People in Milton Keynes look nine years older than they actually are, claims cheeky new survey

Not surpisingly, the survey was carried out by water softener company Harvey's, who showed 1,000 participants photographs of people and asked them to guess their age.

The photos were of the people's hands, which can be the biggest giveaway for age.

On average, those hands in the ‘dry’ category were estimated to be nine years older than their actual age. Meanwhile, the ‘healthy’ hands were judged to be a year younger than their actual age.

One poor 28-year-old was estimated to be 80 years old due to the dryness of her hands, say Harvey's.

They claim dry hands are caused by the city's hard water, which has higher levels of calcium and magnesium - something scientifically proven to be connected with dry skin.

The hardness of water in Milton Keynes is 284 mg/L so is considered "very hard", say Harvey's.

Beauty and aesthetics expert Lesley Reynolds, who is co-founder of the award-winning Harley Street Skin, said skin dryness is a natural feature of aging.

“With the passage of time, hands lose fat, due to the natural ageing process and UV exposure. Also, due to ageing, there is actual thinning of the dermis (the deeper skin layer that contains hyaluronic acid, collagen and elastin), this results in a reduction of the skin's ability and capacity to hold moisture, therefore the skin looks dryer and coarser and more wrinkly and thin due to the lack of elastin.

She added: " Dryness seen in younger skin is instinctively perceived as older looking skin.”

Tony Jones, General Manager at Harvey Water Softeners, said: “We all understand the importance of washing our hands during this pandemic. However, with many cities across the UK having hard and harsh water in their homes, the impact on our health and hands is important to consider.

“It’s troubling to think that just the water coming from our taps can cause so much damage to our skin, but unfortunately the UK is fraught with aggressively hard water. We are encouraging people to continue to wash their hands regularly as part of government guidelines but equally reminding readers to be kind to their skin and protecting it from drying out.”

According to Google data, searches for ‘dry hands’ increased 123 per cent between March 2020 and April 2020, from 12,100 searches in March to 27,100 in April. There were 10,000 searches for ‘dry hands’ in July 2020.

Harvey's have provided the following tips have been provided to help readers take better care of their hands:

1. Use warm water, not hot. Warm water is much kinder to your hands than very hot water and is equally effective in cleansing your hands.

2. Use moisturising soap.

3. Avoid abrasive hand drying. Try not to rub your hands with the towel after washing. Simple pat them dry for a much kinder alternative.