Emer O'Callaghan: How to look after your hands this autumn

Gratitude, hard work, consistency, self-respect, and manners - these are words I live my life by.

I studied so hard in my profession as a beauty doctor and businesswoman, and while doing treatments is my first love, I also do many other things in the fashion and beauty industry.

Getting to the top in a very tough profession has not been easy, but I am so much wiser today.

I have traveled a lot with work this year, and I love when I get to bring meetings to Cork. While we have so many great venues on Leeside, I do love our beautiful Hayfield Manor where I recently had a big business meeting with a French fashion house.

Growing up in Bishopstown, Hayfield Manor was always the super-posh place up the road, but its old world charm, decor, and fantastic staff and service so impressed my French visitors.

It’s officially autumn now, and we are all getting winter ready. I ordered heating oil for the home last week, what a jaw-dropper when I saw the bill!

Look, let’s be fair, we all could spend our day complaining about the price of everything, and I must say we have really become quite the nation of complainers, boy. People are looking for faults everywhere they go now, Google reviews should be renamed Google complaints if you ask me.

But we could also choose to not complain, to look only for the good and positives everywhere we go, and maybe just wake up and say, thank god I’m alive today.

While you’re at it, try to set aside a little money for you and for your self-esteem.

I work with clients of all ages and I find the over 65 group are so slow to invest in beauty treatments, then they come for one facial and experience how amazing it is, and wonder why in god’s name did they not do it sooner.

Of course, I appreciate times were very different long ago and no-one knew much about self-care and beauty treatments. Now it’s the second biggest industry behind IT.

So, while we all get winter ready, I want to talk about hand care and the importance of being more attentive and mindful of our hands.

WASH YOUR HANDS

Flu season is nigh. I sanitise all my clients’ hands myself as they come into my clinic - this and wearing a medical face mask for treatments are two things I kept from the pandemic.

The reason is because I have observed people long enough to know you simply cannot presume that everyone is as mindful and careful to wash their hands as I am.

Washing your hands could save your or someone else’s life. Picking up germs, bacteria, viruses, and parasites on your hands is so easy, but if you are washing them often throughout the day, you will be fine.

I wash my hands all the time, it’s the first thing I do when I get home from being out anywhere.

I wash my hands before I start cooking and eating, I have an antibacterial hand sanitiser in my car and in my handbag.

Also, nails are big business today in the beauty industry, but make sure you are cleaning and washing with a nail brush under your nails when washing your hands.

And think of all the dirt that can lie under long nail extensions. I certainly wouldn’t like them to make me a sandwich, yuck.

As for handshakes, you really are safer with a hug.

DRY YOUR HANDS CORRECTLY

So many people today complain of psoriasis and eczema, and I treat these every week in my clinic. I always go back to the very basics with them on washing their hands, body and skin correctly.

While all will say they do this, they are often using the wrong product which can aggravate their condition.

Plus, many have no clue as to how important drying their skin correctly is. This can be the cause of so much skin irritation.

I remember treating a lovely client years ago with really bad psoriasis of the hands and I physically showed him how to correctly wash his hands, just like you would a child.

I got him the best medicated wash and creams to heal his skin, and I showed him with a clean towel how it is so important to dry in between each of his fingers, which was where his skin condition was the worst.

We fully cleared up his psoriasis, which he had for over a decade and was told was related to stress and his diet. But he simply had to know the importance of drying in between his fingers every time he washed his hands.

It’s all well and good to wet your hands, but without a good soapy lather to remove the dirt and germs, and a clean drying of hands afterwards, it’s all ineffective.

Also, at home everyone should have a hand towel and tea towel separate inthe kitchen and changed daily - not weekly. The same goes for a bathroom towel. I did one of my beauty videos on this recently and you can watch it on our Emerald beauty Clinic Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok pages.

HAND CREAM

Basically, hand creams work and those of us that use them daily know this.

When you think about your poor hands and all they do all day long for you, but every other part of your skin and body gets cream and attention and our poor hands don’t get anything.

Hand cream is the one thing so many tell me they just forget to use, until one day they look down at their rapidly ageing hands and suddenly they buy a hand cream.

Any hand cream that has perfume and high fragrances in it is not as hydrating as one without.

Our Guinot hand cream is a big seller in my clinic and lasts, it’s also a nail treatment and its anti-ageing hydrating properties transform the ageing skin of the hands fast - but you have to use it daily, not just occasionally as so many do.

I always say to my clients, put hand cream where you will see it - mine is always bedside the TV remote so when I finally sit down at the end of the day, it’s easy to just rub in some hand cream.

Beside the kettle and in your car are two other great places to have hand cream.

I always say a good quality hand cream is a great Christmas gift to give someone.

HAND TREATMENTS

We are living in such an advanced age, and there is so much we can now do in the beauty industry for ageing skin of the hands.

While some opt for more invasive laser treatments, I found my non-invasive Guinot Age Summum treatment on the backs of the hands is very effective. Its ingredients work to gently slosh off ageing dead skin cells, and it hydrates the skin well.

Anyone who is serious about preventing premature ageing of their hands will exfoliate and mask the backs of their hands weekly, and apply SPF on the backs of their hands every morning.

The neck and hands can be a big giveaway as to one’s true age and I will continue to strive to educate people to embrace their natural beauty and age well and powerfully.

So, to finalise, wash your hands, lash on the hand cream, and give more hugs, is the basic message.

Emer O‘Callaghan is a multi award winning beauty doctor, skin expert, and winner of Irish Beauty Therapist of the Year who work’s at Emerald Organic Beauty Products Ltd, trading as Emerald Beauty Clinic, 021 4365949. A Guinot Crown Elite Clinic and Dermalogica Centre of Excellence, 2008-2026, www.emeraldbeautyclinic.ie, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok.

AUTUMN OFFER: Book our award- winning Guinot or Dermalogica Winter Skin Facial at Emerald Beauty Clinic and receive a full, complementary heated hand treatment, valued at €45. To book, call Emerald Beauty Clinic on 021 4365949 Appointments only, free parking for clients.