Monday 11 March 2013

Crabtree & Evelyn Gardeners Hand Scrub

The Hubby and I have an allotment, something I might do a future post on, if anyone is interested, but we do have one.  The lack of garden really drove both of us insane because we like to grow things.  I love those little grow kits that I can put all over my house to grow fruit and vegetables and naturally my allotment is full of fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices and flowers.
My Allotment - Shed, Pumpklin, Potatoes and Beetroot

I am sure you can imagine that being on the  allotment, digging, weeding, digging some more, pulling up the weeds, and sowing seeds involves using all differing kinds of tools and accessories and they all take their toll on your hands as well as leaving you with aching muscles you didn't know you had. Whilst wearing gloves my hands do get a bit sweaty so more often than not I remove them and this leads to my hands become dry, chapped and sometimes end up becoming all blistered around the pressure pads on the palms of my hands making them look horrid and feeling sore to the touch. 
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Every so often I need a decent hand scrub and it is something I have found really hard to do.  I need something that I could get my hands on pretty quick and something that would act as an exfoliant but also a moisturiser. In the past I have used many products which fit this category and typically they had all run out, so faced with a dilemma I asked a friend of mine what she would use and bless her she sent me a tube of Crabtree & Evelyn Gardeners Hand Scrub with Pumice and it comes in a 195g Tube. 


What they say


After a long day shuffling soil, treat your hands to our popular Gardeners Hand Scrub, formulated with soothing comfrey herbs. Two sizes of ultra-fine pumice work together to gently lift soil from hands and nails. Fragranced with fresh green clover, lavender, sage rosemary and thyme, our Gardeners Hand Scrub with Pumice is the perfect end to a day in the garden.
  • Gentle on skin
  • Ultra-fine pumice
  • Cleans hands and nails
The tube is quite picturesque in that it is a clear plastic tube with a flip top lid which is nicely rounded to allow it to stand upright on a flat surface. Through the tube itself you can see a slightly murky green coloured liquid which clearly has bits in it because you can see them quite clearly; these bits of course are the pumice which I have already mentioned too, with the name of the product. Finally the label on the front of the tube features the brand and name of the product and then for a picture there is a rather gangly looking gardener tending to his (it looks like a him) plants. 

To use the instructions are quite clear, once you have washed your hands and removed as much dirt, mud and anything else you might have on your hands and then patted them dry, remember if you have been gardening and your hands are sore, you don't want to be vigorously rubbing them dry, it will hurt! So once your hands are dry you might well notice that you haven't been able to remove every last bit of mud and dirt, which I find really annoying and you might well notice you have a callous or two on the palm of your hand where you have been weeding and digging, all you need to do is ensure your sink or bowl has some warm (not hot) water ready and then once your hands are wet apply a blob of this scrub to the palm of one hand and then gently massage it into your hands as much as you can. As you massage it into your hands you should be able to feel some slight rubbing from the pumice stone as it removed dead skin and ingrained soil from your hands. 

The smell of this scrub is much nicer than I expected it to be. I have a thing about green products in that I always expect them to smell really horrible and vile but I was pleasantly surprised with this scrub because it has three main scents which are all mixed together and they are Fresh green clover, lavender, sage rosemary and thyme which combined results in quite a strong smell of lavender for me which I am quite a fan of and you can ever so slightly pick up on the sage. This product also contains Pumice which a lot of people use as a pumice stone to exfoliate dead skin from their feet, in this case the stone itself is broken up into tiny pieces and when blended with a cream it does the exact same job. Next comes Rosemary leaf which is a deodoriser for the skin but it also acts as an anti-oxidant and. Finally there is Aloe Vera Juice which has many benefits to the skin but in this case it is used mainly to heal, reduces redness and itching and it also forms a protective barrier around achy and sore joints and muscles. But most importantly soothe and nourish the skin because it contains both Vitamin E and C. 

So adding all of those ingredients together you got a product which works to remove ingrained dirt from your skin, remove dead skin and act as an antiseptic to fight infections from any open wounds you may have and then it soothes, nourishes and softens the skins and attempts to leave your hands in as good a condition after all your hard work as they were before you started. So how does it fare? I have to say that I am really impressed with the product; I like the smell of it, the feel and texture of it and the fact that it isn't too harsh on my skin. Whenever I have been down my allotment I do tend to have sore points on the palms of my hands below my fingers and the thought of putting pressure on them did fill me with dread, but this scrub is really kind to the skin and it definitely does soothe. There is an entire range devoted to Gardeners which all looks really lovely, though I haven't tried it.


Would I buy it? I am not too sure, it wouldn't be something I would rush out to buy, but I do like it. When it comes to the price a tube containing 195g will cost you £13 from the Crabtree & Evelyn shop and it does have a long shelf life as long as you keep it out the sunlight and somewhere cool to ensure all of the ingredients stay fresh and when you do use it, again it will last depending on how often you use it like all products within this area, if you use it daily it wont last as long as it would if you used it weekly but as there is no guidance as to how often you should and shouldn't use it you can simply use your own judgment. 

I simply like the fact it relates to gardeners, it is designed to treat areas of the body which gardening affects the most and it smells nice and is kind to the skin.
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