When Ellen Sirot leaves her house, she makes sure always to don a pair of gloves. Like many New Yorkers in winter, she is cautious to not let her skin dry out. But unlike most of us, her job depends on it. Ms. Sirot, 37, is a hand, leg, and foot model. Her feet have appeared in print ads modeling high-heel shoes for Saks, and her hands have scooped out cans of Campbell’s soup with a spoon and washed dishes using Dawn — all work she is barred from doing in real life.

Though her job places unusually high demands on her skin, Ms. Sirot’s moisturizing regime includes elements even the average commuter could benefit from during these driest months of the year. Many aspects of her beauty regimen are standard: She drinks lots of water and takes a daily multivitamin. She stays fit with yoga and pilates, though she avoids all poses that require use of the hands, substituting her elbows instead.

Some parts of Ms. Sirot’s routine, however, would be impractical for the average New Yorker. “I don’t clean, I don’t cook, I don’t use sharp knives, I don’t do household chores like taking out the garbage,” she said. “I don’t do anything that would put me in a situation where my hands are near chemicals.” She has a long list of things to avoid: physical activity (so her hands don’t become bulky), caffeine and sugar (which make her hands appear veiny), and sun and water, which she says “are the worst enemies for the general aging on the hands. I wear gloves all the time. My hands haven’t been in the sun in 12 years.”

She wears latex gloves when showering; she moisturizes nearly 20 times a day with Neutrogena Norwegian Formula, and again at night with Eucerin’s Aquaphor Healing Ointment. Before going to sleep, she applies baggies full of moisturizer to her feet, which she keeps elevated at night. To keep her legs from getting cracked, she exfoliates with an apricot scrub and then “moisturize them like crazy.” She avoids high heels and puts lotion into her sock before putting them on.

“It’s a little extreme,” she admits. But one look at her skin, and it’s clear she’s on to something. “My hands are like a biological experiment. They are much younger-looking than the rest of me.”

For most New Yorkers, of course, taking out the garbage isn’t optional. Even if you want to keep your hands in pristine shape, the city is bound to take its toll. Alisa Weilerstein, a cellist who will make her debut at the New York Philharmonic this month, has what she calls “working hands.”

Like Ms. Sirot, however, she can’t afford to let her hands dry out. As a result, she too is careful not to overwash.

“I have a friend who leads a very similar life,” she said. “She plays tons of concerts. After a while her middle finger really hurt when she put it down on the string. She made an appointment to see a doctor, and the first thing he asked her was: ‘Are you washing your hands a ton?'”

According to the director of the Center for Dermatology, Cosmetic and Laser Surgery in Mount Kisco, N.Y., Dr. David Banks, soap is the culprit when it comes to dry, painful skin.

“If you’re washing your hands repeatedly, the soap can further damage or eat away at the outer layer of skin that holds in the moisture,” he said. He recommends using gentle cleansers such as Dove or Cetaphil. Like many professionals, including nurses, restaurant employees, and anyone who rides the subway regularly, Dr. Banks cannot avoid washing his hands.

“In the health care profession, we’re washing our hands hundreds of times a day. We end up putting hand lotion on 10 to 15 times in a busy day, just to combat the drying effects,” he said.

Harsh winter air also dries skin out. For most New Yorkers, exposure is limited to the walk to and from the subway. But there are others who spend a 40-hour work week braving the cold.

Manuel Corredor-Bedigan, an ice skating instructor at Rockefeller Center, has developed a beauty regimen to battle the effects of winter.

“It’s really tough on your skin, especially on windy days,” he said. “At night, I use St. Ives Whipped Lotion, and I put tons of it in a pair of plastic gloves, and I wear it all night, just like ‘Mommy Dearest.'” He also favors St. Ives Apricot Scrub and Collagen Enhancing Moisturizer for his face, followed by “tons and tons” of the Body Shop Hemp Lip Moisturizer.

In the end, winter skin care is intuitive: Use moisturizer, avoid harsh soaps, and drink water. Yet it’s easy to neglect.

“People really abuse their hands, I see it all the time,” Ms. Sirot said. “They don’t give their hands the same respect they give their face, and they’re noticing when they’re in their late 30s and their hands have started to age. But it’s too late at that point. … We have to take care of our hands at an early age. It’s is as delicate as the skin on your eyelids.”