KAREPMU OPO SE

General Hand Care Tips

Wear rubber or cloth gloves for jobs around the house.

Once you get used to them, jobs like cutting and peeling vegetables are not as difficult as you might first believe them to be. If, however, the gloves (cotton ones) get wet, do take them off and let them dry before you put them on again.

Also do try to avoid direct contact with chemical cleaners, detergents and metal polishes.

Try to protect your hands from sudden changes or extremes of temperature. These are bad for circulation and give rise to chilblains.

Exercise your hands daily for suppleness. You can exercise your hands by bending fingers up and down fifteen or twenty times daily. To pep up circulation, take the fingers of one hand in the other and then gently pull each individual finger.

Lemon Juice for Your Hand Care

Lemon juice acts as a whitening agent. Use pure lemon juice on your hands and leave on for fifteen to twenty minutes. Wash off with warm water. Pat dry and then use a rich nourishing cream. Lemon juice can be drying.

Homemade Egg White Hand Cream

1 egg white
2 tablespoons glycerin
2 tablespoons honey
ground barley

Mix the first three ingredients with enough ground barley to make a smooth soft paste that will not drip off your hands. Apply to hands and leave on for about half an hour. Wash off with warm water. Pat dry.

Homemade Almond Oil Hand Cream

2 tablespoons almond oil
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon rose-water
1/2 teaspoon benzoin tincture

Blend into a fine paste. Use on hands as often as you like. Keep in a bottle and refrigerate. This cream should keep well for about two days.

Hand Care Tips for Dry and Rough Hands

Like all other parts of the body, the skin on your hands can get rough and dry when it is deprived of natural oils. Remember that with every treatment you pick for your hand care, it must be regularly repeated for good results.

One old-time recipe for keeping hands soft and well nourished is to soak about 1/4th kg of oatmeal in a quart of warm water. Leave overnight. Next morning strain it. To the liquid that you get, add one teaspoon of olive-oil, one teaspoon rose-water, one teaspoon of glycerin, one tablespoon of lemon juice and one teaspoon of diluted ammonia and mix well.

Preserve this lotion in a bottle and use on your hands at least three to four times a day.

To repair the damage done by soaps, hard detergents and aids, rub your hands with a mixture made of equal amounts of rosewater and glycerin.

Remedies for rough and dry hands include massaging them with equal parts of lanolin, cocoa, butter and almond oil.

Mix two tablespoons of almond oil with one egg yolk and one teaspoon of honey. Massage well into the hands and then put on cotton gloves. After an hour remove gloves and wash hands with a mixture of equal portions of clear water and vinegar.

Keep the excess lotion in a glass bottle and store in the refrigerator. This lotion should keep well for about two weeks. Use twice daily.

To soften hands, soak them in a mixture of honey and orange juice for about ten minutes. Wash with warm water, pat dry and then apply a hand cream.

Vaseline (petroleum jelly) mixed with carbolic acid, or just by itself, should be left on overnight for softening very rough hands.

Also try rubbing them with camphor ice and massaging them with pure cocoa butter.