Hand lotion should be a daily essential for everyone. Your hands perform an amazing amount of work, and their skin is regularly exposed to drying, chafing elements and harmful UV rays from the sun. Incorporating hand lotion into a daily self-care routine helps keep the skin on your hands and fingers supple and healthy.

The main benefit of using hand lotion is its moisturizing properties. Using hand lotion helps prevent chapping, cracking and chafing skin. The oil ducts on palms and fingers are tiny compared to elsewhere on the body, so hands get chapped and dry out much more easily than other areas. Keeping skin coated with specific formulas made for hands, which need more oil or moisturizer than the face or body, helps balance dryness.

The tops of your hands are frequently exposed to the sun's damaging rays. Hand lotion can benefit skin by protecting it with sunscreen, which helps prevent skin cancer and stave off brown age spots. Select a hand lotion with SPF 15 or higher and reapply it regularly to keep hands from burning or showing premature signs of aging or damage.

Infusions of certain ingredients into lotions can benefit hands. Different herbs can help with specific ailments, complaints or issues. For instance, camphor, lavender and clove aid in pain relief. St. John's wort may stimulate nerves in the fingertips. Peppermint, rose hips and sage have vitamin A, which nourishes the skin. Rose hips and dandelion contain vitamin E. Even a synthetic vitamin E infusion is good for fading scars, and lessening inflammation and wrinkles.

Other hand lotions benefit the skin by renewing its cells for a fresh, healthy, youthful look. Look for hand lotions that contain salicylic acid or glycolic acid, sometimes called beta-hydroxy acid, to encourage skin cells to turn over quickly and consistently. Vitamin C may help the skin on hands appear brighter and younger. Peptides or retinol lotions support collagen growth.