Do you know why the skin on your palms and soles gets wrinkly if soaked in water for too long?

It's wonderful and also challenging spending time with kids because they keep asking difficult questions which, as an adult, I should answer with smart and all-knowing replies. Of course, this isn't always the case and sometimes I'm forced to reluctantly admit that I'm at a loss, so we sit down and find the answers together.

They've asked me why soap has foam, and tried cornering me on why coriander tastes like soap – at least for them. The last time they asked me to tell them why their palms and the soles of their feet get wrinkly when spending a long time in the bathtub or at the beach.

First I thought that perhaps water dissolves the protective layer of oils on the skin and because of this and the difference in temperature, our skin starts resembling the surface of prunes, but it turned out I was wrong. In fact, I wasn't the only one, since for a long time, even scientists misinterpreted the phenomenon.

The phenomenon is caused by a surprising, yet useful thing

It only transpired a few years ago, that the wrinkles aren't due to a physical cause and it isn't due to a harmful or dangerous, but rather a great, useful reason: it makes it easier for us to hold onto things in the water and find a grip with our feet. This is caused by the reaction of our nervous system which helps us cope in the water. You never considered this possibility either, did you? Yet it perfectly answers why the phenomenon only occurs on the palms and soles of the feet.

Nevertheless, it isn't good for your skin if you stay in the water for too long, so it's important to provide for its proper, subsequent care. To this end, I recommend you try for the summer our chemical and palm oil-free Manna beauty oils, our fragrant Mannas as well as those containing no essential oils: the slightly smoky-scented Organic shea butter and the Premium shea butter, the pure white shea butter filtered through volcanic rock and its creamy, fragrant sister as well as the chocolate-scented, perfectly pure and natural Organic cocoa butter.