Makeup Guru

What is the one place on your body that doesn’t lie about your age? It is your hands. It is also the area that has the thinnest skin on your body and one of the most abused. Yes abused. Think about it. How many times a day do you wash your hands? How many times do you pamper it? While we spend hundreds of dollars on luxurious skin care products and makeup and are by now quite conscious about wearing sunscreen every day, we tend to neglect our hands.

In fact, because the skin on the back of our hands is so much thinner than on our face the loss of fat that happens when we age is obvious straight away, leaving behind wrinkly, saggy skin. Therefore I took it on myself to search high and low and find the best hand creams out there to provide the pampering our hands need and deserve.

This was a wonderful assignment for me as I already own dozens of hand creams, one for each of my handbags and one or two for the car and several for every room in the house. Therefore I am only too happy to road test a few more. As there are hundreds of hand creams on the market appealing to different needs I decided to break them into groups. Following are my favourites.

The Best Fragranced Hand Creams.

Glamourflage - Raunchy Rosie Hand Cream $25.95 One of the most beautifully fragranced hand creams I have ever tried. It is a light freesia scent and it is also very moisturising with Aloe Vera, Macadamia and Calendula oils. www.glamourflage.com.au

Beauty & the Bees - Honey and Olive Protective Hand Cream $27.95 This hand made cream is fragranced with rose, geranium and lavender oils smelling absolutely wonderful. It is also an intensely rich treatment cream for before or after a bath or shower. It provides protection against the elements, gives a semi-waterproof barrier, soothes and restores hard working hands. www.beebeauty.com

Anti - Aging Hand Creams

NeoStrata - Hand & Nail Cream - PHA 8 This hand cream is specially formulated in an emollient base with 8% PHA (gluconolactone) combining the exfoliating and long lasting moisturizing benefits of a PHA with the antioxidants Vitamin E and Vitamin B Complex in a smooth luxurious cream. It moisturizes and conditions the hands and cuticles and reduces the visible signs of aging. Ideal for revitalizing dried, sun damaged hands. It is fragrance free and hypoallergenic. www.neostrata.com

Mecca - Hand-Elujah Age Defying Hand Treatment $38.00 If the signs of time have taken toll of your once smooth, spot-free hands, redemption is here with this three in one boosting balm. Filled to the brim with a blend of exfoliating Alpha and Beta Hydroxy acids, repairing Aloe, skin boosting vitamins and Bearberry extract to help even out the skin tone. www.meccacosmetica.com.au

Sally Hansen - Anti-Wrinkle Extra Firming Hand Creme $19.75 For the very dry hands that have fine lines and wrinkles this is the cream. Ceramides play a key role in maintaining moisture levels and help to firm the skin. Marine Collagen and Vitamins are essential to boost natural collagen productions. The result is visibly younger-looking and smoother skin. www.sallyhansen.com

Extra Nourishing Hand Creams.

Ahava - Intensive Nourishing Hand Cream $29.95 This is a highly concentrated formula created to rejuvenate even the driest skin. A grease-free blend of Dead Sea mineral enriched mud and assorted natural essences works deep to relieve itchiness, redness and scaling and stimulates your skin into moisturizing action. Perfect winter solution to dry and overworked hands. www.ahava.com.au

Decleor - Nourishing Comforting Hand Cream $40.00 This is a phyto-aromatic cream for the hands that creates an imperceptible protective glove. It nourishes and protects from external aggressors to leave the skin satin-soft. It also helps with fine lines and age spots. Containing Shea Butter, Parsley, Dyers Weed and Vitamins B5 & E, it is not only very moisturising but also great for helping fight age spots. www.decleor.com

Sense - Intensive Hand Therapy $27.00 This beautiful creme counteracts harsh environmental elements as it hydrates dry, cracked skin with powerful moisturising and soothing ingredients. Mulberry leaf, bearberry leaf, and elderberry flower brighten and refine the skin’s appearance. Irish moss and mallow provide intensive moisturising and emollient properties, while echinacea and centella asiatica act as excellent firming agents. Also contains whole grape and green tea extracts for powerful nutrient protection. www.usana.com

Hand Treatment Bush Essentials - Body Scrub $30.00 In my search for the ultimate hand cream I came across this scrub. This scrub is made from mineral rich Sea Salts and contain the most amazing essential oils. Australian Lemon Myrtle for soothing, cooling, anti bacterial, anti fungal. Lime oil combats brittle nails & cellulite, Peppermint for invigorating and cooling. Patchouli soothes & controls dry itchy skin, Bergamot lifts the mood. All this in the base oils of Macadamia, Jojoba and Vitamin E. I have never felt my skin more moisturised than after using this scrub. And for several washes after use I didn’t even need to apply hand cream. I can thoroughly recommend you treat yourself to this little pot of luxury. www.bushessentials.com

In my search for the best hand creams I came across some excellent products. This collection is only the tip of the iceberg as there are literally hundreds of hand creams on the market and I’m sure you have your favourites too. Nevertheless the most important thing is to look after this delicate area of your body, don’t neglect it and treat it as it deserves to be treated, as the hardest working skin on your body.