Hand and Nail Care

With Ebony

Right now we’re all scrubbing away with warm water and soap to keep coronavirus at bay. Good hand hygiene is the single most effective way to prevent the spread of the disease so try setting an alarm every couple hours to make a trip to the bathroom - it’s only twenty seconds! Be sure to spend time making sure you’ve covered the areas most commonly missed (shown below) and then throughly dry your hands after washing.

But what the advice is not making clear, is the importance of regularly moisturising your hands to keep them healthy. The topmost layer of our skin is made up of oils and wax which acts as a barrier to the outside world, keeping moisture in and keeping microbes out. Soap breaks down the virus and unwanted yuck on or hands but it also breaks down this top layer of our skin meaning that regular washing can leave hands dry, raw and painful. This discomfort then makes us less willing to wash our hands, not what we want! When the skin cracks, not only does washing become less effective but breaks in the skin provide a route of entry for germs and bacteria (this doesn’t increase the transmission of coronavirus, which enters the body through the respiratory system, but it does leave you vulnerable to other infections like staphylococcus aureus, which causes cellulitis).  What’s great is that we can tackle this with moisturiser rather than less frequent washing! Moisturiser does not make your hands any less clean and does not increase your chances of contamination with the virus. In fact, good moisturising is a part of good hand hygiene - that’s why doctors have moisturiser next to their washing stations! Use warm rather than hot water as this is less likely to dry out and damage the structure of your skin. Warm water is just as effective, because you’re killing the virus with soap not with heat. When drying, be sure to pat rather than to rub.

You can apply moisturiser throughout the day but the best time to properly treat your hands is right after washing them before going to bed. This is because the skin is well hydrated and you give the moisturiser the longest time to soak in before just having to wash it off again an hour later! Once a week, use a treatment before your moisturiser to really keep your hands healthy. We use the LaRemedi Hand Restructuring Masque by Jessica.

Constant washing also dries out your nails. This can cause them to split, peel or weaken, which is known as having Brittle Nails. This is because those same good oils make up your fingernails and help to keep your cuticles hydrated. Filing your nails down has two benefits - they are less prone to brittle breakage and also long nails can act as a reservoir for the virus because it’s heard to keep the inside of your fingernails clean. You can also keep them healthy by adding cuticle oil throughout the day and massaging it into the nail bed, and you can provide protection by coating them with a protective polish. If you do develop Brittle Nails, a treatment base polish can help to treat them. We use Jessica products in the Salon and we suggest the following treatment base polishes:

• Fusion and Recovery for Peeling Nails

• Rejuvenation for Dry Nails

• Critical Care for Soft Nails

• Restoration for Damaged Nails

Jessica is taking orders online for these, but any good quality treatment base polish will do the trick! We are a VIP Jessica Salon so enter our code KON002 at the checkout and you will get:

• 20% OFF your first order

• FREE GIFT on your first orders over £40

• 10% OFF each subsequent order

• FREE DELIVERY on orders over £25

Don't forget to use your code each time to qualify.

And if you've got gels on right now - don't panic, there's a great video from Claire on the way to help you get them off at home the way we do it in the Salon! Do NOT pick them off!

Lots of Love, Ebony x