Washing your hands is as important as wearing a mask when it comes to protecting yourself from Covid-19, but with constant hand washing, hands can become dry and nails brittle. To help combat the side effects of excessive washing we have rounded up 13 great products that are gentle on the hands. And don't forget, hands also don't hide age well, they always give the game away, so it also makes sense to take care of them and to give them some extra TLC, especially now when we may be a little too harsh on them.
The first step of looking after your hands is to choose a gentle soap to wash with. Rituals offers a gentle hand wash that will clean without leaving you with a feeling of dryness. Scented with Dutch tulips and Japanese yuzu, it leaves your hands subtly perfumed with sweet citrus notes.
Christophe-Nicolas Biot's Mon Protocole liquid soap is designed for the hair, face and body, so it is gentle enough to also be used for hands. Handcrafted, the soap is 100% organic and is made using essential oils, which leave your hands clean and moisturised.
If you prefer using solid soap then you cannot go by everyone's favourite cruelty-free cosmetics brand, Lush. Vegan and handcrafted, the Outback Mate soap will clean your hands with crispy notes of mint and eucalyptus, and it comes with a handmade recycled clay soap dish to make sure your bathroom sink is left clean as well.
Just like the rest of your body, you should exfoliate your hands to reveal newer, younger looking skin. We recommend Melvita's Intense Relaxing Scrub, the lavender-scented scrub works to gently remove dead skin to leave you with baby smooth hands thanks to its organic and vegan ingredients.
If you tend to suffer from chapped hands you need to be extra kind when it comes to moisturising. A great hand cream is Pai's Heavy Mettle Body Calm Rescue Hand Cream. With sea buckthorn the cream deeply nourishes your hands making sure they are left feeling soft.
Another hand cream that works overtime to replenish your hands is from La Roche-Posay. The Cicaplast Barrier Repairing Cream is non-greasy and is absorbed quickly to effectively moisturise your hands.
If you prefer something a little bit more fragrant try Antipodes's Joyful hand and body cream. With avocado oil and blackcurrant, the antioxidant and vitamins C and E-rich cream delivers hydration and restores your hands' natural glow.
And for an oriental-scented treatment, Academie's Imperial Hand Cream softens and nourishes while leaving you with the sweet smell of cherry blossom.
Overwashing your hands can leave you with weak and soft nails so it is very important to protect them. Nailmatic's Strong Care Strengthener works to protect and strengthen your nails, and it can be used on its own or as a base coat.
Wearing nail polish not only makes nails look great but it also adds an extra barrier, which helps protect your nails. The vegan range from 1944 Paris offers shades for every taste and its long-lasting coverage means you can protect your nails for longer.
Clever Beauty is also another brand of nail polishes that will not only pretty up your nails but also protect them. The non-toxic polishes will coat your nails creating a mask for them from too much washing and with a zero waste cap they get extra points for being environmentally-friendly.
While it is important to create a film with nail polish to protect your nails it is equally important to choose gentle products when removing the polish. Nailmatic's acetone-free sponge polish remover is a gentle and convenient option letting you simply dip each nail into the sponge-filled bottle to remove your nail polish with a few simple twists.
To shape your nails without aggravating your nail bed, especially while they're weakened from the overwashing, we recommend using the glass nail file from Innoxa. The fine surface of the file files the nails quickly and smoothly reducing any peeling.