Giftware Association members Mad Beauty have written us a guest blog on the sudden surge of gift companies selling hand sanitisers, with the outbreak of Coronavirus, and what to look for when making a buying decision.

Here at Mad HQ we don't wantto be seen to be adding to any panic but we wanted to offer some top tips whenthinking about buying sanitizers. 

One thing we have seengrow with the public's concern about the Coronavirus is the sales of sanitisersto both the general public and our retailers. What is new is we have beenapproached by many big retailers asking to buy up huge quantities of oursanitiser stock. 

At Spring Fair 2020 we noticed a lot of traditional gift companies starting to sell sanitisers in various forms so there are a few things would advise to look out for and ask before you buy sanitisers to protect yourself as a retailer against potential product liability in the event of a claim from a customer for any possible reaction or sensitivity to the ingredients

Mad is a "Beauty company that sellsgifts, not a gift company that sells beauty".  Even with 20 years ofexperience in the professional and consumer beauty industry, it took us 8-9months of work for our sanitisers to become compliant with current cosmeticregulations.  

We also undertake microbiological testing herein the UK to support a kill rate of  99.99% and can provide safety dataand test certification should it be required. This might not be the case with agift company, so whilst we are not criticising these products, we believe it isadvisable to think about compliance before you buy.

We also wanted create a cosmetic appeal forour sanitizers and they include Aloe Vera & moisturisers to be soft on thehands rather than stripping & drying. Adding the maximum allowable amountof french perfume we could have created a better & longer lasting fragrance,which include melon, apple, cherry, vanilla & wild berries.

Our Jelly Belly versions have fragrancesupplied by Jelly Belly for an authentic scent. We have created credit cardsizes handy sprays & Clip & Cleans gel sanitizers for easy access on thego, they clip on to hand bags, rucksacks, nappy bags & belts

Trevor Cash, MD Mad Beauty, has his top tipswhen buying sanitiser..

• Check the kill rate, we have invested in micro biological reports to evaluate kill rate and ours is clinically proven to kill 99.99% of bacteria. Most in the market sit at around 99% with one or two at 99.9% which may not seem much of a difference but every .9% is a lot more more effective, so in the current climate this can make all the difference.
• Ask to see a Cosmetic Product Safety Report this will protect you if you have any issues with customers 
• Check they have moisturisers as some alcohol based sanitisers can be harsh on the skin
• Ask what % of perfume are included in the sanitiser as this will effect the sales appeal

Regular hand washing and using hand sanitizer is a very helpful way to minimise the spread of infection.

To find out more about mad Beauty visit their site here - https://www.madbeauty.com/