For hand care focused consumers, glycolic acid-based products are an especially important tool for preventing the visible signs of aging and promoting more youthful-looking hands over the years.

The hands are constantly exposed to the sun, which can lead to discoloration and brown spots, uneven pigmentation, thinning of the skin, and wrinkles.  While sunscreen is the best preventative measure against the aging effects of UV rays, it is often not applied to the hands, leaving the delicate skin unprotected.

“Most people are well aware that they need to develop a proper skin care routine for their face. This helps with prevention as well as minimizing the signs of aging. Sadly, our hands are often forgotten as part of any sort of regimen, which is part of the reason they show our age. The skin on the back of our hands is thinner than our face and other parts of our body, which make it more susceptible to wrinkles and sun damage,” Amos Lavian, founder and Dermelect Cosmeceuticals, told Today.

In addition to environmental damage, the hands also show signs of aging more quickly, thanks to their unceasing motion. From typing, to opening jars, to washing dishes, the hands are constantly in action – and all of that activity can dry out and damage the skin over time.  

However, glycolic acid-based skincare products like peels, sheet masks, and lotions can help slough off dry, damaged skin on the surface of the hands and reveal the supple skin underneath. 

Glycolic acid is a critical component of an anti-aging hand care routine, thanks to the alpha hydroxy acid’s role as the top gentle chemical exfoliator. 

The skin on the hands contains fewer sebaceous glands, or the glands that produce sebum, the oily substance that protects skin by keeping it lubricated. This creates several problems for consumers seeking youthful hands.

First and foremost, dry skin not only looks thinner and discolored, but is also more apt to show wrinkles. Additionally, dry skin prevents moisturizing products from sinking deep within the layers of skin cells, where other active ingredients can be most effective.

Glycolic acid helps solve this problem by whisking away the dead skin cells on the surface of the hands. This rapid exfoliation instantly creates more evenly toned, smoother looking skin on the surface of the hands.  

Secondly, glycolic acid’s ability to quickly spur healthy new cells to the surface of the skin ensures moisturizing products with anti-aging ingredients, like peptides, will be better absorbed into the skin. New skin cells exfoliate naturally and regularly, which prevents pore-clogging dead skin cells from blocking the absorption of moisturizing products.

Glycolic acid is also key for an anti-aging hand care product, because glycolic acid spurs the regeneration of collagen and elastin cells within the dermal layer of skin. 

Collagen and elastin are the two key proteins that keep skin firm, plump, and bouncy. But, as the body ages, the production of collagen and elastin slows over time. For the skin on the hands, this means more visible wrinkles, loose-looking skins, and crepiness. 

But topically applied glycolic acid can help combat these issues by speeding up the production of collagen and elastin.  Incredibly, topically applied glycolic acid treatments have been found to increase fibroblasts’ production of collagen in vivo (in hairless mice) and in vitro (in human skin fibroblast culture), according to a study in Dermatological Surgery. For consumers, this spells out firmer, bouncier skin on their hands, even as they age.

Additionally, a more frequent use of glycolic acid cream, serum, or lotion has also been shown to reduce wrinkle length and depth, according to research conducted by NCBI. 

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The anti-aging hand care market is ripe with possibility for glycolic acid-based products that can reveal healthier, smoother skin.

For consumers concerned with combatting the signs of aging on their hands, glycolic acid is the premier ingredient to incorporate into a hand-care routine. So it only makes sense for formulators and product planners to add more products to satisfy that demand.

Take advantage of our new anti-aging guide, featuring the most innovative, highest-quality ingredients in the personal care industry.