Gimme A Hand

You’re religious about skincare, pedantic about the gym – but your hands? They’re likely undoing all that hard work. Meet the new treatments that can sort them out, stat

 

- Janna Johnson

They display our most sparkling possessions and animate our every conversation, yet at a certain point our hands start sending mixed messages – and these you can’t blame on auto-correct. While our hands are constantly exposed to the elements – UV and free-radical damage – very few of us actually protect them. “This causes the breakdown of collagen, elastin and fat,” says Natalie Abouchar, cosmetic nurse and director of Privée Clinic. “The skin in this area is also a lot thinner, which can contribute to making them look much older.”

According to Dr Sara Kotai, the anti-ageing expert who founded Man Cave Sydney, our hands are less equipped to protect themselves, too. “The hands have fewer sebaceous glands than the face, meaning they’re more prone to dryness and can’t heal as quickly as more protected areas.”