From the neck up, your skin may be without any lines, creases or spots. But your hands tell a lot about you—especially your age. Their delicate skin requires proper care and without it, wrinkles, age spots and bulging veins may appear. With the right treatments and some serious pampering, you can transform your hands, making them look younger and more beautiful-looking.
Products that improve hydration and remove dead skin help reverse signs of aging and even out skin tone. As you sleep, the skin is hard at work repairing damage incurred throughout the day. One of our favorite at-home treatments, Bioelements Sleepwear for Hands, ($39) which should be worn to bed, helps prevent and correct the signs of aging hands with calcium, peptides and cranberry seed oil to plump and smooth.
Specialty spas can be the ultimate destination to revive both your mind and body—hands included. And we’re not talking about a quick massage with your manicure, but rather a hand-healing treatment, like the Jade Detox with Burdock Soak at Los Angeles’ KI nail bar & organic spa. After a nail-perfecting manicure, a jade and ginseng scrub is massaged into rough skin to exfoliate, restoring vitality to hands. Next, jade stones (a symbol of calm and serenity) are placed in between the fingers to increase circulation and boost moisture levels. The end result: softer, younger-looking hands after just one treatment.
If your hands are in need of more than a spa treatment or at-home attention, a board-certified doctor may have the answer. Bulging veins and thin skin are a direct cause of volume loss and can leave the hands looking bony and frail. To instantly plump them up, Monterey, CA, plastic surgeon David Morwood, MD, suggests injectables and fillers including injections of hyaluronic acid fillers, longer-lasting injectables like Radiesse and Sculptra Aesthetic or even fat. If the back of the hands shows discoloration, he says lasers, such as Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) and Q-switched lasers, as well as glycolic and TCA chemical peels can be effective. Dr. Morwood adds, “Compared to the face, the hands have fewer hair follicles and lubricating glands, so it’s important that treatments are adjusted and measured carefully to minimize potential complications.” To stop aging before it starts, he says to wash your hands with a high quality cleanser and apply plenty of sunscreen and a collagen-boosting moisturizer.
