How To: Silky, Soft and Smooth Hands

How's that for alliteration?
As a pole dancer, I fight really hard to get rid of the gross callouses that grow on my hands. and have developed a routine to help keep my hands soft and silky smooth.
These tips work well if you use your hands a lot in your day to day life. Whether your hands are roughed up from sport or a hobby such as gardening, never fear!
 

 

As much as I love hand creams, I cannot use them on the days I have pole because that's downright dangerous. So I have to turn to other methods. On the days I pole I always make sure to wash off my grip aid really well so it doesn't continue to dry my hands out for longer than absolutely necessary. That night in the shower I'll exfoliate the skin on my hands with a pumice stone. 

I got mine from Target and I absolutely love it because it has a little rope to hang nicely on my shower caddy, and it's got a rubber grip all the way around so it's easy to hold even in running water.

My next favourite thing is this callous shaver from Revlon. Once a fortnight, while my skin is really soft after my shower, I'll gently shave off the callouses at the base of my middle finger. (gross, right?) If you've never seen one of these before, they're actually designed for feet. Be careful though, because it is a razor blade you're using so you don't want any nasty cuts that could possibly get infected.

In between pumice and callous shaver treatments, I'll use some of Crabtree & Evelyn's Hand Recovery, usually once a week. This is basically like a scrub for your hands; it deep cleanses, exfoliates and moisturises all in one 60 second treatment. With awesome natural ingredients such as sea salt for exfoliation, algae, macadamia nut oil, and shea butter for moisturising and lavender oil for soothing, you know it's going to be good. The La Source one has a nice sea air scent too, which is quite refreshing.

Every night that I'm not poling, (or very early in the mornings on the nights that I plan to) I'll usually apply a hand cream. I love both the Crabtree & Evelyn Avocado hand therapy (review here) and the Body Shop's Almond Oil Hand Rescue for deep moisturising.

And that's it! My hands remain soft and supple for day-to-day activities whilst not being too slippery for poling!

What are your favourite hand remedies? Are you a hand cream lover or are your hands ignored in your beauty routine?



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My Desk-Essential Beauty Items

With blogging, uni work, and general catching up on emails, it's really not a surprise that I spend a LOT of time at my desk. As such, I try to make it an area that is not only functional, but comfortable. Keeping a stash of essential beauty items on one of my shelves helps accomplish this. 

I used to keep all this stuff in a small gift box, but when my friend Meg gifted me this glass container for Christmas, I immediately switched. It actually ended up saving me space because it's tall, so fits more in. Also, because it's see through, I find that I reach for the items more frequently. 

So what exactly do I keep within reach?

Hand Creams

I'm such a hand cream addict, and am so weird about keeping my hands soft and smooth. Maybe four hand creams to have within reach at any one time is slightly excessive? To be fair, I do occassionally switch these ones up with whatever one is in my handbag for something different. 

Body Shop Almond Oil Hand Rescue and Hand and Nail Cream. I prefer to use the hand rescue cream at night, when I've finished studying and am about to snuggle on the couch or jump into bed. The hand and nail cream sinks in really nicely, so I use that as a more general hand cream during the day. 

Say it With Scent Vanilla Hand Cream: Another light hand cream, I use this one when I'm bored. It does moisturise well, although I wouldn't say it's an 'intense' moisture surge. I love the scent of this one (surprisingly, since I'm not normally a vanilla kinda gal). 

Crabtree & Evelyn LA Source Hand Cream: I've done a whole video reviewing this, and it is still one of my favourite, go-to hand creams. I absolutely love the scent, the texture...basically everything about this one. 

Lip Balms and Scrubs

Maybelline's Baby Lips: No really, what can I say about these that hasn't already been said before? I love them. 

Blistex Complete Moisture: I really think this is one of those non-negotiable, everyone-should-own-this products. No really, EVERYONE. Including the boys. I love the SPF in this, and I love the way it treats my lips if they do get burnt, or are dry and flaky. 

Speaking of dry and flaky...

LUSH lip scrub in Popcorn and Sweet Lips: Yeah, I'm one of those gross people that lick this off after using it. My argument is, it's my own dead skin cells and you probably inhale a million anyway, so a few more can't hurt. These are really yummy, and are a good exfoliation. I find that by keeping these next to my desk I'm more likely to use them than if they're in my bathroom. 

Face Masks

Apivita face masks; express beauty with cereals and express beauty with ginko biloba: Again, I find I'm much more likely to use these if they're in my line of vision constantly. I try to use a face mask at least once a week, and since I don't always get a heap of free time, I'll usually have one on while I'm blogging or assignment-ing. 

Tea Samples

Just because they're delicious, and I'm running out of room in the kitchen to store these. 

Other Misc Beauty Items

Antiseptic Ear Care Spray: Sometimes my piercings will play up - especially if I've knocked one of them on something. It's always a good idea to keep one of these handy. 

Pure Therapy Intensive Moisture: This is a repair gel that provides intense moisture to very dry skin. I tend to break out in rashes when I'm stressed (sexy, non?) so I keep this at my desk to help with the inflammation.

What beauty products do you keep at your work / home desk? 

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Review: Crabtree & Evelyn Avocado, Olive and Basil Hand Therapy

I received this travel-sized Hand Therapy for Christmas from J's sister and I love it. I'm already a fan of C&E hand lotions - so you can imagine I was pretty happy when I unwrapped this one! 

Avocado is well known for being good for your skin when you eat it, and apparently it's good for your skin when you apply it too! Olive oil is also a common ingredient in restorative skincare, so really it's no surprise that avocado + olive oil = ultra moisture. The Basil also gives the lotion a really nice scent, without being overpowering. That being said, I effing love Basil (true fact: even named my bird Basil when I was 11). 

As far as the packaging goes, I really love it when companies put hand creams in this little metal tubes. Their durability means I don't have to fear them exploding in my handbag. I also like that as you start using up the cream, you can roll the tube up and save space! This is a small, 25g travel sized one, and it's so cute next to my full sized (100g) LA Source C&E hand cream. 

This hand-cream is really thick - as you can see from it being squeezed out of the tube in the above photo. 

Despite its thickness, it is not at all oily, and rubs in really easily. Exactly what I love in a hand cream. 

What's your favourite hand cream? Do you even use hand cream or am I just an old person trapped in a 20 year old's body?

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