Yes, help is at hand

Dear Betsy, My hands are very dry and rough and I have these bits of hard skin around my fingers which I pull off and then it hurts and bleeds a bit sometimes.

How can I make my hands soft and stop this hard skin. I am a 34-year-old housewife and feel ashamed to shake hands.

Jaya

Dear Jaya,

The colder weather means we need to take more care of our skin and in particular our hands which can become very dry and dehydrated.

If you are doing household chores then try to wear rubber gloves. Apply some hand cream before putting the gloves on to give your hands a treatment while you work. Only use a little or the gloves will tend to slip and slide on your hands.

We tend to use hotter water at this time of the year which can also dehydrate the skin and it is important to always dry your hands properly every time you wash them to prevent chapping.

One of the best ways to nourish your cuticles and your nails is to use some sweet almond oil. Massage it gently into your nails, cuticles and your hands every night and pop on a pair of white cotton dermatology gloves which you can buy for a couple of dinars in most good pharmacies. You can wash them out in the morning to keep them fresh. You can also apply hand cream and wear the derma gloves under your rubber gloves if you hate the feeling of the rubber, or if you have any intolerance to it.

These bits of dry skin around the fingertips are known as 'hang nails' even though they are not nails but bits of dry skin. Do not bite them or pull them off as you will just make things worse as they will get harder and worse as they grow back.

They need to be cut off correctly using cuticle nippers which you can buy in the pharmacy or Sephora and Faces have good ranges of nail grooming tools.

It is very important that you do NOT cut away at your cuticles but ONLY remove the hang nails. If you start to cut away at all of the cuticles then it becomes a vicious circle of hard skin/cut/hard skin/cut and you are at risk of infection too.

Give your hands a good deep-cleansing scrub by mixing together a cup of sugar and some lemon juice, rub vigorously over your hands, arms and nails paying particular attention to your cuticles. Rinse well and apply a moisturising face mask and wrap your hands in cling film for 20 minutes or more.

Rinse and apply warmed almond oil, massaging well and then apply a good nourishing hand cream on top and pop on your derma gloves. Do this three times a week for two weeks then reduce it to once or twice a week to maintain the results. You can also follow the same routine for your feet.

Our hands are often neglected and they say a lot about your age, lifestyle and personal grooming habits, so take care of them regularly, make it a habit to always dry your hands properly, gently pushing your cuticles back with the towel and apply a hand cream at least once every day.

When I am applying my facial moisturiser in the morning, I always massage any excess cream into my cuticles to give them a boost. Hand creams can cost from a dinar or so up to 30 or 40 dinars for top of the range anti-aging gold infused creams.

Prevention is better than cure (one of my favourite sayings) so a little care regularly will leave you with elegant hands that you can be proud to show off with pretty bracelets and rings instead of that old schoolgirl habit of hiding them up your jumper sleeves!