DS Skin Clinic All-Day Hand Sanitizer

DS Skin Clinic and its international group of clinics has recently launched the DS Skin Clinic All-Day Hand Sanitizer, a skin sanitizer that is fast-acting and effective in killing the SARS-COV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. What makes this all-day hand sanitiser stands out is that they are long-lasting and remains effective for 24 hours from application, whilst being gentle on the skin.

Personal Hygiene and Hand Sanitizers

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 has sent the world into an economic downturn, countries went into lockdown and many restrictions in place. One aspect that came up from this crisis is on personal hygiene and sanitisation, resulting in a surge in demand and supply of hand sanitisers in the mass market.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) emphasizes the importance of hand hygiene as an effective way to prevent the spread of pathogens and infections. An effective hand sanitizer is a key component of a multi-pronged protection regime, which includes social distancing, thorough hand-washing, frequent hand-sanitizing, wearing of masks and avoiding the touching of the face with the hands.

“As a dermatologist, I see the need for a good hand sanitizer for our patients that’s effective , long-lasting and gentle on the skin . We tried to look for such a sanitizer in the market and, to our surprise, couldn’t find one that satisfied all these requirements,” says Dr Henry Loh – Chairman & Executive Director, RMH Holdings Ltd.

All these considerations prompted DS Skin Clinic to come up with their own unique hand sanitizer formula that they believe will meet the needs of consumers who are emerging from the lockdown isolation, returning back to a bit of a more normal life, riding on the public transport networks, back to office, visiting their favourite shopping malls and dining venues. All these would also mean an increased exposure to SARS-COV-2 virus, on the the lift buttons, railings, door handles etc, that may have been contaminated by an infected person who had previously touched these surfaces.

The reality is that hand-washing facilities may not be available all places and most times, therefore an effective hand sanitizer is needed to disinfect our hands as we come into contact with people in different situations, eg. handling cash and documents that we pass from one person to another. It is therefore important to ensure that our hands are constantly free of the SARS-COV-2 virus, through the application of hand sanitizers to kill the virus.

Fast Acting and Effective

The hand sanitizers in the market are either alcohol-based or non-alcohol-based. For alcohol-based hand sanitizers that are concentrated enough, it is fast-acting and effective in killing germs but it can be dehydrating on our skin. On the other hand, non-alcohol-based sanitisers tend to be less effective and slow-acting, they are more suitable for object surfaces.

CDC supports the use of alcohol-based hand rubs (ABHR) for the effective reduction of pathogens that may be present on the hands of healthcare providers after brief interactions with patients or the care environment. It recommends the use of ABHR with greater than 60% ethanol or 70% isopropanol.

The Singapore Government (National Environment Agency) lists 70% ethyl alcohol and 0.05% benzalkonium chloride as active ingredients (and working concentrations) that are effective against coronaviruses

The DS Skin Clinic All-Day Hand Sanitizer contains 75% ethyl alcohol and 0.1% benzalkonium chloride, and is therefore highly effective and fast-acting in killing 99.99% of most household germs and viruses – as tested by independent German laboratory Eurofins.

“From a commercial perspective, this represents a business opportunity because of the lack of such a product locally and worldwide. Furthermore, with COVID-19 affecting the revenue for medical services worldwide, this is a strategic move to diversify RMH Holdings from solely offering services and consultations, to also offering innovative products to the market,” adds Dr Loh.

Long Lasting Effectiveness

When we are using a sanitizer, whether it is alcohol-based or non-alcohol-based, the germ-killing effect is usually only present during the point of application. After that, our skin begins to accumulate harmful germs again once it comes into contact with contaminated surfaces, and that would mean that you have to re-apply the sanitizer.

As for the DS Skin Clinic All-Day Hand Sanitizer, it’s different from the rest. It remains effective for 24 hours after the initial application. The all-day protection is enabled by a skin-friendly, waterproofing polymer film formed over the skin upon evaporation of the alcohol. This prevents the active ingredients from being washed away, thus providing a long-lasting protection against germs.

This reduces the need to re-apply frequently for a period of 24 hours after initial application.

“The all-day protection is enabled by encapsulating 0.1% benzalkonium chloride (BKC), a very effective antimicrobial compound, in a polymer. After the alcohol fully evaporates, this forms a thin waterproof, disinfecting layer over the skin and further prevents the BKC from being washed away. This can last 24 hours even with mild handwashing,” says Dr Richard Seow (PhD) – CEO, RMH Holdings Ltd & Chief Scientific Officer, DS Skin Clinic.

Gentle On The Skin

Using alcohol-based sanitisers are dehydrating on the skin, the dermatologists from DS Skin Clinic recognised this issue. They placed this as a priority for their development of their sanitizer. The Chief Scientific Officer of DS Skin Clinic added an emollient oil to the formula to hydrate the skin, that would also mean that repeated and prolonged application of the hand sanitizer will not cause skin irritation or damage.

This makes the DS Skin Clinic All-Day Hand Sanitizer special and different from the rest, not only does it provide fast-acting germ killing effectiveness of the alcohol in the formula, they still protects the skin from the dehydrating effects from the alcohol, whilst enabling the active ingredient to last all day after initial application.

This innovative hand sanitizer is the result of the skin care expertise from the dermatologists within DS Skin Clinic and the local research and development effort of our Chief Scientific Officer, despite the major disruptions to the global supply chain by COVID-19.

“A good sanitizer must be effective in killing germs, as well as be gentle on the skin. That’s why we emphasised from day one of its development that the hand sanitizer must protect the skin from dehydration, skin irritation and prolonged usage,” says Dr Coni Liu – Consultant Dermatologist, DS Skin Clinic.

Thoughts and views on the DS Skin Clinic All-Day Hand Sanitizer

Thanks to DS Skin Clinic, I received two complimentary 45-ml spray bottle samples. When I applied DS Skin Clinic All-Day Hand Sanitizer, I felt something different from the other hand sanitisers that I currently have at home (no thanks to the the Covid-19 situation).

This DS Skin Clinic All-Day Hand Sanitizer

• is smoother
• doesn’t “burn on the skin” like the other alcohol-based hand sanitisers in the market
• has a nice fragrance
• is moisturising

In my personal humble opinion, for people with sensitive skin, the DS Skin Clinic All-Day Hand Sanitizer would be suitable for you versus the many hand sanitisers available in the mass market.

For companies who have employee care/benefits programmes, this DS Skin Clinic All-Day Hand Sanitizer would be a great gift/boost for your employees and they would make great gifts for your clients too.

From my photography business perspective, I am considering to add the DS Skin Clinic All-Day Hand Sanitizer as part of my safety management tool kit/box whereby this would be for my clients/models/subjects to apply before the start of a photography shoot.

Pricing and Availability

The DS Skin Clinic All-Day Hand Sanitizer is available in a 45-ml pocket-sized spray bottle at S$15 per bottle. Boxes of 10 bottles can be purchased at a discounted price of S$99 per box.

The DS Skin Clinic All-Day Hand Sanitizer can now be purchased at any of DS Skin Clinic’s four branches in Singapore at Orchard Paragon (Level 7 and Level 17), Parkway East and Shenton. It is also available online at their eShop at their website www.dsclinic.com.sg.

From August 2020, the DS Skin All-Day Hand Sanitizer will also be available at their partner clinics and e-commerce websites.

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* Information and brochures courtesy of DS Skin Clinic *