My hands are a mess!

Since I have been painting in earnest, like not a day goes by that I don't paint, practice, clean sponges, clean airbrushes, make boards, and on and on, my hands have just been getting worse and worse. My cuticles are rough and dry, I could not keep my nails any shorter, and they are just feeling and looking horible. What do you do to take care of your hands? Would it help to invest in a manicure, and would anything last? Send me your ideas, what has worked or helped you, or is it just me?

TIA
Martha

Moisturize... constantly.

I keep my nails painted funky colors now to hide any stains...and protect them, but yes, moisturize, moisturize, moisturize!!! If you are really uncomfortable, you can wear cotton gloves and a really thick greasy hand cream overnight for a few nights. My latest favorite nail colours are bright pink, yellow, blue and green with black crackle over it. I'm an artist now...what's normal in YOUR world?? LOL

Thanks Gamez, do you have a polish that stays on? I am using aquophor, and they are still rough and just look bad. I added an aveno product last night too, because they just felt so bad.

I wondered if a cured polish from a manacurist would stay on longer, like the solar products, and not break down with all the water and mess? Anyone tried them with success?

My fave color of nail polish right now is hot pink with black crackle over it, too! I recently discovered the crackle stuff at Five Below. The black is great because I always seem to have black/ dark gray under and around my fingernails. I'm such a messy painter and have a package of baby wipes next to me when I paint. I usually keep a baby wipe available to wipe my fingers while I paint to prevent smudges on the faces.

I moisturize with cocoa butter lotion. I have also heard that shea butter is great. I was thinking about trying to make my own hand cream using cocoa butter and shea butter.

Oh I know how Im going to get my nails painted next! LOL that sounds like a fun design- black crackle.
I use just lotion, practically all the time. I even keep a travel bottle in my kit. I like Cherry blossom scent from Aveeno

I use Huggies baby whipes for cleaning my hands. It's not that harsh as water (dries skin out).

You can use any neutral moist whipes actually. I's also ideal to correct mistakes!

Since I've started face painting I can't keep my nail polish looking nice. I prefer to polish my toe nails since it lasts longer. I do moisturise often to pull the paint out of the cuticles. I'm liking the idea of crackle nail polish... I bet it hides a multitude of stains.

Aside from your care for your nails, you can try something like Gloves in a Bottle. It's a skin protectant lotion for when you constantly wash your hands or handle materials that can dry your hands.

I have never heard of that, can you get "Gloves in a Bottle" at drug stores? Sounds interesting!

That does sound very useful. I moisturize like crazy and wash with ivory soap. It is incredible and gentle. Great suggestions

I love ivory too...for my brushes, for my sponges, and it takes out stains in laundry too!

Here is a link to a store locator. I know you can buy it off of amazon and jerry's art-a-rama. I haven't looked for it elsewhere though. Good luck with your hands!

http://www.glovesinabottle.com/store-locator.html

Thanks Tarodaeht, btw, like your tulip on the black background!

Lol. I saw the title of this thread and I immediately thought there may be someone else out that does the same thing I'm guilty of doing. Somewhere along the line I developed this horrible habit of swiping my brush on the back of my hand first to check the paint consistency when I'm doing linework. It looks like hell after awhile but I'm getting better. Tough habit to break though.

Oh man, I know what you mean! I'm thinking about treating myself to a manicure at the end of "busy season" each year! Ha! I do use nail polish too to hide stains too and help keep them away. I have some cuticle oil stuff I got from a mall kiosk a long time ago...it came with lotion and a nail buffer...Jill Jordan was the brand. But I'm sure there are things like it out there at drug stores. I find my nails seem to break more easily too when I'm doing a lot of painting. I keep a nail clipper and file in my bag just in case. Especially for my right pinky, which I frequently touch to the kids' cheeks to steady myself...don't want that one to be scratchy! I'd say yeah, moisturize a lot, and let's all just collectively treat ourselves to manicures and write it off as business expenses!! ;-)

Such a good idea to write it off! I wonder if our accountant will go for that? Love your pick too! That is just how I feel.

Almond oil... a drug store product called witch craft I love it! My middle finger on my painting hand has a permanent grey patch where the brush rests on there and drips all the paint. I scrub it and moisturize but I know what you mean about dried skin /dirty hands. Oil... olive oil is a great moisturizer too. If you toss your roasting potatoes just use your hands and its a two for one deal..lol The gloves idea at night is a great one too but I dont think I could handle that myself. Good luck!

Found a link to it:

http://well.ca/products/witchcraft-almond-oil_10221.html

Oooh, you know, I forgot to mention...I've used baby wipes for the past 15 yrs too but this year I started using those makeup remover wipes. I always thought, a wipe's a wipe and they just put different packaging on them to sell them to different markets, but these really do a better job of removing makeup! I just get a pack of the Target brand for like $2.99 and wipe my hands down whenever I get time. ;-)

My entire life my hands have been really dry, cuticles brittle, and crack.... And because I am allergic to alot of the lotions and stuff out there, its been hard to keep them nice... I have tried the lotion and gloves thing... very hard for me, even at night...

Recently someone had posted how to make the liquid bling, and the Aloe Vera stuff that was mentioned I had found a brand in wally world, Fruit of the Earth, Aloe Vera 100% Gel, contains NO alcohol.... I put it on my fingers just to test it out... see if I was allergic to it etc... I wasn't and it made them really soft and well so I put a bead of it at the base of my nails and left it on without rubbing it in for like 5 mins or so... HOLY COW you can't tell I had problems.... so thats what I do now... As far as the nail... I use a strengthener get it at Sally's Beauty.... it comes in a purple box... the name is Nail Magic. You put it on 2x a week for the first like 4 weeks... if I remember right.... then 1x a week after that. My hands look a ton better now. Even though I really don't have time to go all out putting patterns and things on them right now... like I want to...