If the eyes are the mirror of the soul; hands are the guardians of time.
I think we can all agree that winter and skin are not always the best of friends. I don’t know about you – but for me the second the temperature starts to drop; my skin makes a fuss.
Our hands tend to age much quicker than other parts of the body. Because our hands are often exposed to the harsh winter elements, they can take a good whipping when temperatures plummet. Hand washing may help prevent you from getting sick, but it also strips any natural moisture away from your skin, especially when they are made with strong detergents. On top of that, if irritated and painful hands are not bad enough, cracks in the skin can provide an entry for germs and allergens, causing further inflammation. That is why nourishing and infusing hydration into your skin is so important.
To keep my hands in tip top shape, I like to use every day natural and gentle household products combined with nourishing essential oils to help calm and heal my skin. To prepare and nurture your hands during winter add these three natural steps to your manicure and show your skin a little extra love this winter.
You can also add essential oils to a simple scrub, a nail soak or cuticle oil for even more benefits. My go-to essential oils are sweet orange to nourish, lemon to soften and lavender to soothe.
Here are the three steps for renewed hands
1. SOAK
Start with a mild soak to calm dry, itchy skin and replenish moisture. Baking soda helps soften flakes and soothe irritated winter skin.
Our Remedy
Add to a bowl the following ingredients and pour boiling water, when the mixture has infused add some ice cubes or cold water until you reach the right temperature for you before soaking your hands.
½ cup of dry lavender flower,
½ fresh sage and
¼ cup orange zest (avoid the white part)
Alternatively, you can use our Soothing Beauty Blend made of potent anti-inflammatory medicinal plants to soothe itchy skin, irritation, eczema and psoriasis making it a very restorative hands bath.
2. SCRUB
Follow up with a gentle sugar scrub to remove dead skin cells and help restore your hands to their naturally soft, radiant state. Here we have many options depending on how poor and sore your hands are.
Our Remedy
If you need to cool down your hands:
1 cucumber (crushed in a food processor)
1 tbsp witch-hazel tea or Calming Beauty Blend tea
Cucumber is fantastic for swollen hands and helps healing scratches. Calming contains witch-hazel among other soothing plants such as rose petals and pink lotus.
Apply the mixture to your hands and gently massage a quarter-size amount of scrub in circular motions to slough away dry skin. Rinse it off with cold water.
If you need extra-nourishment:
½ avocado
1/3 cup oats
2 tbsp macadamia oil
2 tbsp avocado oil
Blend all the ingredients in a food processor until you get a paste. Apply the mixture to your hands and massage in circular motions. Rinse it off with lukewarm water.
If you need serious exfoliation:
½ cup sugar
2 tbsp apricot kernels or peanut oil
½ squeezed lemon
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Gently massage in circular motions to remove dry skin. Rinse off thoroughly with warm water.
3. MOISTURISE
Finally, do not forget to show your nails a little love too. The next two treatments are absolutely amazing and feel so damn good!
Our Remedy
2 tbsp sweet almond oil
2tbsp jojoba oil
2 tbsp macadamia
2 tsp raw honey
3 drops lemon essential oil
3-4 capsules of vitamin E (optional)
Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and warm it up gently (40 degrees Celsius max), once the mixture is lukewarm soak your fingers in it (so pleasant) and help the mixture to penetrate in you nails and cuticles massaging it in circular motion.
Alternatively, you can warm up
2 tbsp peanut oil
2 tbsp walnut oil
3 drops orange essential oil or add some grated zest from an orange while warming the oils.
3-4 capsules of vitamin E
Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl, warm them up slightly. Pour the mixture into a roll-on bottle and gently massage into nails and cuticles once per day.
And to end this SPA manicure at home here's a delightful hand balm, extra-nourishing packed with vitamins, fatty acids and all the good stuff!
Our Remedy
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup almond/peanut oil
1/4 cup avocado oil
5 tbs beeswax pellets
1 tbsp shea butter
1 1/2 tbsp raw honey (all Australian healings honeys are awesome eucalyptus, leatherwood, banksia, red gum…)
Lemon essential oil
Combine everything except for the raw honey and heat with a double boiler. When the beeswax is melted (do not exceed 55 degrees Celsius). Let cool for about 5 minutes before whisking in the raw honey and 10-20 drops of lemon essential oil or other of your choice.
Pour into a glass jar and let it cool to room temperature before testing.
If you have the right natural ingredients lined up and you use the right techniques, you can definitely give yourself a beautiful manicure. Of course, there's nothing wrong with getting a professional manicure for special occasions or just to be pampered; but with so many toxins in manicure products it's so worthy do it at home with these spa-like treatments. Besides, it can save you a lot of time and money!
Stay naturally beautiful,
Sonia x