Travelling at the turn of the year is a small ordeal for the hands. Airport soap, the dry air of a train carriage, the heating in a family home, water that is harder or softer than at home. When the place we live changes, everything around the hands changes at once.
Most of us would never go away without the face products we are used to. We think the same logic applies to the hands. They are more exposed to a change of surroundings than the face, and away from home they are washed more often, not less.
Here we look at hand beauty in three settings: on the move, at the place we are staying, and on the evening we return.
The air in transit
Aircraft cabins and heated cars in winter are low-humidity environments. Dry air from heating and air conditioning slowly draws water from the outer layer of the skin. Because the back of the hand has little sebum and thin skin, after a long journey it is often the hands, not the face, that first feel rough.
Two things help on the move. The first is to replenish moisture often. Keep a non-sticky hand serum within reach so it can be used in your seat. If it leaves no residue, you can open a book or pick up a phone immediately afterwards without a second thought.
The second is never to let a wash or a dose of hand sanitiser pass unanswered. Travel multiplies both, and each one takes water from the skin. Once the hands are dry, smooth the serum from the back of the hand to the fingertips and around the nails. This repetition decides the state of the hands on arrival.
On a long winter journey, wearing gloves in your seat is another option. They shield the backs of the hands from dry air and cold, and give the hands a few hours of rest before arrival.
On carrying it with you
A 30mL bottle is made for carrying. It fits a bag pocket or the inside of a coat, and it sits comfortably within the liquid allowance for cabin baggage. The same bottle that lives on a desk can travel, and hand beauty becomes a habit that does not depend on where you are.
What changes when you carry it is how often you use it. Something kept at home can only be used at home. Something within reach can be used after every wash. Hand beauty is sustained less by applying a great deal at once than by replenishing a little at each turning point of the day.
If the serum you carry is fragranced, a little awareness of the setting is natural. Soie's fragrances are designed to be enjoyed close to the hands, but in the closed space of a train or aircraft it is a graceful habit to bring the hands lightly together after applying, keeping the scent on your own side.
The bathroom where you are staying
The soap in a relative's bathroom or a hotel can be harsher than you are used to, and may leave the skin feeling tight. Washing many times a day for several days with an unfamiliar soap is one of the reasons hands dry out on a trip.
The solution is simple: bring a hand soap you know. A hand and body soap washes the hands at the basin and the body in the shower, so it adds nothing to the luggage, and when the family gathers, a single bottle can be shared by everyone.
Wash exactly as you would at home. Lukewarm rather than hot water, a thorough rinse, a towel pressed rather than rubbed, no droplets left behind. Then replenish moisture with the serum you brought. The surroundings may change, but the order of washing and then moisturising should not.
Staying with family also means helping in the kitchen, and more time with detergent and water. A pair of gloves in the luggage protects the hands in an unfamiliar kitchen, and after any wet work, dry the hands and replenish moisture straight away.
Resetting the hands on return
The evening you come home is a moment to take stock of the hands. Dry air, unfamiliar water and winter cold have all left their mark, and now there is time to put them right slowly. After a bath, take one or two pearl-sized drops of serum and work it carefully from the back of the hand into the spaces between the fingers, around the joints and around the nails.
If the skin feels very rough, a hand cream can be layered over the serum, and sleeping in cotton gloves is another option. A few days of strain can be given a few days to recover.
Hands roughened by travel usually settle after a few evenings of care. If redness or itching persists, the matter lies beyond hand care, and a dermatologist should be consulted.
Noticing how the hands change while travelling also tells you how well your everyday surroundings look after them. Back at your own basin, with your usual soap and your usual serum, that ordinary comfort is what keeps the habit of hand beauty alive.
Soie's hand serum
Enlight Hand Serum is a beauty serum made only for the hands, in a 30mL bottle. It sinks in lightly without stickiness, so whether you are in your seat or at a borrowed basin, you can touch luggage and devices immediately after using it. Moist Fragrance Hand & Body Soap can be used on both hands and body, which makes it a sensible single bottle to pack.
The serum in every fragrance is in the hand serum collection, and the basics of use are gathered in our hand beauty guide.
Wherever you go, your hands go with you. Keeping one small bottle in your bag is the simplest way to keep them beautiful while you are away.
