Cuticura Anti-Bacterial Hand Hygiene Gel > Reviews (19)

Over recent years, there seems to have been an explosion of hand hygiene gels on the market and they seem to be stocked pretty much anywhere you look. Outbreaks of cold and flu, particularly swine flu, must have helped boost profits in this industry substantially. Several years ago, when I was looking for a hand gel product of this type, to take on holiday with me to clean hands before eating (particularly for picnics), I remember that there wasn't a great deal of options in the supermarket and this product was the only one stocked.

**What is Hand Hygiene Gel?**

Ok, so most of you will be familiar with the idea of hand hygiene gel, and I dare say a great deal of you will have a bottle lurking somewhere (be it the bottom of your handbag or your desk drawer at work). But, for the benefit of those that don't, a quick summary. Hand hygiene gel is used to achieve hand hygiene on the go (when it is not convenient, or not possible, to wash your hands). You apply the gel directly to your hands and rub in and this acts to kill all bacteria located on your skin (or 99.99% or whatever the claim on the bottle is!).

**The Product**

Cuticura Original Gel comes in three different sizes - 50ml, 100ml and 250ml. Depending on your intended use for the product - whether to just slip into your handbag or for family use on holiday - there should be a size to meet your needs. The gel comes in a squeezy plastic bottle, so that the product can be easily squeezed out. It has a blue flip top lid, which opens to reveal a small hole for the gel to be squeezed from - to ensure that excess product is not removed and thus prevent wastage. The gel contained inside is clear and colourless and usually contains a few bubbles of air where it has been shaken around.

The labelling is simple and has a few directions on - such as do not store above 40 Centigrade - and the claim that the gel will kill 99.99% of germs within 15 seconds.

I purchased a bottle of 100ml for £1, looking online this is now retailing at around £1.29.

**Application**

The gel is really easy to apply, literally a squirt of the gel on the palm of your hand and rub your hands together as you would if washing, ensuring you also cover the backs of your hands. I usually use a blob the size of a 20 pence piece and this is more than adequate. The gel is really quick drying too, and not at all sticky so this makes it really convenient to use on the go.

I apply sporadically throughout the day as well as when I am unable to wash my hands but would usually do so - such as before eating whilst out and about. The 100ml bottle lasts me, on average, 4-5 months with pretty regular application, so I think this is good value for money.

When I bought the gel I thought that, as it was labelled original and there are other scented varieties such as lemon available, together with the fact that it is clear and colourless, this would be an unscented product. However, the gel does have a slightly odd fragrance to it. It is not overly chemically, and the best that I can describe it is as like cucumber.

It is not unpleasant at all, just unexpected!

**Effects**

Without rigorous chemical testing (which I do not possess the equipment nor ability to do!), I can't really comment on the claims that it kills 99.99% of bacteria within 15 seconds. All I can say is that I get a lot of reassurance from using this product and that it is very quick and convenient to use. It will not act as a soap and clean dirty hands, although I have used after eating sticky fruit and it has left my hands feeling much less sticky and cleaner, but it does appear to work. It also has had no adverse effects on my hands - such as drying of the skin or irritation - so it seems pretty gentle with it. Assuming that the claims are correct and it does kill bacteria (I've not had any colds whilst using this product, so I can believe that it does), it's a pretty sound buy.