My Hand Care Favorites

It's time to give some extra TLC to those often-overlooked workhorses. My favorite cuticle oil, hand cream, press-on nails and more

For many years, I was known for my nails. I went through a span of about seven years when I always had some sort of nail art. Single-color polish? No thank you. When we lived on the East coast, I would go to Paintbox or Chillhouse or another cool nail salon and fellow customers would tell me they were inspired by a color pairing or design they saw on my Instagram.

A few of my favorite looks through the years

Lately, life has gotten in the way and I’ve been supremely minimalist. As I write this, my nails are cut all the way down and completely bare, which feels very chic and liberating at the moment.

I still love nail art but I don’t feel like I need to have it all the time. After the birth of my daughter—our third child—I started to experiment more with press-ons and nails wraps which let me experiment with new looks without sitting in a salon for a few hours or DIY-ing it.

These days, I have a newfound appreciation for hand care, which really gets short shrift compared to facial skin care. The constant handwashing and hand sanitizer-ing of the pandemic left my hands a dry mess. And I’ve become much more conscious of sun protection for hands (if you drive, pay more attention to how often the sun hits your hands on the wheel and you’ll see what I mean).

Anyway, here are some of my current hand care and nail favorites!

JinSoon Healing Cuticle Oil

Yes it’s a bit of a splurge at $35 a bottle but this facial-grade oil is lovely and lasts a long time. Ultimately, the best cuticle oil is the one you’ll remember to use. And the pretty Primrose + Honeysuckle scent of this one could help jog your memory.

Some more nail art faves from my camera roll

Olive & June Cuticle Serum

Talk about easy to use. This foam-tipped click pen makes application a breeze (and fun!). My only complaint is that it doesn’t last too long. But, again, if this format encourages you to use it, it’s worth it!

Skinfix Eczema+ Hand Cream

I just don’t love my hands smelling all the time—and some hand creams are so heavily fragranced. This simple fragrance-free, deeply hydrating cream gets the job done to help when your hands are feeling particularly parched.

Hand Sunscreen

Yes, I have a few dedicated hand creams with SPF and those are good. But these days, after I apply sunscreen to my face, I’ll apply some of that same product to my hands. (As a reminder, here are some of my favorite sunscreens.)

Press-On Nails

I’m so glad press-ons have gotten so much better in recent years and there are now so many options. A few of my current faves: Chillhouse in Wavy Baby, Paintbox in Twosome, and Pink Friday Nails in Pardon My French Sweet Cherry.

I also recently tried this extremely EXTRA accent nail set. Whoa.

@heymichelleleeFirst look! Trying @Pink Friday Nails by @Nicki Minaj Kawaii accent nails. Any questions? #pinkfridaynails #asmr #nickiminaj #nailsoftiktok

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I’m excited to be speaking at the Voices of Beauty Summit in LA this week. It’s the first conference devoted to making real change in diversity and inclusion in the beauty industry and the lineup is truly stacked: John Legend, Ciara, Michelle Phan, Aisha Curry, Jackie Aina, Chriselle Lim, Deepica Mutyala, Jessica Cruel, Nyakio Grieco and sooo many more. If you’re in LA, there are still some tickets available—you can register here.