Soie — Hand Beauty

Back of Hand Care: How to Apply, Shield and Moisturise the Thinnest Skin on the Hand

The back of the hand has thinner skin than the face, less sebum, and sunlight on it all year round. Back of hand care begins with matching the way you apply, and the order you apply in, to what this particular stretch of skin needs.

Of all the parts of the hand, the back is the one other people look at longest. Handing over a card, holding a glass, resting on a keyboard: it is the back of the hand, not the palm, that is seen. And yet back of hand care is usually an afterthought, on one of the least protected areas of skin on the body.

This page approaches back of hand care in three parts. Why the back of the hand dries faster than the face. What a method of application designed for the back of the hand looks like. And where sunscreen and moisturiser belong in the order of a single day. The aim is to move the back of the hand from the place you apply cream on the way past to a place that gets care in its own right.

Why back of hand care differs from face care: thin skin, little sebum

The skin on the back of the hand is thinner than the skin of the face and has fewer sebaceous glands. A thin sebum film means a thin covering over the water held in the stratum corneum, so in the same room the back of the hand dries sooner than the cheek. Where the palm is protected by a thick stratum corneum, the back of the hand faces the world uncovered.

It is also washed far more often than the face. Each wash carries away the sebum film; each towel adds friction. The asymmetry between a face that gets toner and serum twice a day and a back of the hand that gets cream once shows itself, year by year, in the hands.

What appears on the back of the hand

Dryness and roughness, uneven texture, loss of firmness, and the accumulated trace of sunlight. The hands show age before the face because every condition for it is present here. The structure of the skin of the hands is explained in our Hand Beauty Guide.

How to apply to the back of the hand: take it on the back, spread from the back

Squeeze a moisturiser into the palm and rub the hands together, and the thick palm takes the first and largest share; the thin back of the hand receives what is left. The foundation of back of hand care is to take the product on the back of the hand and spread it from there.

Place one or two pearl-sized drops on the back of one hand.
Lay the back of the other hand over it and spread it little by little, back against back.
Work it in over the back of the hand with the whole palm.
Interlace the fingers so it reaches between them and along the backs of the fingers.
Finish by pressing gently around the nails, where the skin dries fastest.

Carry it to the wrist

The skin of the back of the hand runs without a break into the wrist. Stop at the wrist bone and a band of dryness is left at the join, so extend the movement down to the wrist and finish by enclosing one hand in the other. The gesture encourages circulation in the hands, and if the product is scented, it becomes a half-minute that resets the mood. The complete method is on our page about how to use a hand serum.

The back of the hand and the sun: shielding all year

The back of the hand is not covered by clothing and rarely falls in the shade of a hat or a parasol. Steering, hanging out laundry, walking to the shops: short exposures repeated daily equal long ones. Most of the spots that appear on the backs of the hands are caused by ultraviolet light and are considered one of the most common signs of photo-ageing.

Every morning, apply sunscreen to the backs of the hands at the same moment as the face. The usual guide is broad-spectrum protection of SPF 30 or higher.
Outdoors, reapply roughly every two hours. Washing removes it, so apply again before going out.
Once home, wash the sunscreen off and then moisturise.

Sunscreen drags and streaks on dry skin. Moisturise the back of the hand first, let it settle, then apply the sunscreen over it: that is the order. Winter light reaches the back of the hand too. Where to put the emphasis in each season is covered on our page about sun protection for hands.

Morning, daytime, night: the order of moisturising the back of the hand

Back of hand care lasts when it is placed at three fixed points in the day. The order is always wash, pat dry, moisturise; on mornings you go out, shield is added at the end.

Morning

Wash in lukewarm water, pat dry, take the product on the back of the hand and spread it. Once it has settled, apply sunscreen over the backs of the hands. A moisturiser that leaves no stickiness will not hinder the sunscreen.

Daytime

Reapply to the back of the hand after every wash and every sanitiser; after sanitiser, wait until the hands are dry. A bottle on the desk or in a bag turns it into a half-minute before returning to the keyboard.

Night

Give the end of the day time: back of the hand to wrist, between the fingers, around the nails. In dry seasons, add a cream and sleep in cotton gloves. The back of the hand recovers overnight the moisture it lost during the day, and it needs that time. If a rough patch does not respond to moisturising, or any symptom persists, consult a dermatologist.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the back of my hand dry out faster than my face?

The skin on the back of the hand is thinner than the face and has fewer sebaceous glands, so the sebum film that holds water in the stratum corneum is thin. It is also washed far more often and rubbed by towels many times a day. In the same room it dries sooner than the cheek for exactly those reasons.

Is there a right way to apply moisturiser to the back of the hand?

Take it on the back of the hand rather than the palm, and spread from there. Squeezed into the palm, the thick palm takes the first share and the thin back of the hand gets what remains. Spread back against back, work it in with the palm, then carry it between the fingers, around the nails and down to the wrist.

Which goes first on the back of the hand, moisturiser or sunscreen?

Moisturiser first, then sunscreen. On dry skin sunscreen drags and leaves streaks, so smooth the moisturiser over the back of the hand, let it settle and then apply the sunscreen on top. In the evening the order is the other way round: wash the sunscreen off, then moisturise. Outdoors, reapply about every two hours.

How often should I care for the backs of my hands?

Rather than counting, anchor it to three points in the day. In the morning, wash, moisturise and shield; during the day, reapply to the back of the hand after every wash or sanitiser; at night, take time to reach the wrist and the nails. A product that leaves no stickiness makes the daytime applications effortless.

Is a hand serum suited to the back of the hand?

Yes. Because the back of the hand is thin and low in sebum, it suits a product that layers water and moisturising ingredients rather than only covering the skin with oil. A serum that sinks in without residue can be reapplied after every wash and sits well under sunscreen. On very dry nights, add a cream over it.

Soie's hand serum

Soie (pronounced swah; French for silk) designed Enlight Hand Serum, a beauty serum for the hands alone, around the difference between the back of the hand, with its scarce sebum, and the palm, with its thick stratum corneum. Five ceramides and peptides (moisturising ingredients) bring moisture to the thin skin of the back of the hand, and EGF and KGF (skin-conditioning ingredients) keep it in good condition. The method of use begins the same way: take it on the back of the hand and spread from there.

It sinks in without stickiness, so it goes under sunscreen in the morning, after every wash by day, and down to the wrist at night. Further questions about the backs of the hands are answered in our Hand Beauty Q&A.