If you’re like many people around the world, you’ve become an expert hand washer. Awesome! Let’s keep up the good work and scrub, scrub, scrub!
The downside to all this good hygiene is our poor little hands are getting dried out, wrinkly, and possibly even cracked. Cracked hands can be dangerous, leaving spaces for virus and bacteria to enter our bodies, so let’s try to prevent that from happening.
Any opening in our bodies including our skin is an invitation for infection and doctors are not discussing how dangerous this can be but not to fear, there are things we can do to both heal and prevent this risky situation.
If you already have some cracks in your skin, one of the fastest ways to heal is to apply raw, unfiltered honey to an open wound and cover it with a Band-Aid. Apply fresh honey and a new bandage twice per day and your skin should heal right up in no time.
Can we talk? It’s time in our relationship to have an important chat. Dry skin is dead skin. It cannot be “healed.” All of the lotion manufacturers are unfortunately not being truthful with us and not only can we not heal dry, dead skin, most lotions contain alcohol.
Why do most moisturizers contain alcohol?!?!?!
The reason is quite sinister. Lotion manufacturers want to continually dry out our skin…so we need to buy more lotion!
What to do? Here are some tips that can help keep hands healthy without breaking the bank and you might just have what you need in your house already.
Exfoliation
The only way to “heal” dry skin is to get rid of it, so let’s do it. First, wash and dry hands. Then dampen them with warm water and using a dime-sized amount of facial scrub, gently rub the product on every surface of your hands and fingers using a circular motion. Rinse with warm water while still scrubbing a bit and dry your hands. This will remove dead cells on the surface of your skin and will bring new, fresh cells to light.
Moisturize
Next, we need to moisturize the fresh, healthy skin cells that we just unearthed. Let’s a stroll to the kitchen and open up the cupboard. Grab a food-grade oil and apply a small amount to skin. Great oil options include (but aren’t limited to): coconut, almond, avocado, and olive.
Try some of these natural options if you don’t already have these in your pantry and after you’re done moisturizing you can make a yummy salad dressing:
Vitacost Liquid Coconut Oil (MCT Oil with Lauric Acid) – Gluten Free and Non-GMO
Vitacost – Glonaturals Essentials Collection Sweet Almond Oil — 16 fl oz
Massage that oil in like you’ve trained for Olympic Massage Team and give it a couple of minutes. Your skin will actually eat the oil. That’s right- you can actually feed your body from the outside, too! If you got a little over-zealous, you can wipe off any excess onto a paper towel. Environmentally conscious? Try these washable bamboo towels. Bambooee plants a tree with every purchase!
Hydrate
While you’re in the kitchen, grab a tall glass of water. Bonus points if you eat some cucumber or slice up some cucumber in your water pitcher. Hydrating from the inside is more important than hydrating from the outside.
If you’re looking to ditch the plastic water bottles, and skip going to the store to buy water forever, we love our Zero Water Pitcher. The filters last us a couple of months. Grab the water tester and be shocked at the poor quality of not only our tap water but bottled water as well- even premium brands.
In Summary
Exfoliate and moisturize a couple of times per week or as needed. Drink more water every day. Another great tip, and probably the best one for not only our skin but for overall health is eating more fresh produce. Upping our intake of fresh, raw fruits and vegetables boosts our immune systems while hydrating us and improving every organ in our bodies, including our skin!
Another great little product is these little cocoa butter moisturizer sticks. They are not messy and are completely portable. Perfect for every day use and super affordable at $1.59 each, these are great for every member of the family. Just make sure you label them with your name on them if you are quarantining with others, so everyone has their own. So affordable and lasts for months! Rub it on your skin and allow your own body heat to melt it. Then massage it in and you’re mess-free and naturally moisturizer. It smells great, too!
For an easy and affordable way to do achieve whole body scrub, take a warm bath with natural Epsom salts and after 10-15 minutes, rub your skin with the rough side of a washcloth to remove dead surface cells. Dry yourself off and immediately apply a food-grade oil to your skin. A little goes a long way, so no need to overdo it. Wait a couple of minutes before getting dressed. Your skin will absorb the oil and you’ll be ready to go. If you overdid it, wipe excess onto your towel. Wash your bath towel after one use when exfoliating like this. It’s pretty amazing how much dead skin will be on your towel. Ew!
Want to learn about some great spa treatments you can do at home? Here are a bunch of ideas from Glamour, using food and natural ingredients you just might already have on hand.
Cheers to clean, healthy hands, and a healthy body. Don’t forget to take Vitamin C and Vitamin D and up your fresh fruit and veggie intake as much as you can to stay healthy. I’m sending everyone so much love and healing energy during this time and always!
