The 7 best hand sanitizers (that kill germs AND nourish the skin)
If hand sanitizers are going to be the new essentials, might as well make them chic. And cheerful. And skin friendly. Right?
So, I have spoken to both health and skin experts to find the seven best hand sanitizers of 2020. The overarching criterion for this selection was that they had to conform to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention protocols, which means there has to be at least 60% alcohol as that’s the bottomline for killing germs.
After that, they had to be free of harmful chemicals and be kind to your skin as hand sanitisers can be notoriously harsh.
And finally, bonus points for chic packaging. Because you could do with a hit of happiness every time you pull it out. Isn’t it?
Finding hand sanitizers that score high on all three of these points was tough but here are the ones that made the cut!
Or, you know, you could just make your own hand sanitizer at home – with aloe vera gel, rubbing alcohol, glycerin and essential oils. That works as well.
Dr. Bronner’s Lavender Hand Sanitizer
Dr. Bronner’s spray bottle sanitizer contains only four ingredients – 62% ethyl alcohol, lavender oil, glycerin and water. No nasties. All organic, all Fair Trade certified. It also doubles up as an air freshener and deodorant. And the packaging is recyclable. Win-win, I would say.
Touchland Power Mist
Cath Kidston London Icons Hand Sanitizer
If we are looking only at packaging, Cath Kidston’s London-themed sanitizers would win hands down! But it doesn’t stop at appearances alone. There’s alcohol to kill the germs, along with vitamin E and glycerin to leave hands soft and nourished. And then there’s the zesty grapefruit green leaf fragrance for freshness on the go!
by Humankind Hand Sanitizer
by Humankind sticks to its sustainable roots with 8-ounce aluminum bottles that cut down on plastic waste (simply pour into a pocket-friendly bottle for on-the-go use). The product itself contains 65% alcohol, along with hydration-boosting hyaluronic acid and comes in grapefruit or unscented variations. Plus, $1 from every bottle sold goes to the The Robin Hood Relief fund in New York City.
Susanne Kaufmann Hand Spray Purif-i
Like all of Susanne Kaufmann’s cult products, the Purif-i hand sanitizer is based on natural ingredients, including 62% pure vegetable alcohol, healing arnica and super-moisturizing silk proteins. It’s also dermatologically tested and works for even the driest skin types.
Aesop Resurrection Rinse-Free Hand Wash
Non-sticky, clean and fresh, this tiny germ killer from Aesop packs 62% alcohol with skin soothing ingredients like lavender oil and glycerin. All that freshness is courtesy the rosemary leaf, mandarin rind and cedar atlas, which makes it smell woody and citrusy. This one is my husband’s favorite!
Anubha Charan is the founder of The Beauty Gypsy and a beauty journalist with more than 25 years in the industry — as the former Beauty Director at Marie Claire, where she worked with the magazine's Paris headquarters, Managing Editor at Vogue, and Beauty Editor at Cosmopolitan. She trained in perfumery in Grasse, France, and spent six years reporting on beauty from Paris.
Her work has also appeared in Travel + Leisure, WebMD, and Architectural Digest, and she is the co-author of Paris Bath & Beauty, a book on French beauty rituals published by Simon & Schuster.
