Care and protect: B&B Labs launches microbiome-friendly hand care range to keep up with increasingly discerning consumer needs

Founded in 2014, B&B Labs is an offshoot of Beaubelle Group, which also manufactures and distributes its eponymous Swiss-made skin care brand.

The firm’s latest hygiene range consists of three hand care products: CLEANSE hand wash, ATTACK hand sanitiser and PROTECT hand serum.

“Since March, we've been doing a lot of research and development on these products. We didn't want to jump on the bandwagon. We wanted to launch something with longevity,”​ said CEO Julius Lim

Lim said that the range was designed to fill a gap in the market for sanitising products with skin caring formulations.

“Many of the products in the marketing are overly drying and don’t really have skin caring properties. What we wanted to do was create a range that doesn’t just sanitise and kill germs, but also nourishes the skin,” ​said Lim.

Additionally, the firm also aimed to fulfil the unquenchable consumer demand for natural ingredients.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that hand sanitisers have at least 60% alcohol.

The brand’s ATTACK hand sanitiser uses 75% of alcohol derived from cane sugar, fulfilling the CDC and WHO recommendations while also being gentler on skin.

In addition, the hand sanitiser also contains a plant-based prebiotic to balance the skin’s microbiome.

“With frequent use of alcohol-based hand sanitisers and frequent hand washing, we aren’t just killing the bad bacteria but the good as well. This prebiotic we have included helps to rebalance the skin microbiome, so consumers can still have soft and smooth hands at the end of the day,” ​said Lim.

While CLEANSE and PROTECT do not contain the plant-based prebiotic, Lim ensures the products are gentler on the skin microbiome and contain Asian ingredients such as mangosteen xanthones and durian flavonoids which have antioxidant properties.

To cater to consumers with existing skin conditions such as eczema and atopic dermatitis, PROTECT does not contain alcohol but natural antiseptics made from herbal medicines and certified-organic fruit extracts with antimicrobial properties.

“The ingredients we used are not approved by the CDC and WHO. So, we sent it to an independent laboratory to test the formulation and the tests proved that it kills 99.9% of germs,”​ said Lim.

Hand care no longer an afterthought

The company believes that going forward, we will see more thoughtfully developed hygiene-related personal care products in the market.

“There’s been a change in the preference for hygiene-related products. It’s no longer just about killing bacteria. People are more discerning, and they understand that its important that such products nourish the skin as well,” ​said Lim.

Additionally, Lim said expects to see a trend of hand premiumisation, along with it, new categories of products such as hand masks or at-home hand spa treatments.

“Premiumisation of hand care is definitely the trend. After all, there is more awareness in mind now that our skin is drying out from all that washing and sanitising. People will be thinking of taking care of their hands a lot more while protecting them.”​