Most of us spend money like water on face creams, moisturizers and anti-wrinkle lotions. And yet, when we reach the age of reckoning, we act surprised to see our hands staring back at us, wrinkled and spotted and we shake our heads as if to say - now when and how the devil did that happen ?

For many people especially housewives and manual workers, the hands are the most overworked and ill-used part of the body. They are exposed to all kinds of wear and tear: to the effects of temperature and climate: to frequent wetting: to the onslaughts of harsh chemicals: and to the risk of minor injury and subsequent infection. Yet the care of the hands is often completely overlooked until, say, the skin becomes rough and cracked or a nail is broken.