BEAUTY // HOW TO BABY-PROOF YOUR HANDS

In the years BC (Before Child), I prided myself on my freshly manicured nails. A perk of the job, I’d rarely go a few weeks without a file, buff and slick of the latest polish. When I was heavily pregnant and struggling to even fit into maternity clothes, a glossy manicure would help me feel put together and like the old ‘me’ on days when I was feeling pretty insecure about how I looked.

Those days are long gone.

PC (Post Child) my hands fell apart. Thanks to the constant stream of bottle washing, antibac and other things that I won’t describe here (you know what I mean) my new mum hands were uncomfortably dry, the skin was cracked and my nails were weak, split and breaking. No one warned me this would happen. If they had I would have stockpiled hand cream before I went on my Beauty Editor Gap Year.

One of the questions that we get asked from new mums regularly is what’s the best hand cream. Well, today we’re going one step further. I asked two of the busiest celebrity manicurists-slash-supermums in the industry for their expert tips…

Jenni Draper is the manicurist of choice for Oscar winners Anne Hathaway, Keira Knightley, Lupita Nyong’o and Cate Blanchett.

“Turn bottle-washing into a luxe hand treatment. While you run the tap getting the water as hot as possible, apply a really generous layer of rich hand cream and get those rubber gloves on. The heat from the water will open the pores allowing for better absorption the hand creams ingredients. Think of it as a mini heated hand treatment whilst bottle washing.”

“Multitask; mums are experts at this. Push your cuticles back in the shower, rub excess moisturiser from your face into your hands and keep something that’s easy to apply like

by the baby monitor next to your bed, that way you won’t ignore it. It takes ten seconds to apply it and give nails a huge surge of moisture just before you turn the lights out.”

Michelle Class tends to the supermodel hands of Georgia May Jagger, Lara Stone and Jourdan Dunn.

“Switch your washing up liquid. Detergents dry out skin and nails so if you aren’t loyal to a pair of marigolds, try switching to Earth Friendly organic products, they do a Baby Bottle Wash Liquid (£3.50) that’s gentle on skin. It’s quite concentrated so you only need to use a little."

“Re-apply, re-apply, re-apply. Keep mini hand creams in every handbag and by every sink that you use and apply every time you wash my hands. Give yourself a ten second hand massage: apply a 5 pence sized amount onto the back of one hand, sweep it in downwards motions towards the cuticle area then use circular movements on the nails to stimulate growth.”

Here are a few of my favourite products – tried and tested – that will help to return your hands to their former glory…

1. L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream // 2.Town Talk Red Apple Washing Up Liquid // 3.Aveeno Hand Cream // 4.Sally Hansen Nail Strengthener// 5.Cowshed Cowslip Soothing Hand Cream // 6.Soap and Glory Mini Hand Food// 7. Nails Inc Vitamin E Oil Pen