5 Tools to Add to Your Pandemic Hand-Care Toolkit for Fall
These essentials will keep your hands clean and feeling good.
Give Your Hands a Hand
Health Canada’s guidelines for preventing Covid-19 include washing and sanitizing hands a lot, which means our hands have definitely looked and felt better. Nails are bare, cuticles are wild, and skin can feel dry and scaly.
Because it seems we’ll be obsessively washing and sanitizing our hands for the foreseeable future, our hands are in need of some special attention. So we’ve rounded up a collection of essentials that’ll both keep them clean and help them feel better than ever.
Sanitize, Sanitize, Sanitize
This made-in-Canada sanitizer deserves a spot in your handbag, car, and any other go-to location that makes constant-reapplication easy. It’s 65 percent-alcohol based and Health Canada-approved, plus it dries quickly without a residue.
Frontline™ Hand Sanitizer, $4, thedetoxmarket.ca
(Also, check out what you need to know about hand sanitizer.)
Suds on-the-Go
Washing hands with soap and water is more effective at killing germs than applying hand sanitizer, so it can be helpful to carry your own soap bottle around. (Here’s what can happen if you don’t wash your hands.) This travel-friendly version of Dr. Bronner’s much-loved 18-in-1 Pure-Castile Liquid Soap will get the job done without stripping your hands of oil. (Not to mention, it smells much better than the soap in most public washrooms.)
Dr. Bronner’s Rose Pure-Castile Liquid Soap, $6, well.ca
Scrub Off the Scales
This scrub is made with AHA and BHA (exfoliants that buff away dead skin cells), which help skin look softer and brighter. Add the product to your at-home spa night, and follow the scrub with a moisturizing hand cream to combat dryness. (Alternatively, you can try one of these homemade foot scrubs, which can work well on hands, too.)
Deborah Lippmann Marshmallow Whipped Hand & Cuticle Scrub, $33, sephora.com
Manicure Chez You
This Instagram-famous mani set features all the tools you need for a pro-like at-home manicure. It includes Olive and June’s most popular product, Poppy, a nail bottle handle that fits on any nail polish, making application so much easier. The set also includes clippers, a file, a buffer, a cuticle serum pen, nail polish remover, a clean-up brush, a top coat polish, and your choice of polish.
Olive and June The Studio Box, $50 USD, oliveandjune.com
(Check out the everyday habits that are wrecking your nails.)
Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize
Choose your hand cream depending on your needs:
If your hands are ridiculously dry…
Sporting a bit of a lizard look? Grab this “heavy-duty moisturizing hand salve,” which will provide ample hydration, condition hands, and act as a barrier to protect against moisture loss.
Kiehl’s Since 1851 Ultimate Strength Hand Salve, $21, kiehls.ca
If your hand cream has been causing breakouts…
Getting more blemishes on one side of your neck and jawline? That could be caused from resting a greasy hand on the area and clogging your pores. Try this quick-dry, non-greasy version from Glossier, that will still deliver maximum hydration.
Glossier Hand Cream crème pour les mains $18 USD, glossier.com
If you forget to apply sunscreen after washing your hands…
With all this washing and sanitizing, you may have forgotten to apply the next most important product for your hands—sunscreen. It is essential for helping to prevent not only skin cancer, and also sun spots. Apply your favourite SPF (we love these mineral sunscreens) to your hands throughout the day, and at night, if sun damage is a concern, apply this brightening hand cream, which will lighten the spots.
Caudalie Vinoperfect Brightening Hand Cream, $26, caudalie.com
Next, check out our tips for younger-looking hands.
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