With a facial serum, most people have a method without thinking about it: warm it in the palms, press it into the cheeks, use the fingertips around the eyes. With a serum for the hands, the questions come back. How much? Where do I start? How do I spread it?
The hands are unlike the face in one respect: the hand that applies is also the hand being cared for. Both hands are the tool and the subject at once. This small peculiarity is what makes the method a little less obvious.
This article sets out the basics under five headings: amount, order, timing, technique and layering with a hand cream. Once learned, the whole sequence takes about a minute.
Amount: one or two pearl-sized drops
The guide for a single application is one or two pearl-sized drops. Too much sits on the surface; too little never reaches the fingertips. Begin with one drop and adjust to the size of your hands and how dry they feel.
Place it on the back of the hand, not the palm. The palm is protected by a thick stratum corneum; it is the back of the hand, with its few sebaceous glands, that needs the moisture. Starting there means the driest skin is reached first.
A drop that seems small on the back of one hand goes a long way once both hands begin to move. Resist the urge to add more at the start; if the fingertips feel left out, add half a drop there rather than doubling the first amount.
Order: back of the hand, fingers, then around the nails
Lay the back of the other hand over the drop and bring both hands together to spread it. Then work it into the back of each hand with the opposite palm, and interlace the fingers so that the serum reaches the skin between them. Carrying it to the wrist covers the skin that shows at the edge of a sleeve.
Take the fingers one at a time, lightly, from the base to the tip. The skin over each joint has a built-in slack that lets it bend, and when dry that slack shows as fine lines. Smoothing along each finger in turn brings moisture into those lines as well.
Finish by pressing gently around the nails. The skin there dries easily and shapes the impression the hands make. The act of spreading the serum encourages circulation in the hands, and together with the fragrance it becomes a moment that eases the mind.
- Place one or two pearl-sized drops on the back of one hand.
- Bring the backs of both hands together and spread.
- Work it in with the palms, then interlace the fingers.
- Smooth along each finger from base to tip.
- Press lightly around the nails to finish.
Timing: the turning points of the day
Use the serum at the turning points of the day: after washing your hands or doing wet work, before going out, before bed. The minutes after washing are when the skin loses water most readily, so the moment you put the towel down is the most natural first application.
During the day, a texture that leaves no stickiness lets you touch a keyboard or phone immediately afterwards. Morning, before leaving the house, after an afternoon hand wash, before sleep. A few short repetitions a day add up to a lasting beauty. In the evening, as a way of closing the day, you might take the sequence a little more slowly.
If you can manage only one application a day, make it the one before bed. The hands are not washed again until morning, so whatever you give them then has the whole night to settle. A second application, after the first hand wash of the morning, is the next most valuable.
Layering with a cream: serum first
A hand serum and a hand cream play different roles, so they can be layered. Smooth in the serum first and, if you wish, apply your usual cream on top. Water and beauty ingredients first, the film of oil afterwards: the same logic as facial skincare.
Serum alone keeps the hands light during the day; on dry nights or in harsh weather a cream can follow. If the serum moisturises on its own and you dislike stickiness, the serum alone is enough. The reasoning behind this is discussed further in our article on serum and cream.
Beyond the hands: elbows and knees
A hand serum can also be used on elbows and knees, or wherever dryness is a concern, as well as on the hands, fingers and nails. Smoothing what remains after the hands onto the elbows is a sensible habit in dry seasons. If you are using it for the first time or have sensitive skin, try a small amount on the inside of the arm first, and stop using it if it does not suit your skin.
Soie's hand serum
Soie (pronounced swah; French for silk) makes Enlight Hand Serum, a beauty serum for the hands that follows exactly the sequence above. It melts into the skin the moment it touches the fingertips, and a phone or keyboard can be used straight afterwards. It contains EGF and KGF (skin-conditioning ingredients) and five ceramides and peptides (moisturising ingredients), while dimethyl sulfone and horsetail extract (skin-conditioning ingredients) look after the nails and fingertips. The bottle holds 30 mL, which for someone using it several times a day lasts around a month and a half.
Soie proposes washing with Moist Fragrance Hand & Body Soap and moisturising with Enlight Hand Serum as the basic sequence of hand beauty. Details of the hand serum and an illustrated routine are in our hand beauty guide.
Amount, order, timing, technique. Once learned, the hands move through it without thought. Wash, dry, reach for the serum. That single minute, a few times a day, is time given to the hands, and it is in that small repetition that their beauty grows.
