HRT for your HANDS

Six expert ways to menopause-proof your biggest age giveaway...

by Rachel Carlyle

How many times have we heard that when it comes to betraying our age, hands never lie?

No matter how clear and smooth we’ve managed to keep our faces, one look at a pair of ageing hands reveals wrinkly, scrawny skin, ugly brown age spots and bulging veins.

The trouble with hands is they get a raw deal: they’re exposed to all weathers and endlessly plunged in water and harsh household chemicals, yet how many of us treat them with the same care as our faces?

To make matters worse, the skin on the backs of our hands is very thin, so as we age, especially after the menopause, the loss of supportive fat can cause bones and veins to protrude. Skin loses its springiness, too.

‘After menopause your oestrogen levels fall significantly, which accelerates collagen loss, so the elasticity of your skin takes a nosedive,’ says dermatologist Dr Anjali Mahto, of the Cadogan Clinic in London.

But that doesn’t mean we have to hold up our (wrinkly) hands in surrender. There’s a raft of sophisticated anti-ageing products and clinical treatments on the market. ‘I’ve seen far more people coming to me in the past year about their hands — they know it’s the one thing that gives their age away,’ says Dr Mahto.

Add a serum

So, YOU’VE incorporated serum into your facial skincare regime — that layer after cleansing and toning, but before moisturiser — but do you use it on the backs of your hands?

‘Serums are incredibly hydrating, and we should get into the habit of using them twice a day under hand cream,’ says skincare specialist Lee Garrett, director of The Garrett Clinic on Harley Street.

Using a retinol-based product can thicken skin as it stimulates the production of collagen, the protein responsible for skin’s elasticity, and has a plumping effect. Retinol specialist Verso has a hand serum (£50, cultbeauty.

co.uk), which promises to reduce dark spots and crepiness.

Margaret Dabbs’s Hand Serum (£30, spacenk.com) won new product of the year at last year’s beauty oscars, the CEW awards. Use it twice a day. ‘The idea is to use a serum first, then a hand cream — layering it up just as you would on your face,’ says Margaret Dabbs.

SPF is your friend

IF ONLY your 25-year-old self had realised it. Using sunscreen on your hands is the number one must-do, says Dr Mahto.

‘Ninety per cent of ageing is down to chronic sun exposure over the years. Your hands are your body’s most exposed site, yet so few people put sunscreen on the backs of their hands to avoid that crepey, wrinkly skin with age spots that you see so often in older women.’

It’s never too late to start. Use a hand cream containing SPF in the daytime (and re-apply every time you wash your hands).

But don’t leave it at that, says Dr Mahto. ‘If you will be outside for most of the day, apply sunscreen to the backs of the hands, even when it’s not sunny — 80 per cent of UV will penetrate cloud cover.’

Apply sunscreen before driving, too, as UVA passes through glass. Margaret Dabbs SPF 30 Sun Defence spray (£22, marga

retdabbs.co.uk) forms a protective veil over your hands.

Try a hand mask

REMEMBER when beauty experts advised wearing cotton gloves over hand cream to bed? You can still do that if you don’t mind looking slightly ridiculous, but technology has moved on: products work faster now.

Nails Inc launched its Shine Bright Anti-Ageing Glove Masks (£ 8, nailsinc.com) — plastic gloves containing collagen, retinol, and B and C vitamins to firm and hydrate hands. They work in only 15 minutes.

At the more expensive end is Nannette de Gaspe’s Youth Revealed hand masque (£60,

nannettedegaspe. com). You wrap the fabric around your hand and leave for 15 minutes. You can reuse it three times. Tests show a 20 per cent reduction in wrinkles after one use, and a 62 per cent increase in hydration after three hours.

Using a good overnight hand cream can have a similar effect. ‘our skin repairs itself at night when it isn’t under stress, so overnight treatments work,’ says legendary facialist Sarah Chapman, whose Skinesis overnight Hand and Nail Treatment (£39, spacenk.com) targets sun damage and contains skinplumping ingredients.

Zap age spots

THE small brown patches on our skin caused by exposure to the sun are the bane of many older women’s lives.

In one UK survey 36 per cent of women over 40 were bothered by them. They’re worse after the menopause as skin becomes more susceptible to sun damage, since we produce less of the protective pigment melanin.

If you don’t want to spend a fortune on clinic treatments to remove age spots, try the Spotner pen applicator, which squeezes cream on them. It fades them using plant-based lighteners, and has an SPF 50 to stop them recurring.

‘In tests, there’s a 50 per cent reduction in age spots over four weeks, and most users see results in around 14 days when they use it twice a day,’ says Nick Thompson, MD of Zurego, which imports Spotner to the UK (£19.99, zurego.com).

Plump it up

SERUMS and creams will only take you so far: once you’re past the menopause and your skin appears crepey, you may want a more intensive treatment.

Dermal fillers are the most popular clinic option, and can take ten years off your hand age. An ultra-fine needle injects a dermal filler — usually Radiesse or a hyaluronic acid-based filler — between the metacarpals, the bones that run from the base of your fingers to your wrists.

The gel plumps up the skin and smooths wrinkles. It’s painless and quick but not cheap: you usually need two treatments over six to eight weeks, which cost about £600 each. Effects can last up to 12 months. ‘Dermal fillers are an effective way of bringing back volume in hands,’ says Dr Mahto. ‘They won’t look as veiny or thin.’

Vampire hands

NOT for the faint-hearted, the so-called vampire facelift is now available for hands. PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) injection is a cosmetic therapy where your blood is injected back into you.

It’s spun in a centrifuge to separate out the plasma, which is mixed with hyaluronic acid and injected into the backs of your hands. The idea is to trick the body into producing collagen as part of its healing process.

‘PRP won’t give your hands more volume but it gives a bright, dewy look to the skin as if it’s alive,’ says Lee Garrett, who usually offers PRP along with dermal fillers. It costs about £550 per session — three are needed four weeks apart.