hand sanitizer – Jellybeans in the City

With threat of COVID-19 still looming over us, it is still important to do all we possibly can to keep the virus at bay.

Foremost among these measures is to always keep our hands clean.

Hand-washing with soap and water is still the best way to achieve this (with thorough rubbing and rinsing for at least twenty seconds), but what do we do when these are not immediately available?

According to dermatologist Dr. Doris Velasco, using hand sanitizer gels is next best thing to hand-washing.

Citing the Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines, Dr. Velasco shares that hand sanitizers should have at least 60% alcohol content to be able to break down the SARS COV-2 lipid protective barrier. However, rubbing high concentrations of alcohol on your skin may cause skin dryness and irritation because it disrupts the protective layer of oil on your skin.

This is the reason hand sanitizer gels were created: they contain moisturizers to counter-act skin dryness caused by alcohol.

They are also quite handy and easier to carry. You can pop a small bottle in your bag to bring with you wherever you go.

When applied, they also slow the evaporation of alcohol on your hands, ensuring that it has time to work against the microbes on your skin.

Dr. Velasco further advises that one to two drops of hand sanitizer gel are enough to use to sanitize your hands. Just make sure that the whole hand area from palm to fingers are covered and rubbed well. Once properly applied, let the hand sanitizer gel dry completely on its own, then you’re good to go.

Luckily for us, there’s a new hand sanitizer gel that’s just been introduced to the market to level up the entire category: Derma Science Hand Gel.

According to Pacific Healthcare Philippines Product Manager, Romer Estrada, Derma Science Hand Gel addresses our need for effective hand cleasing without sacrificing the moisturizing of our skin.

It has two variants:

A 100ml bottle (priced at Php110) which is infused with sakura extract, has a mildly fragrant smell and is perfect for personal use.
A 490ml bottle (priced at Php320) which is infused with German chamomile extract, is scent-free and is perfect for general use.

Both infusions are proven effective in helping to retain skin moisture and repair natural skin barriers. They also have anti-aging properties due to their wide array of anti-oxidants.

Derma Hand Science Hand Gel is also paraben-free. Parabens are preservative substances that not only produces dry skin, they can disrupt hormone function in women leading to increased risk of breast cancer and reproductive toxicity.

Derma Science Hand Gel also has 70% alcohol content but no colorants and is quick drying, letting you effectively cleanse your hands without that sticky feeling.

Want your own bottle (or bottles!) of Derma Science Hand Gel? You can get them at Shopee, Lazada or at goodnessandgrains.com!

Among the first batch of samples I got from Sample Room is a small bottle Belo Baby Cool Drizzle Cologne. Despite the unwritten rule that grown women should gravitate towards perfumes, I retain my preference for baby colognes. I guess it’s a combination of two factors: One, baby colognes are much cheaper than perfumes, a high-end cologne would, more often than not, cost less than many of the low-end perfumes. Two, colognes tend to have light fresh scents which I find a lot more palatable than the heavier and more floral scents of perfumes.

It is packaged in a handy 50ml spritzer bottle which fits in most bags and kikay kits. I like its fresh scent that lasts for a good couple of hours. It does not feel so astringent-y when sprayed on, owing to the glycerin component that helps to moisturize and chamomile-derived Bisabolol (known to have anti-irritant, anti-inglammatory and anti-microbial properties) that helps to soothe skin. Formulated without parabens, phtalates, EDTA and coloring agents, Belo Baby Cool Drizzle Cologne is dermatologist-tested, hypoallergenic and safe for all skin types, so it should be safe for you and your little ones to use. It also doubles as a hand sanitizer; that means we have less stuff to carry in our bags.

To use, spray a small amount on your hands and apply thoroughly as often as you like.

Belo Baby Cool Drizzle Cologne comes in 50ml (priced at Php64.75) and 100ml (priced at Php79.75) spritzer bottles. It is available at all leading supermarkets, department stores, groceries, and drugstores nationwide, and online via Zalora, Lazada and Cudsly.

To quote a wise man, Mr. Jonathan Van Ness of the hit Netflix show, Queer Eye: “It’s not vanity, it’s self-care. There’s a difference.”

Just because we are busy working moms (and even more so because of it), we need to take better care of ourselves, to feel good about ourselves, to give our kids a good example and to make sure we are at our best when we need to be.

The free sample was provided by Sample Room, an online community where you can “try before you buy” beauty and personal care products to get the ones which best match you. I just needed to pay for the shipping of the items I requested.