Skin Care Tips and Hints for Fabulous Nurses

Glamourous Nurse

Are the long hours, (sometimes) stressful conditions and often harsh chemical agents in your average Hospital or Nursing Home taking its toll on your skin?

We Nurses can often struggle to look our best in the face of a work environment that does little to support a healthy, glowing complexion.

So every once in a while we need to take extra steps to pamper ourselves if we want to look fabulous!

So first things first…

Re-evaluate your Hand Hygiene!

We all know hand washing and glove use are the cornerstones of infection prevention and control in all the healthcare settings we work in.

But these same infection control policies and procedures are also the leading cause of contact dermatitis in Nurses.

If you are experience an allergic reaction or chemical sensitivity, take a closer look at what you’re being exposed to.

At Work

• Switching to non-latex gloves or using a hand sanitizer that doesn’t dry your skin as much may help.

• Only wear gloves when they are needed and take them off to let your hands breathe the rest of the time.

At Home

• Minimise the detergents you expose your hands to at home to further limit your exposure to chemicals that may dry your skin out.

• Moisturise, Moisturise Then Moisturise Again!

Constant hand washing and then using alcohol-based hand sanitizers can dry out our skin even if we don’t end up with a rash.

When our skin dries and cracks, it isn’t as resistant to infection and in turn can cause further problems.

At Work

• Use your hand moisturiser throughout the day, especially each time you wash your hands to help restore your skin and help prevent that dry tight feeling you can get when you remove your gloves.

• Consider using an SPF 15 moisturizer so you’ll be in the habit of keeping sunscreen on your hands. That will help you prevent sun damage to delicate hand skin when you do venture outside.

• Remember, no matter how good your face looks, people can always guess your age by your hands!!!

At Home

• Apply Vaseline or a heavy-duty petroleum based cream before bed. Just don’t mix any petroleum-based creams with latex gloves at work. The petroleum will damage latex gloves causing holes in them!!!!!

• Pay special attention to ragged cuticles, pushing them back gently each day rather than trimming them. Use cuticle oil regularly to soften them and make them more pliable.

Nurses in the know recommend:

• Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream.

• Aveeno Active Naturals Intense Relief Repair Cream

• Avon care protecting glycerine hand cream

• Aveda Hand Relief Lotion for Stressed & Dry Skin

• The Body Shop Hemp Hand Cream

Keep on Moving!

Few of us as Nurses are able to reach our 40s without seeing the tell-tale marks of our time as a Nurse etched into our legs.

Spider veins are mainly a cosmetic problem and one of the main activities associated with the development of spider veins is standing for long periods of time.

As Nurses, let’s be honest we’re going to find it difficult to avoid being on our feet for hours on end.

But we may be able to limit the development of spider veins.

At Work

• Frequently shifting your weight from one foot to the other when you are standing.

• Keeping your blood sugar stable by not skipping meals, avoiding those carbs and smart snacking between meals on high energy healthy foods such as fruits, veggies and nuts.

• Wearing compression stockings, they may not the most attractive accessory but invaluable if you have a family history of vein problems

At Home

• If you already have a few veins creeping across your calves. Don’t despair you don’t have to resign yourself to never showing your pins in public again. There are many products on the market to help conceal them.

• Sally Hansen’s Airbrush Legs is perfect to minimise the appearance of spider veins, often described as “spray on stockings”. Unlike self-tanning lotions, this spray washes right off if you make a mistake.

• Self-tans on the other hand are perfect for a more long term solution. The choices of self-tan products are endless from the classic St Tropez self-tanning cream to the budget Ambre Solaire Bronzer self-tan body mist.

• If creams, lotions and potions are not your thing, Marks & Spencer control and support tights are the go to, they can hide a multitude of sins and come in a wide range of shades and deniers to suit everyone’s style.

• Last but not least, if and when you do get a chance to sit down elevate those legs!!!

Put Your Best Foot Forward!

Few of us would consider our feet our most attractive feature, but that’s no reason to neglect them!

The skin on our feet is especially prone to fungal infections especially when we’re up and about all day in shoes that hold sweat close to our skin.

At Work

• Wear shoes and socks that are breathable.

• If you wear leather shoes, buy two pairs and alternate them each day. This gives the leather time to dry out fully after each shift.

• Consider wearing athletic shoes that meet your Hospital or Nursing Home dress code, since these often have mesh panels that allow better air penetration.

At Home

• Go barefoot in the safety of your own home to give your feet a chance to breathe.

• Do you like to treat yourself to a pedicure or paint your toenails? It’s a good idea to give your toenails a break from the varnish if you want to avoid the dreaded toenail fungus. Get your toenails done before an event where people will actually see them (holidays, a party where you’ll be wearing open-toed shoes, etc.) Then remove the polish afterward to keep fungus from gaining a “foothold.”

Keep Your Face Looking Fresh!

Okay, we’ve covered your body from hand to toe, but what about everything inbetween?

Here are the top five beauty secrets to keep every Nurse looking their best with minimum effort:

1. Exfoliate with care. Many facial scrubs contain gritty fragments that can cause micro-tears in your skin. That makes your skin look rougher instead of smoother over the long term. Consider using AHA cleansers or other products that let you gently wipe away dead skin rather than scrubbing it off.

Nurses in the know recommend:

• NIP+FAB Glycolic Fix Cleanser

• Pixi Glow Tonic

• Yes to Blueberries Smoothing Daily Cleanser

• Dermalogica skin resurfacing cleanser

• The Body Shop Brightening Cleansing Foam

2. Keep under-eye bags at bay with cool compresses. These are easy to use and cost you nothing. Try these homely remedies before you invest in expensive creams to address your saggy under-eye area.

• Teabag Tightener. Put used chamomile tea bags in the refrigerator for half an hour. Then place the chilled tea bags over the eyes for at least 10 minutes.

• Cucumber Cooler Thoroughly wash a cucumber and cut it into thin slices. Refrigerate the slices for 15 to 20 minutes, and then put them over your eyes for at least 10 minutes.

• Magical Milk Dab a cotton ball in cold milk and dab it around your eyes. You can also place a cotton ball soaked in milk on the eyes as a compress for an instant cooling effect.

3. Use a bronzer to give a sun-kissed glow to skin that rarely sees the sun. Apply it lightly to any areas that would naturally get the most sun exposure (forehead, cheekbones, nose, chin and collarbone). Pick a bronzer no more than two shades darker than your natural skin tone so you don’t look like an Oompa-Loompa!!!

Nurses in the know recommend

• NYX Professional Makeup Matte Bronzer (A shade available for everyone)

• Rimmel Natural Bronzer

• L’Oreal Paris Bronze Cushion De Soleil

• The Body Shop Honey Bronze (Perfect for Blondes)

• Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick compact (Beautiful on darker skin)

4. Water, water everywhere. Without proper hydration that elusive glow won’t ever be yours. Try to reduce your caffeine (and alcohol) intake!!! And increase the H20. Aim for two litres spread throughout the day. Within 7 days you should start seeing softer, plumper glowing skin.

5. Don’t neglect your hair. Straight, curly, long or short. The one thing all our hair benefits from is ongoing maintenance. Even if you are growing your hair out, regular trims at 6-8 week intervals are invaluable in keeping your hair healthy and in shape.

As Nurses we are so used to looking after others we don’t always remember to look after ourselves.

Hopefully some of the tips and hints here will help you to stop, take a moment for yourself and be proud to be a fabulous Nurse!