Dermatologist: ageing doesn't start on the face but on the hands - the skin there is thinner, collagen goes earlier, and almost nobody protects them from the sun

Face serums, under-eye patches, retinol at night - while the hands, which are on show all day, get a bit of cream whenever we remember. Madrid dermatologist Carlos Morales Raya says that is exactly where the mistake lies. "The first signs of ageing don't always appear on the face, very often they're on the hands," he says. And he adds that for more than ten years he has struggled to convince anyone of it.

The reasons are anatomical, not cosmetic. The skin on the hands is thinner than on the face, loses collagen earlier and is almost never protected from the sun. From around 40 it becomes thinner and more fragile, loses elasticity and tone, dehydrates and tears more easily. The fatty tissue on the back of the hand thins out, sebum drops, so the skin dries and cracks. Nails turn dry, with deeper ridges.

Then comes what we see when we look at our parents' hands. Muscle tone declines, and when the atrophy is pronounced, grip strength and precision fall. The bones become more prominent, so the veins and tendons show more. Laia Puig, head of cosmetics at the brand LPG, says that after 50 hands generally take on a "skeletal", aged look. Brown spots usually appear around 45, driven by genetics, hormones, sun and age.

What actually helps. Puig's list is remarkably modest: broad-spectrum sunscreen with at least SPF 30, every day, on the hands too; mild soaps and alcohol-free products; a gentle exfoliation once a week; creams or serums with retinoids, antioxidant vitamins or peptides; rubber gloves when you clean with chemicals; and enough water. None of this requires a clinic.

The clinic, of course, has its own menu. Surgeon and aesthetic doctor María Vicente lists injections of hyaluronic acid or calcium hydroxylapatite, which "restore lost volume", followed by laser and intense pulsed light for spots, peels, fractional laser and radiofrequency for firmness. Each one is paid for separately.

The creams they recommend range from 6.95 to 36 euros a tube. The price gap is more than fivefold. The gap in the basic advice - put on sunscreen and gloves - is zero.

The cosmetics industry has spent decades selling us the face. It left the hands for later, for when the veins are already showing. How many of us even know that sunscreen goes on them too?