Can You Use Hand Lotion on Your Face?
You’re not at home and you suddenly notice that your face feels dry and irritated. You desperately need some lotion but all you have in your handbag is a tube of hand lotion. You stop and think. Your skin feels tight and uncomfortable. What should you do? Can you use hand lotion on your face?
The Skin on Our Face vs the Skin on Our Hands
When we look at our face and our hands, we can see that the skin is drastically different. Even when comparing the skin on the palms of our hands to the skin on the back of our hands, there is a huge difference. The skin on our palms is much more robust while on the back of our hands, the skin is thin and often dehydrated and damaged – just think about what our hands go through in a day. The skin on our face is much more delicate and sensitive, with areas of really thin skin around the eyes.1
While our hands need much more moisture and hydration to replenish the moisture that we lose due to handwashing and daily tasks that dry out the skin, our face tends to be much more susceptible to clogged pores and breakouts. When you think about it, our face is almost always open to the elements and exposed to the sun’s UV rays and therefore very susceptible to showing signs of ageing. While the skin on our hands tends to be dry, the skin on our face can be categorized as normal, dry, oily or combination skin, making it that much more complicated to keep it balanced.
Lotions Are Not Created Equal
Some people think that a lotion is a lotion (just ask my dad!) and that at the end of the day, they all do the same job. Now that we can see that the skin on our hands is not equal to the skin on our face, we can start to see why using a hand lotion on our face is not the smartest thing to do. There is a reason why hand and facial lotions exist as separate products.
Hand lotions are usually created to give intense moisture, are usually thicker and heavier in consistency and contain different concentrations of ingredients when compared to a facial lotion. Conventional hand lotions tend to be seen as more of a one-size-fits-all kind of product to help keep your hands moisturized, soft and healthy. However, facial lotions are anything but that. Depending on the type of skin you have, you will use a different face lotion than someone else because you are giving your face what it actually needs, whether it’s intense moisture for dry skin or keeping oily areas in control.
Some facial moisturizers like Skin MD Natural even go above and beyond simply taking care of your skin type and actually provide protection from external elements, even targeting specific skin conditions like acne, rosacea and eczema.
Take Care of Your Skin the Right Way
When it comes to taking care of the skin on your face, don’t mistake it as being the same skin as the rest of your body. Your face needs specific care in order to look and feel its best, whether it’s for your skin type, for anti-ageing or a particular skin condition. This tailored care does not come bottled up in a hand lotion.
Can you use hand lotion on your face? In simple terms, yes. No one is going to stop you. Can you expect negative consequences for your skin as a result if you do? Most probably.
If you want to avoid unwanted breakouts, an uneven skin balance, skin that feels greasy or even irritated by the wrong ingredients, don’t opt for hand lotion on your face. Treat your hands and face as differently as the skin that covers them.
1 https://int.eucerin.com/about-skin/basic-skin-knowledge/skin-in-different-body-parts