Constantly washing your hands to avoid all the winter illnesses floating around? Then you’re likely paying for it with dry, cracked skin on your hands. While it’s not practical to give up the hand washing, there are steps you can take to wash without drying out your skin.
- Choose a safe, non drying soap. Check the label for ingredients to avoid like fragrance, parabens, and SLS, and steer clear. Instead, look for moisturizing ingredients like coconut oil, aloe vera, shea butter, cocoa butter, glycerin, and apricot kernel oil, as well as safe surfactants (the ingredients that break down the bonds between water and dirt and hold dirt and oil in suspension to allow for effective removal) like decyl glucoside and lauryl glucoside.
- Lower your water temperature. Hot water is tough on the skin, sapping it of moisture and oils. Go for lukewarm or medium warm water for handwashing instead.
- Moisturize and protect. Whenever possible, follow your handwashing with hand lotion made with non toxic, skin-nourishing ingredients like aloe vera and sunflower seed oil. Use hand lotion after washing the dishes as well, and any time throughout the day when skin feels dry and tight. Apply cuticle balm around nails and on any extra-dry areas of skin as needed.
- Repeat. Before eating, after coughing, sneezing, or blowing your nose, be sure to repeat your handwashing regimen.
Bonus tip: Exfoliate hands now and then. Buff away dead skin cells and reveal soft, smooth skin with a safe, non toxic exfoliator such as Pure Haven’s exfoliator with pre+probiotics or sugar body scrub.
Ask your Pure Haven Consultant about these and more non toxic hand washing options, including moisturizing hand soap and hand and body lotion in limited release scents.