How do you keep your hands looking young?

[pearaffair]

I’m on a bling ban so I’m trying to appreciate what I have and spend my fun money elsewhere

Share your healthy beautiful hands tips with me? Do you use hand masks? Hand lotion? Gloves? Sunscreen? Nothing? Drink lots of water? I’m so curious!

Or maybe it’s weekly manicures? (In normal times...)

I try to wear gloves often because I hate the feeling of sunscreen on my hands. I have no other tips lol.

 

[pearaffair]

*Disclaimer****
I don’t think hands have to look young to look beautiful.
Also, if my hands ever look “old” to me, it will just be an indication that I need to buy bigger more fabulous bling to distract from my hands! Lol!!

 

[Phoenix]

Drink lots of water. Apply lotion immediately after you wash them. Stay out of the sun and/or use sunscreen.

 

[missy]

I don't love the appearance of my hands but I love and appreciate what my hands can do so I am only grateful for my hands and their abilities. I have OA in my fingers and that has changed their appearance as well as the normal aging process. I wear sunblock on my hands if I am going to be exposing them to the sun for any length of time and I moisturize after washing every single time. That's all I do. Here are my 54 year old arthritic hands. Photo taken about 2 weeks ago.
My left hand pinky finger is the most affected so far from OA but my index finger also has it.

 

[kenny]

I don't "keep my hands looking young."

I don't care how young, or old, my hands look.
I'm in my 60s, and I assume I look it.
Every decade I have looked how one naturally looks in that decade.

Are you age-shaming me?
If so, shame on YOU!

Save the money you spend to look some fake age.
Perhaps spend it on therapy so you can accept what is true.
You'll be more at peace.

We ALL get old.
Then we die.
Why run, hide, or be ashamed of what is true?
Doesn't that generate sadness?

I've seen pics of very old folks who really look worse than they should for their chronological age as a result of all the age-delaying things they have subjected their bodies to.

If you want to look younger, have children.
They are literally, physically, you.
The sperm is you; the egg is your partner.
They get together and IMO it arguably is not a new person.
It's you and your partner, only younger.
It's only true way to have to eternal life.
That child will have hands that look young, eyes that look young, etc.

 

[missy]

We ALL get old.

If we are lucky we all get old.


That is my greatest wish. To grow old with my dh and get all wrinkly and grey as long as we can do it together and still have decent health so we can continue to enjoy life as we grow old. And you are right. Appearance isn't important. Good/decent health and the ability to enjoy each year as we grow older is.

 

[737liz]

I sunscreen my hands now. After the first 30 years of hardly ever wearing it and spending every waking hour in the sun the damage is done but I do worry about skin cancer... now. I think there is true beauty to aged hands with wrinkles and age spots but I am not there yet, I have in-between hands with a rough texture and lots if fine lines. Neither smooth and young nor old and graceful. My grandmother had the most beautiful soft wrinkles and a patina of sunspots that really were lovely. She hated them but to me they were amazingly soft.

 

[Roselina]

I don't love the appearance of my hands but I love and appreciate what my hands can do so I am only grateful for my hands and their abilities. I have OA in my fingers and that has changed their appearance as well as the normal aging process. I wear sunblock on my hands if I am going to be exposing them to the sun for any length of time and I moisturize after washing every single time. That's all I do. Here are my 54 year old arthritic hands. Photo taken about 2 weeks ago.
My left hand pinky finger is the most affected so far from OA but my index finger also has it.

You have beautiful hands! I would have guessed hands from a woman in her 30ies! I‘m sorry about the OA.
i certainly don‘t take good care of my hands and the look dry and older.

 

[missy]

You have beautiful hands! I would have guessed hands from a woman in her 30ies! I‘m sorry about the OA.
i certainly don‘t take good care of my hands and the look dry and older.

Thanks @Roselina, if I don’t have moisturizer around when I wash my hands they start looking very wrinkly quickly. It makes a big difference. I try to use moisturizers with a minimum of ingredients. Trader Joe’s has a wonderful moisturizer for a good price too. The OA is causing bumps on my fingers but I’m grateful I can still use my hands fully despite some discomfort.

 

[Roselina]

Thanks @Roselina, if I don’t have moisturizer around when I was my hands they start looking very wrinkly quickly. It makes a big difference. I try to use moisturizers with a minimum of ingredients. Trader Joe’s has a wonderful moisturizer for a good price too.

Thank you! I will try that!

 

[GreenPapaya]

Honestly I try not to look at them...
My hands are always dried and wrinkled. I've worked in farms and factories since I was 11 years old so yeah, my face looks youthful but my hands have been through some things! Sometimes I put lotion and aquaphor on but since I'm on the computer all day it just smears everywhere. @missy you have beautiful hands! Although with that ring I have to really focus to see your hands.
Perhaps just get a huge beautiful ring or rings for each of your fingers?

 

[missy]

Honestly I try not to look at them...
My hands are always dried and wrinkled. I've worked in farms and factories since I was 11 years old so yeah, my face looks youthful but my hands have been through some things! Sometimes I put lotion and aquaphor on but since I'm on the computer all day it just smears everywhere. @missy you have beautiful hands! Although with that ring I have to really focus to see your hands.
Perhaps just get a huge beautiful ring or rings for each of your fingers?

Thank you and Haha I like the way you think girl. But honestly with my OA wearing rings isn’t as much fun. It’s always challenging washing hands and drying them sufficiently with the rings on and also taking the rings off. It’s ok. When I do wear Bubbalah I appreciate her even more. But yeah I like the way you think @dizzyakira ❤

 

[YadaYadaYada]

There really is no benefit to being overweight EXCEPT that your hands tend to keep from looking "old". Then again maybe this is the norm for 42.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

Whatever goes on my face also goes on my hands.

 

[lyra]

As I approach 60, it's the first time my hands have started looking "old". I stay out of the sun completely. Right now I have a rash on both hands and up my arms. I think it was from the hand soap I was using. I try not to look at them right now. When things are normal, at least then I have rings to look at.

 

[nala]

Since all smartphones have filters—which are preset and are above the average user’s knowledge—meaning I can’t remove mine—you are not going to see any actual real photos of hands posted here. If you photograph your hands in the sun, that lighting will also help. All this to say—don’t trust pictures—and don’t compare your hands to anyone else’s bc it will not be an accurate comparison. This is why social media pics really suck. They create false expectations and comparisons and can leave a culture that is obsessed with youth even more disturbed and vulnerable.

 

[stracci2000]

I'm 55 and already have that horrible crepey skin on my hands and arms.

I'm pretty sure there is nothing you can to to make your hands look any younger.

Creams and oils are just topical and only help for a minute.
Just wear pretty rings and bracelets!

 

[luv2sparkle]

Like with most things, some days I think my hands or my face look ok, and other times not so much. On the not so much days, I apply a lot more moisturizer.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

@nala, I wasn't aware that all phones have filters that can make things look that much better than IRL. I will say my hand picture is representative of what my hands look like. Of course I have an older IPhone, maybe the filters have improved from the 6S!

 

[nala]

@nala, I wasn't aware that all phones have filters that can make things look that much better than IRL. I will say my hand picture is representative of what my hands look like. Of course I have an older IPhone, maybe the filters have improved from the 6S!

I had no idea about preset filters either bc I’m a Luddite, lol.But I couldn’t reconcile how some people look totally different in pics and my sister kept telling me the pics were filtered. I kept insisting that not all phones have filters and then in one of these threads, someone pointed out the “preset lovely face” filter! So. I’ve since started doing a lot of comparing.Look for a very subtle blurriness...look for moles or wrinkles that magically disappear in intensity or are suddenly not as prominentby focusing on a major one...take a pic in the Sun under the perfect lighting and then take a pic in different lighting and it will become obvious. I think that if you focus your comparison on another person’s pictures—maybe your hubby—it will be easier to distinguish the filters bc you won’t be biased. I think what bothers me the most is that my phone changes my skin tone! I’m very dark skinned but the phone pics change my skin tone to a lighter shade! Like wth!

 

[marymm]

I don't do anything to keep my hands looking young, but I do apply lotion to my hands several times throughout the day and also religiously wear gloves when washing the dishes (I don't use a dishwasher) ... if I keep my hands somewhat moisturized, I have fewer to zero hangnails (which I tend to fidget with and make worse). Nicely moisturized hands look and feel much healthier to me.

 

[pearaffair]

@kenny - no age shaming intended!
I asked mainly because my grandmother lived to age 95 and we were best friends and she took great care of herself, made the most of what nature gave her, and I aspire to do the same. Nevertheless, perhaps you might enjoy this poem I like:

My Mother's Hands
Such a lovely ring, she said.
It even looks good on my ugly hands.
As if those hands were lacking.
As if those hands –
hard working hands –
Bore no beauty of their own.

My mother’s hands,
That held the soap
To scrub my baby toes;
Whose hands were there
To show me how
To blot my runny nose.

Those hands that later
held my hands
And patiently did teach me
How to tie my shoes -
Then held them once again
To coax and guide my own
To write my cursive name
Until the time when I alone
Could do the very same.

My mother’s hands,
That fed me,
And tucked me in at night;
Who touched my fevered brow
And soothed away my fright.

My mother’s hands,
That all my life
Gave comfort, care and hope.
And when my children came to be,
I watched my mother’s hands -
a new grandmother’s hands -
Touch my children, tenderly.

My mother’s hands,
Yes, weathered by their toil,
The fingers wide,
And aged with years –
and just like her,
Still sure and strong
Yet gentle as they ever were.

My mother’s hands –
She looks, and says they’re ugly
But I don’t know what to say.
For when I see
My mother’s hands
It’s the beauty of
The love they gave,
Assuring strength
And constant grace
All held within
My mother’s hands.

Lin Cava

 

[pearlsngems]

My hands were very dry until I began using rubber gloves when doing the dishes and when hand washing garments. The gloves made all the difference.
Hand creams were not enough.

 

[junebug17]

@kenny - no age shaming intended!
I asked mainly because my grandmother lived to age 95 and we were best friends and she took great care of herself, made the most of what nature gave her, and I aspire to do the same. Nevertheless, perhaps you might enjoy this poem I like:

My Mother's Hands
Such a lovely ring, she said.
It even looks good on my ugly hands.
As if those hands were lacking.
As if those hands –
hard working hands –
Bore no beauty of their own.

My mother’s hands,
That held the soap
To scrub my baby toes;
Whose hands were there
To show me how
To blot my runny nose.

Those hands that later
held my hands
And patiently did teach me
How to tie my shoes -
Then held them once again
To coax and guide my own
To write my cursive name
Until the time when I alone
Could do the very same.

My mother’s hands,
That fed me,
And tucked me in at night;
Who touched my fevered brow
And soothed away my fright.

My mother’s hands,
That all my life
Gave comfort, care and hope.
And when my children came to be,
I watched my mother’s hands -
a new grandmother’s hands -
Touch my children, tenderly.

My mother’s hands,
Yes, weathered by their toil,
The fingers wide,
And aged with years –
and just like her,
Still sure and strong
Yet gentle as they ever were.

My mother’s hands –
She looks, and says they’re ugly
But I don’t know what to say.
For when I see
My mother’s hands
It’s the beauty of
The love they gave,
Assuring strength
And constant grace
All held within
My mother’s hands.

Lin Cava

@pearaffair, I must be emotional today, this poem made me tear up. It's beautiful. <3

 

[pearaffair]

@pearaffair, I must be emotional today, this poem made me tear up. It's beautiful. <3

It made me tear up too! You’re not alone <3

It’s actually not even the one I was looking for, but the sentiment is the same and beautifully expressed.

 

[KaeKae]

@pearaffair
That poem is lovely.
Unfortunately (for a lot of reasons, not just this, of course) my mom died at 40, and I'm well beyond 40 now. I have no idea what her hands would have looked like at my age, but it's a nice thing to think of her as I look down at one of her rings on my own hand.
In the meantime, one of the hints I have picked up along the way is to use a few drops of oil, I like olive oil, as a lotion. I do that in the evenings. If I am careful to not pour too much (finally found a little bottle that helps with that) then it absorbs quickly enough while I watch tv. My hands don't look like I'm 20, but they don't look so dry, and the cuticles are better, too.

 

[LemonMoonLex]

@kenny - no age shaming intended!
I asked mainly because my grandmother lived to age 95 and we were best friends and she took great care of herself, made the most of what nature gave her, and I aspire to do the same. Nevertheless, perhaps you might enjoy this poem I like:

My Mother's Hands
Such a lovely ring, she said.
It even looks good on my ugly hands.
As if those hands were lacking.
As if those hands –
hard working hands –
Bore no beauty of their own.

My mother’s hands,
That held the soap
To scrub my baby toes;
Whose hands were there
To show me how
To blot my runny nose.

Those hands that later
held my hands
And patiently did teach me
How to tie my shoes -
Then held them once again
To coax and guide my own
To write my cursive name
Until the time when I alone
Could do the very same.

My mother’s hands,
That fed me,
And tucked me in at night;
Who touched my fevered brow
And soothed away my fright.

My mother’s hands,
That all my life
Gave comfort, care and hope.
And when my children came to be,
I watched my mother’s hands -
a new grandmother’s hands -
Touch my children, tenderly.

My mother’s hands,
Yes, weathered by their toil,
The fingers wide,
And aged with years –
and just like her,
Still sure and strong
Yet gentle as they ever were.

My mother’s hands –
She looks, and says they’re ugly
But I don’t know what to say.
For when I see
My mother’s hands
It’s the beauty of
The love they gave,
Assuring strength
And constant grace
All held within
My mother’s hands.

Lin Cava

I just called my mother and read this to her. Come to find she literally was cutting onions at the moment for stew so it was a double whammy.
Thank you for this ❤

 

[pearaffair]

@pearaffair
That poem is lovely.
Unfortunately (for a lot of reasons, not just this, of course) my mom died at 40, and I'm well beyond 40 now. I have no idea what her hands would have looked like at my age, but it's a nice thing to think of her as I look down at one of her rings on my own hand.
In the meantime, one of the hints I have picked up along the way is to use a few drops of oil, I like olive oil, as a lotion. I do that in the evenings. If I am careful to not pour too much (finally found a little bottle that helps with that) then it absorbs quickly enough while I watch tv. My hands don't look like I'm 20, but they don't look so dry, and the cuticles are better, too.

I’m so sorry you lost your mom at such a young age.

 

[pearaffair]

I just called my mother and read this to her. Come to find she literally was cutting onions at the moment for stew so it was a double whammy.
Thank you for this ❤

Awwwwwww maybe I’ll read it to my mom!

 

[LemonMoonLex]

Awwwwwww maybe I’ll read it to my mom!

It was a very sweet moment between us and one of appreciation.
She also, as most ageing women do (because of our societal standards) hate the way they look when they get older and my mothers no exception albeit she's so so beautiful. It was a gentle reminder that we are so much more.

I highly recommend it!