5. Go to town with hand cream Moisturizing your hands with a thick, plain, somewhat greasy hand cream will keep your hands and fingernails looking their best first thing in the morning. “Hands get dried out throughout the day with exposure to dry air and excessive washing, and few of us apply hand cream with every water exposure as we should,” says board certified dermatologist Jessica Krant, MD, founder of Art of Dermatology. ”Night is a chance to try to undo some of the damage, which will also keep cuticles and fingernails moisturized so they will grow longer and stronger and break and peel less.”