Because everyone looks at their own hands every day, everyone holds some assumption about them. I use hand cream, so I am fine. Hands do not dry out in summer. A man's hands need no looking after. Each of these is a sentence most of us have heard at least once.
Such assumptions are not born of carelessness. Information about the hands simply has not travelled as far as information about facial skincare. Yet the hands are said to show age sooner than the face. Time spent under a misunderstanding leaves its record on them.
This article takes six misunderstandings from among the questions Soie is most often asked and corrects each with the facts. At the end of August, as the fatigue of summer begins to show on the hands, it may serve as a useful check.
Where the misunderstandings come from
The hands are the same skin as the face, under different conditions. The back of the hand has little sebum and thin skin; the palm is protected by a thick stratum corneum. The hands are washed many times a day and are exposed constantly to water, detergent, friction and sunlight. Apply the common sense of the face directly, or leave out the common sense of the hands, and either way a gap opens.
All six misunderstandings grow out of that gap.
Six misunderstandings, and the facts
One: hand cream is enough
A hand cream is built mainly on oils; it covers the surface of the skin and prevents water from evaporating. Its role is protection, and that is a valuable role. A hand serum, by contrast, is built mainly on water and beauty ingredients and aims to layer moisture and smoothness into the stratum corneum. Its role is beauty.
Because the roles differ, it is not a question of one being sufficient; they can be used together. The order is serum first, then cream if needed. Serum alone for lightness during the day, cream layered over it at night or when the air is very dry: that division is the easiest to keep up.
Two: summer needs no moisturising
The basic sequence of washing and then moisturising is the same all year round. Sweaty summer hands may not feel dry, but the dry air of air conditioning, the evaporation of sweat and more frequent washing combine to roughen the backs of the hands.
What to drop in summer is not moisturising but weight. Switch to a form that leaves nothing sticky and the habit survives the muggiest days. Add daytime sun protection, and keep washing and moisturising on returning home, and that is the summer routine.
Three: men do not need it
Hands are washed daily, exposed to the sun and quick to show age regardless of gender. The need for care has nothing to do with being a man or a woman. If anything, the more often someone offers a business card, hands over documents or shakes hands at work, the more their hands are being looked at.
A serum that sinks in without stickiness can be used during work or before picking up a phone. Among the fragrances, SUPREME TEA and ELEGANT TIME have a settled character that men find easy to choose. Soie's products are designed unisex and are often shared by a whole household.
Four: applying at night is enough
Night-time care matters, but on its own it leaves most of the day empty. The minutes after washing or wet work are when moisture is lost most easily, and replenishing it then is where moisturising counts most.
The guide is the natural turning points of the day: after washing, before going out, before bed. Several small applications suit the hands better than one large one. With a serum that leaves nothing sticky, using it many times during the day interrupts nothing.
Five: hot water washes cleaner
Hot water strips sebum and breaks down the moisture barrier. Cleanliness and the burden on the skin need to be considered separately.
Use lukewarm water, choose a gentle soap rather than a harshly cleansing one, and rinse thoroughly so that no soap remains. Pat dry with a towel instead of rubbing, leaving no drops behind. Then moisturise straight away. These are the accepted basics of washing hands without inviting roughness.
Six: sunscreen is for the face
The backs of the hands are never covered by clothing and are said to receive more sun than the face. Most spots on the backs of the hands are considered to be caused by UV, which also contributes to dryness and dullness.
Apply sunscreen to the hands every morning, as to the face and body, and reapply roughly every two hours outdoors. Because it washes off with every rinse, reapplication matters even more for the hands. SPF 30 or higher with protection against both UVA and UVB is the usual guide. A hand serum has no sun-protective function, so remember the order: serum first, then sunscreen.
Replacing assumptions with habits
Lay the six side by side and a common thread appears. Each rests on the premise that the hands deserve less attention than the face. The truth runs the other way: the hands are washed more often, receive more sun and show age sooner.
What is required is nothing special. Wash well, moisturise immediately afterwards, protect during the day, and keep doing so regardless of gender or season. For questions not covered here, our hand beauty Q&A gathers more than eighty answers.
Soie's view
Where ordinary hand care stops at protection against dryness, Soie (pronounced swah; French for silk) has regarded the hands as a subject of beauty care in their own right, just like the face. To correct a misunderstanding is to look at the hands with the same eyes one brings to the face.
Enlight Hand Serum, designed only for the hands, combines EGF and KGF (skin-conditioning ingredients) with five ceramides and peptides (moisturising ingredients) in a texture that leaves no stickiness and is easy to use during the day. Ingredients and directions are set out on the Enlight Hand Serum page.
