In most parts of the country, where temperatures routinely dip below 50 throughout the winter months, most sane women will be covered up from head to toe in layers of cotton, wool, and cashmere. Our hands and nails, though, are often left uncovered. With your fingertips on constant display this time of year, it’s especially important to keep them in top shape. Too bad a near-constant assault from chilly temperatures, low humidity, and obsessive hand washing makes that fairly difficult.

“Nails that are not cared for in the winter can become dry and brittle, leading to splits and ridging,” says dermatologist Michael Gold, M.D., founder of the Gold Skin Care Center in Nashville, Tennessee. And slacking on nail care doesn’t just impact the look of your hands--it can also affect your health: “Cuticle areas can also become dry and peel more, which can lead to picking and the potential for increased infections in the area.”

Here, three simple steps you can take to provide your nails with the TLC they need now.

1. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize: Gold recommends looking for hand lotions that contain urea. “This is a strong enough moisturizer to actually see results in the nail area.” There are several OTC products with the ingredient, which is an artificially made compound that’s found in animal urine (don’t worry, there’s no cat pee in your hand cream!). Try Eucerin Plus Intensive Repair Hand Cream ($5.50, drugstore.com)--or ask your doctor to write you a prescription if dry hands and nails are a severe problem.

As an additional step, rub a nail and cuticle moisturizer that contains jojoba oil directly into the top and underside of nails and all along the cuticles. “Jojoba oil is good as it can actually help make certain moisturizers penetrate further into the nail itself,” says Gold.

2. Don’t pick your cuticles: “Many people pick their cuticles,” remarks Gold, a serious no-no anytime of year as it only makes cuticles look worse and can lead to infections. Instead, you or your manicurist should use sterilized cuticle scissors to cut them down--but never cut them so short that they leave an opening in the skin.

3. Go lighter on the polish, please: Polish and acrylics restrict moisture from getting into the nails, says Gold. While that doesn’t mean you must swear off manicures all winter, it might be a good idea to leave nails bare now and then and save the color for special occasions.

Megan O'Neill is Beauty Editor at EndlessBeauty.com