Protect your hands and nails...

beautiful hands and nails is something we all wish for, but don't always succeed in achieving—hardly surprising since our hands are our primary tools for working, preparing food, creating art and craft projects and just about every other action you can think of. This means that they are constantly exposed to the elements, as well as subjected to physical and chemical onslaughts that can damage their structure and appearance.

Protecting your hands:
Let's first take a look at the hands themselves, and what you can do to enhance their beauty.

First on the list of to-do's is to wear sunscreen daily. Just like the skin on your face, the skin of your hands is easily damaged by exposure to UV light. Over time, this exposure can cause leathery skin, wrinkles and the dreaded brown spots we associate with aging. Since you wash your hands throughout the day, be sure to carry your sunscreen with you and reapply it often.

Next on the list of hand beautifiers is to moisturize regularly and always before going to sleep. Our bodies lose moisture during the night and that includes the hands. Using a cuticle cream and moisturizer is a must to keep your skin silky smooth and to prevent ragged cuticles. (We highly recommend Spa Ritual® cuticle care elixirs, which are vegan, free from harmful chemicals, and contain the most effective natural ingredients for enhancing cuticle health and nail growth. Cuti-Clean® Cuticle & Stain Remover will help moisturize and remove stains from the cuticles, Cuti-Cocktail® Nail and Cuticle Oil will condition and encourage healthy nail development, Cuti-Treat™ Cuticle Gel will provide natural growth support for thin, weak nails, and the popular Cuti-Cocktail® Pen & Pusher is a great way to moisturize cuticles when on-the-go.)

Cuti-Treat™ Cuticle Gel

You will also find many high quality handcreams at Spa Utopia, including those by MOR and Barefoot Venus.

The third essential for maintaining beautiful hands and nails is to use gloves whenever you are performing a task or artistic pursuit that involves immersing your hands in water. Appropriate gloves (you can buy very thin ones at hardware and $ stores) will also protect your hands and nails from paints, inks and dyes. If you are washing dishes or other objects in hot water, apply handcream before your cotton-lined rubber gloves, and the heat will encourage the cream to soak into your hands for enhanced moisturization.

If you have areas of hyperpigmentation (brown spots) on your hands, you may want to use an over-the-counter cosmetic skin product specially formulated to break up the melanin that causes this discolouration. If the hyperpigmentation is heavy, we suggest you discuss this with your doctor, who can write you a prescription for 4% hydroquinone cream or gel.

Protecting your nails:
Practically everyone has experienced the annoyance of a broken nail, which invariably happens right after your professional manicure, and before an important date. Tapping keyboards (although purported to encourage nail growth), picking off seals and stickers from new vitamin bottles and tubes of lipstick, removing lids from bottles, pulling on tight jeggings or using the fingers as makeshift shoe-horns can be hazardous to the nails. Always wear gloves if you are immersing your nails in water as contact with water actually dehydrates the nailbed. Be sure to use scissors or a knife (exercising great care, of course) to remove stickers and labels.

Keeping your nails as short and squared off as possible will help prevent the wear and tear from keyboards and keypads. (Since iPads, iPods and iPhones do not respond to fingernail touch, they are a great incentive to keep the nails shorter and well shaped.)

When filing your nails at home, never use a metal file as these can generate heat and cause splitting. Instead, use an emery board, and always file in one direction—from the edge to the centre of the nail. This reduces friction and associated heat.

Unfortunately, there is no truth to the belief that gelatin strengthens the nails, or that biotin or any other vitamin can cause the nails to grow thicker and/or faster.

Last, but definitely not least, we recommend you have a regular Spa Utopia professional manicure to help keep your hands and nails in tip-top shape. The combination of professional products  (we use Sparitual®) and skilled techniques can truly work wonders for the appearance of your hands and nails!

A special offer just for you

Be sure to watch for our eBlast the morning of Tuesday, March 13, for our special offer:

4 Spa Utopia Classic Manicures or Nail Grooming for Hands (men)

Regularly priced at $252.00 (plus applicable taxes)

Special pricing: $189.00 (plus applicable taxes)

A saving of 25%

(some conditions apply)