One of the worst offenders of dry or dehydrated skin is when it comes to cracked skin on your hands. So painful and it feels like a neverending cycle of trying to keep germs at bay with repeated handwashing, which totally dries you out, and then moisturizing to try to combat the dry skin.

A few years ago I learned this simple trick you can do at home that really helps to get rid of the dry skin and hydrate it leaving those cracked, painful hands behind.

What You'll Need:
A bowl Hot water (but not scalding)
4 paper towels
1 cotton towel
Plastic wrap
Scrub
Lotion

How- To:

• Pre-cut plastic wrap in a large enough section that it would cover a 13x9 dish (do this twice) and place to the side.
• Fill a bowl with hot water and putting it aside.
• Break off 4 paper towels all as one, but then split in two (so that you have two sections that are two paper towels connected.) Place them in the bowl of water.
• Over the sink apply an exfoliating scrub, like A Girl's Gotta Spa! Salt Scrub, to dry hands. Be sure to massage the scrub thoroughly getting in between fingers and paying attention to the cuticle area, too.
• Rinse.
• Before drying hands, remove the two sections of paper towel from the bowl and ring out the water and lay them flat on the counter.
• Use the cotton towel to pat hands dry, leaving them slightly damp.
• Applying an uber hydrating lotion, like A Girl's Gotta Spa! Energizing Citrus Body Lotion, to your hands generously (as in, more than you would typically apply to hands.)
• Wrap one hand in one section of warm paper towel and then wrap with the section of plastic wrap. For your remaining hand, you'll need to enlist some help to do the same for this hand.
• Relax and wait 3-5 minutes, then unwrap and if hands are still damp, gently pat dry.

Sometimes I apply a little more lotion once I've unwrapped my hands. It really depends on how bad your hands are.

Repeat this twice weekly until you see a marked improvement in your hands. In between this DIY hand pampering, always apply your lotion as you normally would.

I can say I always notice a difference after the first time I do it, but I've had friends who are mechanics or work in construction that the cracking is really bad and while they notice some definite softening and hydration right away, it takes repeat treatments before the cracking completely resolves.

Being part Italian, olive oil was always a staple growing up in my childhood home. As a child, I never knew the health benefits my parents and grandparents were passing on to me, all I knew is that it added delicious flavor to my food.

Once I began to work in beauty, I was mesmerized by all of its benefits to skin, as well. Olive fruit oil is high in Vitamin E, which we all know is fantastic for its anti-aging properties. It's high in oleic acid and is a good skin cell regenerator. It works to attract external moisture to the skin, while still permitting the skin to properly release sweat, shed dead skin and release sebum.

Olive oil is rich in antioxidants like Vitamin E, but also includes vitamin A, polyphenols, phytosterols and avenasterol. Antioxidants work to neutralize free radicals and combat environmental pollutants and aggressors that we all deal with daily.

These antioxidants have the natural ability to stimulate cells and return skin to a firmer, smoother, and healthier state. In order to craft the best lotion for dry skin, olive oil is one of the main ingredients in A Girl's Gotta Spa! ® Body Lotions. This natural moisturizer will keep your skin hydrated and nourished. I've long been using soaps, lotions and body washes with olive oil and have seen for myself the profound affect it can have to keep skin healthy. If you use skin or body care products with olive oil, rest assured, you will kiss dry, itchy skin goodbye!