There isn't an awful lot we can do to keep those bugs at bay other than eat a healthy diet, but maintaining good personal hygiene can really make a difference. I'm a bit obsessed with hand washing but sometimes it just isn't possible to give you hands a good scrub with soap and water, so I tend to rely on hand sanitisers.
I always, always have either a gel or a spray in my bag and every time I go out I use them at least once. Their great for getting rid of sticky marks after eating and drinking and of course their excellent for getting rid of the things you can't see.
Just think about it, on an average shopping trip, how many things do you touch? I don't want to sound paranoid but you're touching money, maybe a basket or a trolley, or maybe a door handle. What about using public transport, you touching a hand rail, maybe money again and maybe a seat. It's awful to think about but you really don't know who or what, has touched that same surface before you.
The trouble with hand sanitisers and anti-bacterial gels though is that they are normally full of alcohol. There is no question that alcohol is an amazing substance for killing germs and bacteria but it isn't always the best ingredient for the skin. It can be very, very drying and it can really irritate sensitive skins. I once went to visit my mum during a stay in a local hospital and the hand sanitiser they provided literally made the skin peel from my fingers!
Despite it's popularity and usefulness though, there are now quite a few hand sanitisers on the market that don't contain alcohol. Most that I've found usually contain a blend of essential oils, but for one of this months My Pure reviews I decided to try something new in both ingredients and in texture.
As you'll already know from some of my previous previous posts, the history of Bentley Organic is all about soap, soap making and basically cleanliness. The majority of their products are designed to keep the face, the body and the home clean and hygienic.
The Bentley Organic Moisturising Hand Sanitiser is alcohol, paraben, and fragrance free. Made with 90% organic ingredients, it contains aloe vera for moisture and a combination of various citrus essential oils. It comes in a 50ml pump action bottle, and unlike a lot of the commercially available anti-bacterial products, it isn't a spray or a gel, it actually a foam. All you do is just pump some product onto your hands, rub them together and it's gone. I don't notice any stickiness or dryness, it just seemed to disappear into my skin.
Obviously I can't comment on whether it actually works and kills germs, but Bentley Organic claims that this product kills 99.9% of all known germs, and as of the 17th November 2009, it was is the only certified organic sanitiser which was approved by the UK government for killing the H1N1 strain of swine flu. As someone who had swine flu, and suffered the hell that was Tamiflu, that means that it's a winner in my eyes!
I have to say I really liked this, the aloe vera content seemed to provide some form of moisture, and I loved the fact that it didn't leave me hands sticky and uncomfortable. I would have maybe liked some form of fragrance but I can understand why they've made it fragrance free, after all I don't think I'd want a sandwich tasting of hand sanitiser!
I also like the fact that a small amount of product goes a long way, one pump easily produced enough for both hands and the manufacturer claims that you can get up to 125 applications from the one 50ml bottle, making it a really economical product to use given the price.
I have to say I'm a fan and I would definitely consider repurchasing in the future. The Bentley Organic Moisturising Hand Sanitiser usually retails £3.25 for 50ml from My Pure but it's currently on sale at £2.93, which makes it even more economical to buy when you think of cost per use. Are you a hand sanitiser user? Leave me a comment and let me know x
(*Sample)
This looks pretty good and not too drying either. I hate using hand sanitizers at times because they dry my hands out so much. :(
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