Not every change one sees in the hands is the same kind of change. Rough skin, and veins that have begun to stand out. A loss of clarity, and the lines of tendons that were once hidden. Inside the single thought "my hands have changed" are two changes of quite different natures.
When Soie thinks about hand beauty in the fifties, the first step is to separate them. Once separated, it becomes clear which changes care can answer and which it cannot, and therefore where time is worth spending.
This fourth article in our series by decade is about those two layers: the skin, and what lies beneath it. It is also about what remains once the separation is made: daily accumulation, and the pleasure of scent and gesture.
Changes in the skin, and changes beneath it
It helps to think of the ageing of the hands as two kinds of change. Changes in the skin are dryness, dullness, fine lines, and the spots caused by sunlight. Changes beneath the skin come from the fat under the skin decreasing with age while the skin itself loses firmness, so that the veins, bones and tendons beneath stand out.
The shift from plump hands in youth to a bonier look in the fifties is mostly the work of the second kind. The back of the hand has thin skin and little tissue beneath it, so a small change below shows plainly on the surface. This is one reason the hands are said to show age sooner than the face.
The fingers tell the same story in miniature. The skin over the knuckles has slack to allow movement, and when it dries, fine lines gather there; beneath, the joints themselves become more defined as the padding around them thins.
To the eye, the two kinds of change overlap on a single back of the hand. But they happen in different places, and care reaches them to different degrees.
Being honest about what cannot be reversed
Changes beneath the skin are hard to reverse with self-care. Serums and creams give moisture from the surface and leave the skin smooth; they do not replace fat that has been lost beneath it. If the veins and tendons look no different after months of faithful moisturising, that is not a failure of care. It was never within care's reach.
We say this plainly because we want hand beauty to remain something that can be trusted. Not claiming what cannot be done is the condition for being believed about what can. If the changes beneath the skin are a real concern, consulting a dermatologist is also an option.
Why veins and tendons become visible is discussed in more detail in why veins and tendons show on the backs of the hands. From here, we turn to the side that care does reach.
Facing the preventable changes every day
Changes in the skin, that is, dryness, fine lines and spots, lie within what sun protection and moisturising can prevent. In the fifties the skin holds less water than it did, so it dries and feels rough more easily. That is precisely why the single move of adding moisture after washing, after wet work and after the bath carries more weight than it used to.
The basics of moisturising: immediately after drying, from the back of the hand to the fingertips and the skin around the nails. During the day, a serum that leaves no stickiness after each wash; at night, a cream layered over the serum for depth. Around the joints, stroke each finger lightly so that moisture reaches into the creases.
Sun protection is not too late in the fifties. The sunlight already received cannot be changed; the sunlight still to come can be reduced. Apply a sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher to the backs of the hands each morning and reapply roughly every two hours outdoors. The basis of preventing new spots is the same at any age.
Accumulation, and the pleasure of scent and gesture
Thought of only as prevention, care can start to feel like a duty. What we believe matters most for keeping it up from the fifties onward is that the time spent on it becomes a pleasure in itself.
Accumulation is the quiet word in all of this. No single application does much; what shapes the hands in their fifties is the same gesture repeated at the same points of the day for years. After the morning wash, after the washing-up, after the bath, before bed. Four moments a day, held steadily, do more than any occasional effort.
A drop of serum on the back of the hand, the palms brought together, a slow breath of the fragrance. These thirty seconds are time for the skin and, at the same time, a shift in mood. Scent is said to act on emotion and memory through the sense of smell, and bringing the hands to the face is the gesture that enjoys it at the closest range. The calm teas and herbs of SUPREME TEA, the dusk-like warmth of ELEGANT TIME: quiet fragrances of this kind sit well on hands in their fifties.
And then there is gesture. Hands that are cared for look composed in motion. The hand pouring tea, the hand offering something, the hand that rests against the cheek in conversation. Hands that have lived have an expressiveness younger hands lack, and moisture and smoothness bring it out. Thinking of the beauty of the hands as including scent and gesture, not only the condition of the skin, is what Soie means by hand beauty. The five fragrances are introduced on our fragrance page.
What Soie adds to hands in their fifties
Soie's Enlight Hand Serum combines EGF and KGF (skin-conditioning ingredients) with five ceramides and peptides (moisturising ingredients) in a serum designed to give moisture to hands that have lived a little and keep their skin healthy. It leaves no stickiness, so it can be used as often as the day requires, and a fragrance composed by the brand's dedicated perfumer keeps the moment quiet company.
Know what cannot be reversed, protect what can be protected every day, and take a little pleasure in those days. For hand beauty in the fifties, we believe these three are enough.
