Open the drawer of someone's desk and you can see what their hands go through in a day. An empty drawer belongs to someone who does nothing for their hands between the moment they feel dry and the moment they get home. A drawer with a single hand cream belongs to someone who applies it when they happen to remember.
Whether hand care lasts, we think, depends less on strength of will than on what is within arm's reach. This article goes through five things worth keeping in an office drawer, where to put each of them and when to pick them up.
The first two: a hand serum and a small towel
One: a 30 mL hand serum
The centrepiece of the drawer. Hand care at work has three conditions. The hands must be able to touch a keyboard and a smartphone straight after application. The scent must not carry across the room. The routine must be short. A non-sticky hand serum meets all three. A 30 mL bottle stands at the front of the drawer, beside the pen holder.
The moment to reach for it is on returning to the desk after washing the hands. Applying in the washroom tends not to last, because taking a bottle out of a bag or a pocket is one step too many. Back at the desk, before sitting down, one pearl-sized drop on the back of the hand. Thirty seconds, and work resumes.
Two: a small hand towel
The most overlooked item. Office washrooms offer a warm-air dryer or paper towels; the dryer strips surface moisture in a blast, and paper, used in a hurry, leaves droplets behind. A small towel in the drawer allows the hands to be pressed dry again at the desk.
Moisturise over droplets and the evaporating water takes the moisture with it. Dry, then apply: the towel comes first in the sequence. Replace it every few days and never put it away damp.
The bottle in the drawer is a second bottle, separate from the one at home. A bottle that travels in a bag breaks the habit on the day it is forgotten. A bottle that never leaves the drawer cannot be forgotten.
Three: sunscreen for the backs of the hands
A seat by the window, a round of visits, fifteen minutes out for lunch. The back of the hand is where sunscreen is most often forgotten, and it washes off with every trip to the basin. What went on in the morning is mostly gone by midday. A bottle in the drawer means it can be reapplied before lunch.
The order is serum first, then sunscreen once the serum has settled: SPF 30 or above, protecting against both UVA and UVB, applied to the backs of the hands before going outside. On days spent indoors away from the window, morning and midday are enough.
Four and five: a nail file and cotton gloves
The nail file is for dealing with a snag or a chip the moment it is noticed. A nail that catches on the edge of a document, a chipped nail dragged across a screen: left alone, small irritations like these are where the fingertips begin to roughen. File in one direction, then press a little serum around the nail contours.
Cotton gloves are not for every day. On an afternoon when air conditioning or heating has dried the hands out completely, during an hour of reading without leaving the desk, work the serum in and put on a thin pair of cotton gloves. Typing is out, but pages can still be turned. They are the move at the back of the drawer for the driest days.
All five items are small and take up less than half of one drawer. What matters is not the number but knowing they are there. The moment the hands feel dry, they can be reached without standing up. That shortness of distance is what keeps hand care going at work, through the weeks when there is no time to think about it.
Arranging the drawer and timing the habit
- Serum and towel at the front, sunscreen in the middle, file and gloves at the back: arranged by how often each is used.
- The cue is returning to the desk: after washing the hands, after lunch, after a meeting. Several times a day, the cue arrives on its own.
- Choose a scent meant to be enjoyed close to the hands. A fragrance that reaches the next desk is too much for an office.
A kit is no use if the drawer stays shut. So the kit goes at the front of the drawer that is opened most often. Kept with the pens and the sticky notes, it reminds the hands of itself every time the drawer slides open. The whole sequence of washing, moisturising and protecting is on our hand care page.
How Soie sees it
Soie's Enlight Hand Serum was designed with a 30 mL bottle in a desk drawer or a bag in mind, to be used after washing the hands. It leaves no stickiness, and the keyboard can be touched immediately. The scent is a soft presence noticed when the hand is brought close; those who prefer a quieter impression often choose SUPREME TEA or ELEGANT TIME.
What is in the drawer is an attitude towards the hands. Keep five things at the front, and reach for them each time you return to your seat. Hand care for working hands begins with that small piece of design.
