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It’s been two full years since the first COVID-19 outbreak forced us into lockdown. Somehow it feels like a lifetime ago, and simultaneously like it was just yesterday, that we were all fighting for toilet paper and doing anything to get our hands on a bottle of sanitizer. One silver lining to the pandemic has been an increased focus on personal hygiene. While mask mandates have lifted and events are becoming more frequent, regularly using hand sanitizer seems to be one habit that’s sticking around.
Until recently, I had stuck to the tried and true Purell sanitizer between handwashing with antibacterial soap (both methods constantly stripping my hands of moisture). Unless I followed up with lotion, my hands were consistently dried and cracked. I figured there had to be a softer way to moisturize and, as it turns out, there is. Meet Journs’ founders Sara Shah and Mir Anwar’s solution: ALSO, a hand moisturizer that also sanitizes.
Credit: Journ
A First-Hand Look Inside
From the moment I received my Journ shipment, I could tell that I was in good hands. The unboxing itself is a full sensory experience. The forest green branding is complemented by a box full of dried flowers. There’s something almost nostalgic about it, like remembering my mom's potpourri from my childhood. It’s a nice precursor for the scent of the moisturizer, and a nod to the clean ingredients inside.
Once I got past the packaging, I noted that ALSO’s tube ($22) is compact enough to bring everywhere, but large enough to hold about sixty pea-sized servings. ALSO’s texture is creamy and lightweight, not too heavy or oily. With a vegan ingredient list including shea butter, hibiscus, and jojoba oil, the moisturizing properties are able to outweigh the drying effects of the alcohol. Unlike other similar products I’ve tried, this product absorbs nicely and leaves no sticky residue or white cast. I could feel that it immediately restored the moisture in my hands, though. It almost feels too good to be true.
ALSO by Journ is the first hand moisturizer that also meets the CDC’s recommendations of minimum alcohol content for hand sanitizer (at least 60%). Despite the alcohol content, it doesn’t give off the sterile smell of the hospital waiting room that most hand sanitizers do. Actually, the scent of ALSO is subtle and refreshing. No matter where you are when using this product, the aroma of hibiscus will surely transport you somewhere tropical and serene.
The Hand-Off
I’ve been using ALSO since December of 2021 and have refused to gatekeep this find. I’ve shared it with many close friends and family, and every person has been left in disbelief that something so nourishing, and that smells so good, could also be a hand sanitizer.
The first person I shared ALSO with was my partner’s sister-in-law. Her skin is typically sensitive and reactive to ingredients found in many moisturizers. So, while her dry hands desperately needed moisture, she approached with caution. My confidence in this product only grew when she reported no reactions after a few days of using it, so I continued to share with anyone and everyone that would listen.
Soon after, I shared it with a friend of mine that was in town visiting. For as long as I’ve known her (13 years), Sammy has been a textbook “germaphobe” – she’s always carried hand sanitizer everywhere she goes. After grilling me with questions about its efficacy, Sammy was was shocked to learn that ALSO’s able to kill 99.9% of germs. By the end of our night out, she had ordered her own and was begging to take my tube home with her to hold her over until it arrived.
Give Them A Hand
These days we’re all a little more aware of the germs and risks around us after having lived through a pandemic. As such, I don’t foresee us limiting our use or need for hand sanitizer any time soon. With tha being said, it’s important to me that the skin on my hands ages as gracefully as the skin on my face – so moisturizing sanitizers like ALSO will remain a necessity.
In a world of recently-launched competitors, ALSO has remained a personal favorite for a few big reasons: the product is compact and easy to carry, made from vegan ingredients that moisturize and smell incredible, and because it also sanitizes efficiently. That’s a win-win-win in my book.
5 More Reasons to Love Journ:
1. Journ also carries vegan cosmetics for evening skin tone, and color-correcting dark spots, hyperpigmentation, and more
2. All Journ products are paraben, sulfate, phthalate, and cruelty free.
3. It’s press-approved by beauty publications such as Allure and Essence
4. Journ’s catalog of products has earned hundreds of 5-star reviews.
5. You can try Journ products risk-free with a 30-day trial.
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