A hands on approach for winter

Approaching winter does not have to be in the least bit daunting when it comes to hand care. Being exposed to the harshness of the season can leave hands dry, chapped, wrinkly looking and basically just darn unattractive. Personally I get paranoid if I don’t have a hand cream and lip balm within arms length anywhere I go at home – that leaves a huge amount of products lying around the house, but hey…who’s counting. When it comes to hand care I have such specific requirements and although I’m extremely fussy, the main thing is that a hand product needs to moisturize like it’s on steroids or else it hits file 54 for me. From the ones I’ve put through their paces recently and limiting myself to picking only three, these were Elle’s top picks:

• FILORGA HAND-ABSOLUTE HAND & NAIL CREAM – This is the ultimate anti aging rejuvenation for hands and nails. The place where we often forget age is extremely visible is the hands and more often than not we neglect to give our hands the anti aging hand care it deserves. This hand cream offers repair and nutrition (with a plant sugar and butter complex), firms and plumps thin and wrinkled skin (with hyaluronic acid and collagen), clarifies and brightens skin tone (with sea lily extract), strengthens nails and stimulates nail growth (with a keratin booster). From a practical point of view I liked how the cream feels rich enough on the skin to moisturize sufficiently and immediately plump out wrinkles, but stays grease free. It has a beautiful soft scent and once you see the sleek black tube it comes in you’re a gonner – guaranteed!
• DERMALOGICA MULTIVITAMIN HAND AND NAIL TREATMENT CREAM – Slightly more rich in texture than the above cream, this hand cream with it’s amazing citrus scent leaves a definite moisturizing feel on the skin after use. Rough, dry and aging hands are exceptionally treated with licorice extract and vitamin C to even skin tone, pro-vitamin B5 and soothing algae extract hydrate optimally while gingko biloba, grape seed and vitamin E leave hands soft and nails perfectly healthy. This hand cream also contains the Dermalogica exclusive Age Smart actives that helps control skin aging. The lasting feeling is not overly greasy, just enough to be able to carry on with your daily tasks without slipping.
• NEUTROGENA NORWEGIAN FORMULA ANTI AGING HAND CREAM SPF25 – if you hate greasy feeling hand creams and almost want a touch dry feeling on your hands, this is the one to use. It moisturizes intensely with the Norwegian formula that penetrates deeply into the skin and protects the surface of the hands with spf25. Active soy extract has been clinically proven to diminish brown age spots after four weeks of use. Lightly and clean scented, this smallish tube pops into your bag easily for on the go application and I like that there are even different variations of the Neutrogena hand cream, for different tastes and preferences. Our hands take the most beating of any exposed part of our skins and with the different Neutrogena offerings there is no excuse to have dry, rough or ancient looking hands this winter.