you, but my hands get super dry this time of year. Winter weather can be especially harsh on anyone’s skin, but my hands are dry all the time! It’s partially because of my frequent hand washing (I’ve got 3 young boys and I work with the public), but I tell you I really do have to keep on top of it, or my dry hands and skin can go from a slight bother to major problem in no time.

As a professional makeup artist, my hands have to be clean and smooth at all times. Because of that, I’m always combating my dry hands with several weapons against dryness. Here are four things that I do to help treat my dry hands and prevent dryness from becoming a problem:

• Moisturize your hands:

  I cannot stress enough how important it is to find a really good, hydrating cream that’s specially made for your hands. Body cream or lotion just won’t cut it in this case. (Although it will work in a pinch and is better than nothing) Make sure to keep your hydrating cream on your hands at all times! I really like the Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Intensive Moisturizing Hand Treatment (a relative of the original Eight Hour Cream I talked about yesterday!) because it’s super moisturizing without being greasy and I can still feel it on my skin even after I wash my hands. Love it!

• Night time treatment:

  Sometimes using the hand cream just isn’t enough and my hands need some extra TLC. When that happens, I like to do a little hand treatment at night. Your body is naturally healing and repairing itself at night, so this is the perfect time to do this. You’ll want to use a super rich cream like shea butter, or cocoa butter, to get your hands super soft. You may want to invest in some hand gloves made specifically for use with thick creams at night.

• Paraffin hand waxing:

  Far from being a kinky torture method, paraffin waxing helps make hands supple. The melted paraffin wax uses its natural warmth, which increases the circulation in your skin which in turn opens the pores in your hands so the wax can soften your skin. Done every now and then, it’s a great way to mix up your moisturizing.

• Hydration:

  Water helps bring in vital nutrients, but it also flushes the toxins out of your body. As such, without water your body would have increased amounts of toxins in it and believe me, nothing good can come of that. Be sure to drink plenty of water every day for healthy, younger looking skin.

Using these tips you’ll find your that dry hands, and your skin in general, will get back to the soft, supple, smooth skin you had when you were a kid. And while there’s no miracle cure for dry hands and skin, you’ll fight off anything causing them in the first place.