what seems like aaaaaaages ago, the good folks at Carex supplied me with a couple of their newest range of hand creams for a review. after I reviewed them, I took them to work - because that's where I spend the majority of my life, and hand care is at the forefront of everyone's mind when they're forced to share things with what (sometimes) can only be described as 'animals'. anyway, shortly after I took them to work, the handcreams somehow went from being 'my hand creams' to being 'everyone on my team's hand creams', which was totally not a problem until this last week, when I discovered both tubes had met their maker. both empty. the girls and I then spent the next few days visiting all the supermarkets and chemists in our local areas, trying to replace the hand creams we've all become incredibly fond of... but to no avail. I had the genius idea to contact the pr over at Carex that had hooked me up initially, and guess what happened? well, I bet you can guess, based on the pictures, but they were wonderful enough to send enough tubes of the wonder creams (nourish & protect and hydrate & protect) to last us years and years and years! not just hand cream though, they were awesome enough to include a couple of the antibacterial hand gels too (original and moisture plus!), which, as mentioned above, is excellent in the (sometimes) sharing-with-animals type environment. we were totally winning at anti bacterial hand care!
for a bit of a laugh, I told my colleagues that they could only use my epic stash of creams if they would be so kind as to write a few words about their favourite of the four products. here's what they had to say:
"The Nourish & Protect hand cream (with antibacterial too!) smells really good; you can smell it on your hands for quite a while after using it. It leaves your hands feeling really soft and the cream doesn’t take a lot of time to rub in, some creams you find your rubbing it in for what feels like forever. And, my favourite anti bacterial gel is the Moisture Plus, again beautiful smell and gets worked in really easy. I like using them one after another; I have a new obsession! The smells are both amazing, and they leave your hands feeling clean & really soft! Carex = Happy Hands!" (<- lol, oh Staci!)
"I have been using the new Carex hand cream with Aloe Vera. Even though I found this product really good for my skin and kept dryness away for hours as well as smelling great, I found it a tad greasy at first, and found I have to really work it into my skin before I could touch anything else. The 75ml size is perfect for my handbag, or to keep in my desk (that she shares with me and I can never find when I want to use it. ahem, Michelle?)
"The Carex Nourish & Protect with Vitamin E hand cream is probably one of the best I have ever used – and I have used a lot. From high end budget busting brands (Clarins, Elizabeth Arden, Clinique) to the cheaper ones (a massive fan of Superdrug's Hand Balm), this surpasses them all. Not only does it moisturise in a way that you can really feel it working, but it is also germ busting (important!)and smells good. I must say, I would definitely, definitely buy this again!" (side note: she finally has bought one of her own, so she can take it on holiday without denying us our stash - thanks Lou!)
so, that leaves the original hand gel which I was supposed to write about, but I don't really like it if i'm honest - it smells a bit boozy; very sterile and chemically, and I won't be using it until the moisture plus has run out - and even then, I kinda don't want to use it anyway! it does look nice though, and goes on and disappears into the skin easy enough with minimal residue - I've always been dubious of gel instead of actually washing hands (in a festival or porta-loo type situation, not in the everyday!), but the smell that it leaves puts my mind at rest as it smells clean. like, not flowers clean, like bleach clean.
so there you have it. thanks to Carex my workmates adore me more than ever, and because of all of the creams, we're totally never going to get sick again (until one of this lot steal all the gels and flee the office)(please don't do that girls). and for those asking, you can buy these at most supermarkets; asda, sainsbury's, morrisons and superdrug for around £2.49 (unless on offer!), which is excellent value, because these will change your life.
