Care For Your hands With Carex (Carex Antibacterial Moisturising Hand Wash)

Member Name: criple

Product:	Carex Antibacterial Moisturising Hand Wash
Date:	13/10/02 (277 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Helps Kill Germs, Neutralises Odours, Easy to Use

Disadvantages: None That I can Think Of

I've already done a review about caring for your feet and how important it is, but what about our hands?

I'll leave the hand cream review for another day, as I want to concentrate on cleanliness!
If you stop and think about our hands and how many grubby things they must come in to contact with each and every day it's rather frightening. It is impossible to keep our homes completely clean and free from germs. As soon as you have mopped your floor or vacuumed the carpet, within minutes they are dirty again.

We cannot become obsessed with cleanliness either, as a sufferer with OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) I understand how easy it is to get things out of all proportion.

I think we have to strike a balance of what is an acceptable level of bacteria that we live with on an everyday basis and what can be potentially dangerous.

Even as I am typing this op I am probably coming in to contact with some sort of bacteria that is present on my computer keyboard. One of the worst culprits of hoarding germs is probably money. When you think of the number of times that money changes hands and where some people hide it, dirty money takes on a whole new meaning.

To keep ourselves totally free from germs we would have to touch nothing and how practical is that?

Cleanliness is most important in the kitchen, when we are about to eat or prepare food. Keeping food fresh is another subject although just as important, but what use is lovely fresh food when you've just changed the cat litter and not washed your hands?

Soap is all well and good but I?ve never been too keen on the slimy mess that soap makes. The other annoyance is when the kids wash their hands with soap after a football match and the soap resembles the kind you get from the joke shop that turns everything black.

This points me in the direction of liquid soap, which I much prefer to the block kind. There are many liquid
soaps on the market from stores own brands to the most exotic and expensive. What about those nasty germs though? Is there a product that combines odour neutralising as well as cleansing?

The answer is yes. I have recently bought Cussons Carex Antibacterial Moisturising Handwash. The two words that stand out to me here are 'antibacterial' and 'moisturising', the first because not only do I like my hands to smell clean but feel clean. The second because excessive washing can have a tendency to dry out the hands and leave them sore and chapped.

I bought the Aloe Vera and Eucalyptus variety and I have one for my kitchen sink and one for the bathroom.

The bottle is a pale green square shape with a lime green lid and holds 250ml. It is one of those easy to dispense plastic bottles that you depress down and it squirts out from a nozzle at the top. The first thing you notice is the Carex label on the front of the bottle. I have known about the Carex brand for ages but I didn't know Cussons made it until I bought this product. If you look at it carefully it does actually read 'Cussons Carex'. It claims to be gentle enough for the smallest hands and the kids certainly love using it. This gives me even more in faith in the product being gentle on the skin as Cussons also make Imperial Leather soap, i'm sure were all familiar with the luxury and creamyness of this.

Apparently it is the Eucalyptus that is anti bacterial and the Aloe Vera that moisturises. I'm happy with that as it gives off a more natural impression rather than using hard chemicals, which could cause irritation. Having said that the ingredients list is very long and I wouldn't know if any of them are possible causes of irritation so it is pointless me listing them. Carex do however state that all their products are dermatologically tested to be suitable for sensitive skin. As with most products you should avoid contact with the eye
s.

The smell is lovely and the Eucalyptus isn't too overpowering. It wont replace your perfume but you might find yourself sniffing your hands for a while afterwards!

The consistency is just about right and it is thicker than washing up liquids. If you rub it into your hands and then run your hands under water it will go all creamy just like a bar of soap and the aroma hits you straight away. It washes away easily so you are not left with any sticky feeling and the smell does linger for quite a while afterwards.

One of the main reasons I wanted to try this was that it claims to have been tested on onions! well actually it says, tested on onions and citrus odours. After peeling and chopping onions I hate the smell of my hands. The smell seems to last the rest of the day and I am conscious of what other people will think.

So instead of doing the doodah test I am now doing the onion test. Yes, my hands stink of onions so lets get out the Carex. I gave them a good wash and the smell of onions was dramatically reduced. After about an hour I gave them another wash for good measure and I couldn't smell the onions at all. This was a big improvement.

I didn't just buy it for me though, it is important to get the kids in to the habit of washing hands before eating. My stepson who plays football all day long always seems to have very dirty hands. After doing my sergeant major inspection his hands are now looking and smelling clean and I would trust him to pass me a slice of bread.

My daughter has a nasty habit of biting her nails. Now without going in to too much detail even for a girl she can get herself pretty mucky. It is easy to apply to a nailbrush and you know that the hands and nails will be lovely and clean afterwards. I would rather she stopped biting her nails but at least I can rest a bit easier knowing that Carex is there to help out.

What about the hubby?

Well I give him
all the
dirty jobs like cleaning the litter tray, emptying the bins and vacuum cleaner so I have to make it up to him. Cat 'doings' (as my grandma would say) can cause toxoplasmosis (Not sure on spelling) and it can be very dangerous, especially to pregnant women. Although my husband isn't a woman nor pregnant I thought it was important to point out.

There are many other times when Carex would be useful from the joys of changing nappies to little fingers going up little noses. I for one feel much happier knowing that I can do my bit by having it on standby both in the kitchen and bathroom.

~~~~ CONSCLUSION ~~~~

I'm just feeling my hands now and they actually feel quite soft, not dry at all and I have had no irritation. The kids and hubby are fine too. I bought mine from Tesco at £1.09 and for 250ml I don't think that's bad at all. The hand wash comes in five different varieties as follows:
Moisture Rich, Grapefruit & Honeydew Melon, Aloe Vera & Eucalyptus, Hypoallergenic and Original Blue. There are other hand wash products made by Cussons including some that are designed especially for children.

If you would like to contact Cussons for more information you can call free on 0800 581001 or write to Cussons, FREEPOST, NW13380, Stockport, SK3 0YL. There is a website specifically for carex at the following address: www.carex.co.uk where you will find some interesting facts and competitions.

Overall I would give this product 10/10 for smell, effectiveness and value for money.

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