Blessed us as our hands are compared with that of ladies finger. Not only our face, even our hands and legs and for that matter even our skin has to be refreshing all the time. and in many instances, we tend to forget the basic care to be taken for our hands and as a result, we end up living with those dry and rough hands. Why can’t we devote that some extra time and care to transform our hands from rough to smooth and beautiful? Here are some tips for you;
Roughness of the Hands, induced by exposure to cold and drying winds, may, in general, be removed by the use of a little powdered pumice stone with the soap in washing them. The subsequent application, particularly at night, of the above lotions, or of two or three drops of almond or olive oil, well rubbed in, will usually effect the object completely.
The hands may be preserved dry for delicate work by rubbing a little club moss (lycopodium), in fine powder, over them. So repellent is this substance of moisture, that if a small quantity of it be sprinkled on the surface of a basin of water, the hand, by a little adroitness, may be plunged to the bottom of the basin without becoming wet.
Foremost in consideration must be the subject of cleanliness. Dirty and coarse hands are no less marks of slothfulness and lowbreeding than clean and delicate hands are of refinement and gentility. To promote softness and whiteness of the skin, mild emollient soaps, or those abounding in oil or fat, should alone be adopted for common use; by which means the tendency to contract chaps and chilblains, and roughness from drying winds, will also be lessened.
The coarse, strong kinds of soap, those abounding in alkali, should be rejected, as they tend to render the skin rough, dry and brittle. Rain, or soft, water is the best natural water for washing the hands, as it cleanses them more rapidly and completely than ordinary hard water, and with the use of less soap. It may be advantageously used tepid, or even warm; but hot water should be avoided. Distilled water, when obtainable, is preferable to even rainwater. In the absence of these, water that has been boiled and allowed to settle and cool may be employed.
With hard water, the hands are cleansed with difficulty, and though it may be readily softened by the addition of a little soda, such an addition tends to make the skin of a delicate hand somewhat hard and rough. If hard water must be used to wash with, the only harmless substance that can be conveniently added to it is a little good powdered borax. This will also cause it to exert a genial action on the skin. Oatmeal and warm water used every night and morning as a wash will whiten and soften the roughest and darkest hands.
