Gloved With Love

Scrub, scrub, scrub those hands for at least 20 seconds you know the rules by now. We all need to clean our hands the moment we have been out or touched anything; COVID has taught us that. Sadly it didn’t tell us much about loving our hands; taking care of them at the same time. These miracles of ours are one of the parts of the body that are often neglected and show our age far quicker than any face can. Look at any Hollywood superstars and you won’t be able to guess their age from their faces but look at their hands if you can and you will get a far better idea. Gloved with Love celebrates the new hand care system from talented perfumer Tom Daxon, developing his knowledge of scent and adding his healing insight into hand care.

Images Karin Berndl.com

Perfumer, Tom Daxon has been creating divine fragrances since 2013 with a collection that has a clear signature all over the 14 scents available. His latest project over two years in the making, applying the highest set of principles learned from his fragrance line, to hand care, with his line Gloved; and it’s a bit of a family affair to boot.

Tom’s mother, Dale Daxon Bowers was not just a trained chemist but worked straight from university with the internationally renowned brand Molton Brown creating (initially by hand) their body care products remaining as creative director for over 30 years.

All the gloved fragrance oils used in the two products are blended in the perfume capital of the world, Grasse, the result of a long-running partnership between Tom Daxon and the Chabert family of perfumers. The father Jacques and duo of his daughters have worked for many years also on Molton Brown products as well as Tom Daxon perfumes so this makes for an extra-strong emotive relationship.

The two products in the line are an Active-Hydrate Hand Wash and the Instant-Absorb Hand Lotion.

The Active-Hydrate Hand Wash is about cleansing the hands and leaves them feeling softer than before you started. Whilst the Instant-Absorb Hand Lotion is a non-greasy moisturiser which absorbs instantly.

And the all-important scent that sits within the hand wash? Find at the core, Virginian cedarwood as the oil forms the foundation for this fresh uplifting scent, whilst also providing an array of anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial benefits. It’s even a powerful scent neutraliser. Other notes include Lime Juniper Angelica and Iris. It also contains the much talked of within the beauty industry Hyaluronic acid, capable of holding 1000 times its weight in water, is added for advanced hydration and skin feel.

The same collection of scents are included in the Instant-Absorb Hand Lotion with the added combination of Provitamin B5 and wonder-hydrator hyaluronic acid again to regenerate and repair hard-working hands. 

We asked Tom to tell us a little bit about this new journey:-

Why choose hand care and why is hand care so important?

I thought that with my fine fragrance background and my mum’s formulation know-how we could make really good hand care. Obviously there’s a particular emphasis on hand care at the moment but it’s importance this shouldn’t just be for now; your hands go through a lot, work hard and often suffer as a result. They’re deserving of extra care and yet often receive less.

What made you want to challenge this area?

It seemed like a bit of a neglected market to me; an afterthought for brands that focus more on other areas. To illustrate: the biggest claim made for most premium hand washes is ‘non-drying’ which has always seemed a little unambitious – you’d expect a lot more from the other cosmetic products you buy. Unusually, gloved is solely focused on hand care. Our hand wash goes beyond just gentle, it hydrates at the same time. We also have a strong environmental (no single-use plastics) and fragrance focus. We aim to lead in all three areas; hand care without compromise is the goal.

Why did you choose this particular fragrance?  Will there be others. And if so why was this the first?

Partly it was utilising what has been successful for Tom Daxon our most popular fragrance, IRIDIUM, is cedarwood based. Cedarwood oil also has benefits that seemed particularly apt for use in hand care; anti-inflammatory. It can help balance a soothe tired skin, anti-oxidant, anti-microbial. Plus it’s a great odour neutraliser which I thought the keen cooks out there would really appreciate.

Where do you produce the products and the bottles?

The bottles are from Italy, the product is made in the UK.

Will you do a refill service?

We currently sell refill bottles; the same glass bottles but without the pump so you can reuse the only plastic part. If we have shops in the future (currently we only sell through our website) then I would love to offer a refill service.

How was the creative process different from your fragrance line?

Well, there’s a lot of hand washing. The considerations are different because you’re looking for a different effect; you’re not looking for an 8-hour fragrance ‘journey’ when you wash your hands. That doesn’t mean you can’t use the same approach though. Our fragrances at Tom Daxon are ingredient-led and that’s certainly the same for gloved.

And how was working with your mum?

It’s a well-trodden path for both of us by now!

Just to also add the green elements of these products help us and the environment. The £1 charged for each reusable pump goes to Surfers Against Sewage. They’re a marine conservation charity fighting to end the use of single-use plastic pollution in the UK. No single-use plastics arte used, just glass bottles, aluminium caps and all the boxes are made from recycled cardboard. Reusable pumps. The brand is vegan with 85% natural ingredients and are Free from Animal Products, Animal Testing, Ethanolamines, Methylisothiazolinone, Mineral Oil, Parabens, PEG’s, Phthalates, Silicones, Sulphates.

To find out more about Tom Daxon fragrances check them out here and for more about Gloved here. And if you enjoyed Gloved Love then why not read Black and Deep Here.