Do Your Hands Give Away Your Age?

At about age 35, your hands begin to look older. Wrinkles, age spots, loss of elasticity, protruding veins start to appear. In fact, 68% of women claim that their hands make them look at least 10 years older. So why do most hand lotions fall short?

As we get older, the skin on our hands begins to thin. Because there’s so little fat and muscle in our hands, the bones, wrinkles, and veins all begin to show. You need to thicken the skin on your hands—and retinol is the best ingredient for that. Retinol is the only ingredient proven to work on intrinsic (not environmental) damage. So why don’t most companies put in retinol? It’s expensive.

Your hands are covered with up to 30 layers of dead skin, called the stratum corneum. Occasionally you need to exfoliate all of this dead skin so that the active ingredients can penetrate the epidermis—as well as to make your hands soft and smooth. At least once a week, use a good scrub to polish your hands. Try the ZO Skin Health™ Oraser™ Microderm Hand Renewal, or mix sea salts in an acidic base , like lemon juice.

Fragrances like “peppermint kiss” may smell nice, but they don’t do a thing for your hands. Look for ingredients that really mean something, such as:

• Shea butter—it moisturizes and protects, and is particularly beneficial for sun-exposed skin.
• Retinol—it boosts cellular turnover and reduces the appearance of lines and wrinkles, plus it reduces hyperpigmentation, aka sun spots.
• Sunscreen with an SPF15+—UV rays are your skin’s worst enemy, so wear it every day.

That’s what we mean by “no frou-frou skin care.” Our anti-aging hand lotions aren’t loaded with scents and other filler components—just high concentrations of active ingredients.