Few people keep an eye on a hygrometer, but the hands read it precisely. Indoor humidity that stayed high through September begins, in October, to fall noticeably on the afternoons of clear days. The tightness across the back of the hand returns at about the same time.
Summer dryness was an indoor affair, the work of air conditioning. Step outside and the humid air was waiting; somewhere in the day the hands recovered. October dryness is the dryness of the air itself. Outdoors and in, morning and night, the water in the skin of the hands is quietly drawn away.
Between our article on resetting the hands after summer and the one on preventing winter dryness lies this month of transition: a dryness hard to notice, before the heating comes on. This article is about what happens to the hands in October and how to judge when to moisturise more often.
From air-conditioned dryness to the dryness of the air
Through the summer, the places where the hands dried out were limited. The air-conditioned office, the train, the car. Leave them and there was humid air outside, there was perspiration, and the hands alternated between damp and dry many times a day. Dryness was a matter of place, and it eased when the place was left behind.
In October, dryness stops choosing its places. Mornings and evenings cool, and the amount of water the air can hold falls with the temperature. The breeze through an open window feels pleasant, but that pleasantness is another name for air that has grown dry and light. The back of the hand, with its scant sebum and thin skin, reflects the change sooner than any other part of the body.
There is a second, quieter shift. As the mornings cool, the temperature of the water used to wash the hands creeps up without anyone deciding it should. Hands washed in cold water in July are washed in hot water in October. Hot water strips sebum and breaks the skin's moisture barrier, so keeping the tap at lukewarm is the first point of attention this season.
The quiet dryness before the heating comes on
Once the heating comes on in November, dryness is obvious to everyone, and people remember to care for their hands. October is different: neither cold nor hot, it is a month in which the dryness of the air is easy to miss. That ease of missing it is the real problem for the hands in October.
In a comfortable room, the hands lose water without complaint. The tightness after washing is mild, easily tolerated, and so moisturising is put off. When a month of that meets the dryness of heated air, the hands arrive at the beginning of November already parched, and begin the winter from behind.
The purpose of October care is to avoid arriving parched. Before the heating season begins, the balance of water and lipids in the skin of the hands should be settled. That takes nothing special: only one step up in how often moisture is added.
How to judge when to moisturise more often
Suppose that through the summer the hands were moisturised twice, morning and night. What October asks for is one application after each daytime hand wash. The moments just after washing and drying are when water is most readily lost, and also when moisture is most readily accepted. If the number of washes becomes the number of applications, that is enough.
For those who prefer a rule of thumb, we suggest this one. If the back of the hand feels tight after washing, that is the signal for one application. As the tight moments become more frequent, let the applications keep pace. Because the hands themselves give the signal, this is easier to sustain than a fixed number.
Mornings and evenings also change in October. Hands that were warm all summer begin to feel cool first thing, and cool hands tend to be moisturised less carefully, because the product is rubbed in quickly and the hands are put away. Taking a few seconds longer to work the serum in, especially around the joints and the base of the nails, is a small adjustment worth making now.
Frequency depends on the choice of texture. A rich cream cannot be reapplied many times during a working day, so what belongs near the basin is a serum that sinks in at once and lets the hands return to whatever they were doing. At night, layer a cream over the serum, and add more on very dry days. The basic routine is set out in our hand beauty guide.
Getting ready for November
October is the month to prepare for winter from the hands' side as well. Replace the washing-up gloves. Have a cream ready for layering at night. Put a pair of cotton gloves in a drawer for the driest nights. None of this is much, but building it into the routine now is more natural than assembling it in a hurry in November.
It also helps to look at the soap by the basin. A soap that leaves the hands tight after washing was tolerable in humid August; in dry October, that tightness is where the trouble begins, so a soap that moisturises as it washes earns its place this month.
Sunscreen continues into autumn. October sunlight feels gentler than summer's, yet the backs of the hands receive UV light all year round. Not letting the morning habit end with the summer helps hold off dryness and dullness on the backs of the hands.
And the nail contours. As the air dries, hangnails begin to appear. Finishing each application by pressing gently at the base of the nails, begun this month, makes a difference to the fingertips in winter. The habits that prevent chapping in the depth of winter are described in preventing dry hands in winter.
Soie in October
Soie's Enlight Hand Serum is a beauty serum made only for the hands, combining five ceramides and peptides (moisturising ingredients) with EGF and KGF (skin-conditioning ingredients). It leaves no stickiness, which suits the October rhythm of moisturising after every wash. For autumn hands, the calm tea and herbs of the SUPREME TEA fragrance sit particularly well.
You need not look at a hygrometer; the hands already know the season. Take the tightness they report as the signal, and add one more moment of moisture. For October, that transition is enough.
