I’m well-versed in face masks and sheet masks, but it wasn’t until recently that I’d even heard of hand masks. And I never thought I’d want one—until my hands started feeling achy from being so cracked and dry. Lotion and body oil weren’t cutting it. I tried increasing my water intake (maybe dehydration was partially to blame?), but nothing was making much of a difference. I’d been given a Dr. Jart+ Dermask Hydrating Hand Mask, so I decided to give it a shot.

The First Impression

Initially, it felt like I was dressing up for Halloween. As a low-budget, DIY robot. I opened the package to reveal what looked like oversized gloves made out of silver Mylar balloons, with little stickers on the wrists so I could seal them tightly, preventing air from getting into the gloves.

Once on, I felt a lot like David Duchovny in Zoolander, aka the world’s greatest hand model, who encased his hand in a homemade hyperbaric chamber to prevent it from aging. I hoped it’d have similar effects.

The Process

The mask is designed to soften and hydrate your hands, and in order for it to work its magic, you put on both gloves, seal them tightly at the wrists and wear them for 15 to 20 minutes. Once off, you don’t wash your hands—though I really wanted to, since the moisturizer felt thick and sticky, even if it was translucent. You simply pat it in.

There’s a slight warming sensation, which is nice while you’re wearing the gloves (particularly on a chilly day, I’d imagine). But it seemed to linger and almost burn in one part of my hand after the gloves were off. I wound up washing my hands 20 minutes afterward, just because it was bothering me. The sensation immediately subsided.

The End Result

As soothing as face masks are, I rarely notice much of a difference in my skin after half an hour. This was wildly different. The veins in my hands were no longer popping out; my hands felt softer than ever. My skin glowed. I practically was David Duchovny in Zoolander! (Cue the line: “I’m a hand model, mama!”)

A full week later—even amid all of the pandemic-induced hand washing—my skin still feels great. It’s not nearly as dewy, but it’s not pruny, cracked or dry, and for that, I’m grateful. At $14 a mask, my hands would need to be in rough shape to keep up this routine, but I could see myself doing it once a quarter, at least in the fall and winter, to keep my hands looking and feeling great.

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