This is what I use to wash my hands 20+ times a day. Guess what, it's not drying at all.

I do corporate speaking engagements on the side, and some months ago Watsons invited me their planning session to talk about the latest beauty trends. They gave me this gift bag with some Watsons goodies after my talk - love getting these, there’s always something I need or discover in them! It had the Watsons Goat Milk Cream Body Wash (P289 for 1 liter) and guys, seriously, this is SO GOOD.

It’s a body wash, but since I always run out of hand soap I decanted some of it to pump bottles stationed by the sinks. I’ve been using this for a couple of months now (I think! I’ve had it for a while and it’s a liter!) and even with this coronavirus mayhem, my hands actually feel soft and smooth. I’ve been cooking, cleaning, and washing dishes a lot + taking care of the dogs at home, so I wash my hands about 20 times a day at least. My hands don’t feel like it.

The ingredients are quite basic - it’s just water, surfactants, perfume, thickener, and preservatives. But it has glycerin too, which should help with moisture. It also uses gentler coconut-based surfactants like cocamide DEA and cocamidopropyl betaine, although the main surfactant is sodium laureth sulfate. In any case, the combination results in a wash that doesn’t feel as harsh as soap or typical hand wash. The scent is very mild too, just slightly milky.

Here’s a hack: instead of using products marked as “hand soap” go for body washes instead! These are usually less harsh than hand wash and some even have emollient or occlusive moisturizers in them. I love Dove body washes usually, but this Watsons Goat Milk wash is sooo cheap. You won’t feel bad about using it so much!

Which soap or wash is getting your hands through the COVID-19 pandemic? Let me know in the comments!