Friday’s Fab Find: The Handana

I work out on average four to six times a week.  Alright, fine.  Three to five times a month. But, my point is this: when I do work out, I tend to sweat.  Now, I have some friends who glisten lightly and look lovely in a dewy rainforest type of way. I, however, turn an alarmingly reddish purple and and start dripping in a less than lovely drowned rat type of way.  The good news is that there is a product out there invented to not only help soak my sweat but also enhance the cuteness factor on my Lululemon imitation workout outfit. Hooray for the Handana!

What is the Handana?

The Handana is a traditional wristband with a few modern twists.  To start, the fabric is a soft, durable wicking Supplex Lycra that is leaps and bounds more advanced from the terry cloth tennis wristbands featured so prominently in Chevy Chase movies from the 1980’s.  Not only does this fabric look more streamlined, but its glove-like design is more comfortable and because it reaches just short of your fingers, you are still able to grip a bike or comfortably grasp a tennis racket.

The story behind the Handana

Like many good inventions, the Handana was born out of necessity. Founder Katie Niemeyer is an SJS survivor.  She was sixteen-years-old when she was inflicted with Stevens Johnson Syndrome, a rare, serious disorder in which your skin and mucous membranes react severely to a medication or infection.  Katie spent the next several weeks in the burn unit of her local hospital, wrapped like a mommy and suffering from temporary vision loss.  Miraculously, she was able to make a full recovery due to the outstanding care of her doctors and her teenage body’s ability to fight the infection.

While her body was able to recover, the effects of SJS left Katie with a lifelong issue of sensitive eyes.  When Katie was training for her first marathon at the age of 41, the excessive sweat had a profound effect on her eyes and made it incredibly difficult to focus.  It was during that training that the concept of the Handana was born.  The Handana is a unique wristband that allows you to use both sides of your hand to wipe sweat from your brow or neck.  Katie went on to finish the marathon is just over four hours and, six months later, the Handana became a reality.

Is the Handana for you?

If you are an athlete training for a marathon or just an average Jane working out for thirty minutes once a week, the Handana is sure to become the next indispensable item in your gym bag.  Available in a myriad of colors, from fuscia to charcoal, it’s truly a fab find worthy of checking out.

For more information or to purchase the Handana, visit MyHandana.com.

Jessica Hendler is a contributing writer and editor for Bridgette Raes Style Expert’s blog and is currently responsible for Friday’s Fab Finds.  Have a Fab Find that you think we should feature, email Jessica at FabFind@bridgetteraes.com.

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