Hand Washing Tips for Clean, Soft Skin
Like many of us, you’re probably washing your hands more than usual lately. But, are you doing the best job to make sure your skin is as clean as possible, and as soft?
At SkinSpirit, we want to help you take the best possible care of your skin, and that includes your hands. Master Aesthetician Tammy Napoli-Smith in Austin has found that there are simple steps you can take to make sure you are washing your hands as thoroughly as possible – and that you aren’t left with dry, cracking skin afterwards.
How to Wash Your Hands Right
Here are a few of Tammy’s favorite hand washing tips for extra clean skin:
Use the right hand soap. Hint: it’s not antibacterial soap. There are several reasons why antibacterial soap is bad for the environment, but we’ll just name a couple here:
- The chemicals get transferred into sludge, which is then put on agricultural land and could contaminate surface water. Why is this so bad? Because both triclosan and triclocarban (another common ingredient in antibacterial products) degrade into carcinogens!
- Also, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there isn’t enough science to show that over-the-counter (OTC) antibacterial soaps are better at preventing illness than washing with plain soap and water. To date, the benefits of using antibacterial hand soap haven’t been proven.
- In addition, the wide use of these products over a long time has raised the question of potential negative effects on your health.
For double the cleaning power, use a nail brush! Friction is an important factor in hand cleansing, because it helps penetrate and remove biofilms.
Dry your hands with single-use towels. This is the most hygienic and effective way to reduce the risk of the transmission of viruses when drying your hands.
Need a timer for washing hands? Hum the “Happy Birthday” song from beginning to end twice. Or time your favorite song and hum along for 20 seconds, or just count.
Do not rinse or wipe off the hand sanitizer before it’s dry; it may not work as well against germs.
Prevent Dry Skin
While you are constantly washing your hands, you should also be moisturizing after each wash! Moisturizer helps to replace oils and wax in the skin that act as both a shield from the outside and a guard to maintain natural moisture. This natural barrier is broken down by soap while washing hands, which does not discriminate between unwanted oil, germs, debris and natural oils in the skin.
The best way to apply hand lotion is to put it onto the back of your hand and rub the back of your other hand against it. This is because the skin on the top of your hands is much thinner and has less sebaceous glands, meaning it can become dry very quickly and needs the most moisture.
Looking for the right moisturizer? Tammy recommends Eucerin Advanced Repair Hand Cream as a product to use every time you wash. She also likes SkinMedica’s Replenish Hydrating Cream, which Isn’t typically for hands, but is great for restoring moisture levels, calming the skin, fighting free radicals, and the glycerin locks in moisture.
To save 30% on SkinMedica hydrating cream, and other SkinMedica products, visit this special website created for SkinSpirit and order by April 30th: https://skinspirit.brilliantconnections.com/