It’s funny how at the beginning of this year, a hand sanitiser was a fairly niche product – one you’d use if visiting someone in hospital, perhaps, or, maybe, something you’d pick up at the airport to use on your journey. How things have changed! After the world turned on its head back in March, they have become essential ‘must-haves’, and, as a consequence, we’ve all become discerning purchasers of the handbag hand zappers.
New kid on the block – the premium hand sanitiser brand Purdy & Figg – ramps up the quality, compared to what’s currently available on the high street, with its all-natural, eco-friendly hand sprays, which have essential oils at their heart.
You may have already found, that finding a hand sanitiser you actually like to use is not easy. Many smell too much of alcohol, others can be too runny, or, perhaps, sticky to touch and end up feeling just icky on your hands. Purdy & Figg changes that.
Packaged in gorgeous refillable cobalt-blue glass bottles, Purdy & Figg’s sanitisers are in a league of their own. They were created by NHS nurse Purdy Rubin and horticulturalist Charlotte Figg – a marriage made in heaven, with the duo able to combine their science-based, hygiene know-how with knowledge of the natural world. They set out to minimise the toxic chemicals we use on our skin and to create a product free of single-use plastic.
Available in three scents: Wild Woody, Charlotte’s Floral and Original Citrus (£5.99 each), you can buy them individually or in sets of three bottles. Charlotte’s Floral is a tonic in a bottle! It has rose geranium as its ‘star’ ingredient, combined with the antiseptic and cleansing lemon citrus oil and vetiver. The result is a fresh floral that smells divine. What’s more, it is not just a ‘pretty face’, for the hand sanitiser sprays are clinically proven to kill 99.99% of bacteria, while delicately scenting and moisturising hands.
The Original Citrus version has an uplifting fragrance of pink grapefruit, sweet orange and the aromatic naiouli flower. It’s fresh and zingy. The essential oil blends are mixed with a 70% alcohol formula, which kills 99.99% of bacteria. You simply shake the bottle gently then pump the spray onto your hands. Rub together making sure you clean both fronts and backs of hands, between your knuckles, wrists and fingernails.
Blended with grounding vetiver, woody coriander seed, fresh lemon and Himalayan juniper berry, the Wild Wood Sanitiser,meanwhile, is calming and deeply aromatic. It cleans and moisturisers hands and the scent lingers on the skin during the day.
The brand says it is continuously looking to innovate with new products, the latest being its new launch – a limited edition Frankincense and Myrrh scent, perfect for the festive season.
A growing family business, with Purdy’s sons at the helm, Charlotte and Purdy remain focused in the ‘lab’, creating new sprays and other treats to be launched soon. They launched the company after being inspired by the power of natural cleaning and its benefit to our homes and health. They started making natural cleaning products in Purdy’s garage in London and holding workshops to show others how to create similar products at home, to save money and help the planet. The first product, ‘Counter Clean’, was a natural multi-surface cleaner made from sustainable ingredients and scented with 100% pure essential oils.
Then, in the midst of the cold and flu season, Purdy’s two sons asked her to buy them a hand sanitiser for winter. The gels were sticky and dehydrating, a bleak necessity but not a pleasure to use. This resulted in the duo coming up with their own solution – they wanted to create a better, bacteria-killing and moisturising alternative to the mass produced gels — a simple but effective hand sanitiser made with 70% pharmaceutical grade alcohol and safe pure essential oils which kills 99.99% of bacteria. And Purdy & Figg sanitisers were born!
Lightly scented, eco-friendly and made from natural ingredients, the sanitising sprays turn an everyday experience into something uplifting. Keeping with the eco sensibility, there are also large size (250ml) refillable solutions available, to avoid waste and throwing the bottles away. It’s a product perfect for our times.
*This review is based on press samples
