Overnight Hand Treatment

I don't know about you but the winter weather always causes havoc on my hands. This year hasn't been as bad as others (one year my knuckles cracked and bled - em, eww) but they have felt dry, including my cuticles. (I've learnt so much this past year, before I would have been like - dry cuticles? you wha?) 

When this occurs I like to carry out what I like to call my intensive handcare routine....overnight. I've actually done this every year during the winter but before it only would have involved a thick hand cream as I wasn't as protective or knowledgeable of my cuticles back then. I tend to do this once a week but if I feel they need an extra quick-fire treat, I'll do it for a few nights in a row.

So what does the Intensive Hand Care Treatment involve? The original counterparts are the white MJ style gloves and hand cream. Newer additions include cuticle oil, cuticle cream and a hand salve.

Step 1

I use this hand salve as an extra intense hydration/soothing balm. I dig my finger into the tub and smear a decent amount over my knuckles. I don't rub it in properly yet.

Step 2

My chosen cuticle cream is the Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream. It is a lemon scented one and not too greasy.  I run each nail through the cuticle cream until there is a good blob of it at the tip of each nail. I don't rub it in just yet.

Step 3

My current night hand cream is a Crabtree & Evelyn Hand Therapy one. It is 'specially formulated with natural shea butter to soothe and help protect hands.' I adore the smell of this and while it is thick you could still get away with using it as a day hand cream as well. Another bonus of this hand cream is that it comes with a pump style top (which I somwhow managed to cut out of both pictures?!)

I pump 2-3 pumps on the back of each hand. Again I let it sit there and move on to the next step.

Step 4

Next we have the 2 cuticle oils I use. The first one is my main one. It's an Oro Gold one that I got in a giftset. It's a thicker oil than the China Glaze one. I really just use the China Glaze one for the smell. Again it could probably be used during the day or in the evening if you were just watching tv. It's not greasy enough to cause too much damage. Firstly I paint a thin strip of the China Glaze cuticle oil around my entire cuticle/nail bed. The I add a drop of the Oro Gold cuticle oil to the base of each nail.

Finally I am ready to mix it all up. I begin by massaging the cuticle cream and oils into my cuticles and nail beds. Then I rub in the salve and hand cream. Finally, I put on the white cotton gloves to help it all sink in and moisturise throughout the night. 

So there we go. When you type it out step by step it seems like loads to do, but in reality it is done in a minute. This is just the way I like to keep my hand soft and well conditoned during the winter time. 

Anybody have any other tips or suggestions?