Another reason to hate on January: new research reveals that having dry hands ages us by a whopping nine years on average.

Yes, a specific study asked members of the public to estimate the age of people based solely on photos of their hands, where half were 'dry' and the other half 'not dry', and 69% of respondents guessed above the subjects' actual age when looking at the drier hands. Two even guessed the dry hands of a 28-year-old to be aged 80, while – on average – healthy hands were seen to be one year younger. Pretty harsh stuff.

It all comes courtesy of the company Harvey Water Softeners, who are keen to point out that soft water equals softer skin and hair – which can often be the case.

Extreme though the results of their marketing may sound, it does serve as a reminder of the merits of a good old hand cream.

However, it's important to note that it's not only dry skin that serves up ageing effects on our hands (should you care), but sun damaged skin too. Therefore your hand cream of choice should always feature SPF. Even in January.

Bazaar's favourites include the Alpha-H Protection Plus Hand Cream, which boasts both SPF50 and skin-brightening vitamin C in a magic suits-all shade which helps to wipe a few more years off your hands.

In addition, the Medik8 Hydr8 Hand Cream with SPF25, hyaluronic acid, vitamin B5 and advanced anti-pollution technology is a wonderful do-it-all option to keep in your handbag.

Finally, our ultimate bargain buy is Neutrogena's nourishing Norwegian Formula Anti-Ageing Hand Cream, with SPF25 to protect against future damage and patented active soy, which claims to help reduce the appearance of existing brown spots.

If you want to take the hand care further, take a look at our round-up of the best new lotions, laser and light treatments that grant younger looking skin. Then, of course, there's always the water softener…

From: AR Revista