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I was tickling the ivories on my computer keyboard the other day (I l-o-v-e R-y-a-n G-o-s-l-i-n-g) when my eyes settled on a frightening sight.

My hands!

Something — probably a combination of biting winds, indoor heaters and obsessive hand washing — had turned them into two chapped chunks of leathery turkey jerky.

Not cute.

“Tabs!” I screamed, reaching out to him for emotional support, but as soon as he took one look at my wretched paws, he hissed and ran away.

Okay, well, maybe not, but I think he did sort of cringe. 🙂

When the holidays get rolling and the tasks pile up, that’s usually when I forget to take care of my hands. This year, I’m giving my talons some extra TLC, because the last thing I want on New Year’s is to have hands like that guy on Tales from the Crypt.

Here are five handy (pun intended!) tips to soothe and protect your paws and keep them looking their best.

1. Grab your gloves!

No, not the lacy fingerless kind, a la Madonna (although those are cool, too). Wearing gloves, both indoors and out, helps protect them from the elements.

As long as you’re not allergic to latex, consider keeping a bag of disposable ones around to wear while preparing meals with acidic ingredients, and then to avoid detergents while doing the dishes, keep a pair of rubber gloves near the sink. You might even stash an extra pair to use while cleaning the house.

If you spend a lot of time behind the wheel like, say, Ryan Gosling’s character in Drive, driving gloves are a stylish way to protect your paws from the sun.

I also keep a pair of cotton gloves on my nightstand and slip them on after I put on hand cream before bed. I’ve mentioned this tip before, but it’s one of my faves. It’s a great way to hydrate your hands overnight.

2. Scrub-a-dub-dub

I think I’m pretty good about remembering to exfoliate my face and body on a regular basis, but I always forget to exfoliate my hands. Why is that?

To jog my memory, I’ve been keeping an exfoliating scrub on my bathroom sink; if you happen to have an exfoliating face serum (for example, something with an active ingredient like AHA or BHA), you can also mix a couple of drops into your regular hand cream and apply that to your hands instead.
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’round these parts, the holidays are all about the four F’s — food, fun, friends and family — but there’s a fifth F, a special holiday F, and it’s rarely talked about in polite company.

F-R-E-A-K-I-N-G OUT!

The holidays — gotta love ’em. Don’t get me wrong: I cherish this time of year, but it does place demands on us that can leave us feeling stressed.

I always look forward to the family get-togethers. For the most part, everyone gets along, but every family has its moments. Having so many people with so much history all under the same roof can start to feel like a pressure cooker, and if someone ends up crying, it’s usually me.

I’ve sobbed before, during and after many family feasts. Ah, the joys of being an overly sensitive soul…

There’s always a silver lining, though, even to tears. Now, I have a pretty decent arsenal of tips and tricks to deal with puffy eyes, and most of them can be done for little to no money using products you may already have around the house. 🙂

1. An oldie but a goodie

Ah, the time-honored cold compress… Simple, effective and soothing, and one of my favorite fast ways to reduce swelling around the eyes.

I wet a washcloth or a small towel, wring it out, and place it in the fridge or freezer for 10 minutes to get it nice and cold. Then, I close my eyes, place the cloth across my lids, and chill out somewhere comfy for a while. The cool compress constricts the blood vessels in the area to diminish the puffiness right away (within a few minutes).

2. Spoon, man

I picked up this trick from my granny, one of the most stylish ladies at senior bingo night, and a pre-World War II beauty pageant queen. Chill four teaspoons in the fridge (I feel that the freezer makes the spoons too cold); when they’re nice and cold, remove two of them, and place them curved side down on your eyes. When the spoons don’t feel cold anymore, put those two back in the fridge, and replace them with the second pair. Repeat until you’re de-puffed!

3. Make time for tea

El Hub once told me that if he ever becomes a rap megastar, as unlikely as that is, he would like to be called “Old Dirty Tea Bag,” but I digress…

Black tea bags (with caffeine) contain tannins which can be helpful for puffy eyes, while the caffeine constricts dilated capillaries to whisk the puff away. I usually squeeze most of the liquid from the bags so that it doesn’t drip down my neck, and then I chill them in the fridge, and place one on each eye.

Sometimes I also use herbal tea bags (without caffeine), and I think they also work pretty well.
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I ticked off the tabby the other day when I had to cut short our regular morning walk. There was a chill in the air that I just couldn’t shake — certainly not in the sweatshirt, jeans and flip-flops I’d gotten used to wearing on our little jaunts — and even though the first official day of winter doesn’t arrive for more than a month, Jack Frost was already nipping at my toes.

From here on out, at least for the next few months, it’s cold weather season, and that means dry air, dry skin and cold, cold, cold.

For me it also seems to mean scaly shins and crusty cuticles that get worse and worse every year. Thankfully, I’ve figured out a few ways to keep my skin from staging a revolt as the temperature drops. Here are five ways to winterize your skin care routine.

1. Some like it lukewarm

When it’s cold out, I like it hot! My showers, that is. Unfortunately, hot water can strip away skin’s natural oils, leaving it far worse off.

The solution? — to turn the temperature down, and take shorter lukewarm showers and baths.

Now, I have a really tough time with this one because I think hot showers just feel so dang good when there’s a chill in the air. Coupled with my tendency to daydream in the shower (it’s where I do my best brainstorming), and I can easily spend 30 minutes dillydallying while the hot water dries out my skin.

That’s where a waterproof watch with an alarm and timer can help. I’ll set mine right before I step in the shower, and then I have no excuse…

2. Mighty mittens!

Regularly exfoliating removes the layers of dead skin (eww!) and other gunk that soap doesn’t or can’t. It also restores skin’s natural ability to absorb moisture, and sure, I love the way it makes my skin glow.

Anything that encourages me to exfoliate and makes it easier and fun gets a big thumbs up from me, which is why I like exfoliating gloves. They have a rough texture and can even be worn in the shower. Most drugstores sell ’em for about $3.

Whenever I feel the need to exfoliate — and sometimes it is a need — but don’t want the aggressive abrasiveness of a scrub, I squirt a small amount of a moisturizing body wash onto the gloves and massage my arms, legs, shoulders, back and tummy using gentle circular motions. Then, I’ll got to town on my rougher parts, like my hands, elbows and feet.
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