World’s Best-Smelling Hand Sanitizer Discovered in New Bedford

A few weeks ago, I shared a story with you about how incredibly bad Equate hand sanitizer smelled. I thought it was just me, but I found out I wasn't alone. A quick glance at the comment section underneath the hand sanitizer listed at Walmart.com reveals people all over the country compared the smell to things like "whiskey vomit," "rotted carcass," and "fermented corn."

Complaints were so far and wide that Walmart actually released a statement explaining why there was a change in the scent of the product.

"In order to make more hand sanitizer available to the Equate shopper and their families during the national emergency, you will notice a change in the fragrance of the Equate hand sanitizer. This is a temporary fragrance," Walmart assured the world.

Even in this climate where hand sanitizer is the equivalent of gold, we decided to just throw away our bottle. The smell was that disgusting.

Fast forward to earlier this week, when I had a meeting at the Black Whale in New Bedford. This was the first time I've been out to a restaurant since March 11. One of the requirements for restaurants to have outdoor seating during this phase of reopening is that hand sanitizer must be readily available to customers and staff. In compliance, on each table at the Black Whale were a couple of bottles of hand sanitizer.

I decided to give it a try. I'm here to tell you that this was the most pleasant-smelling hand sanitizer I've ever come across in my life. It had a soft scent of coconut and reminded me of some very good-smelling suntan lotion. Some people who tried it with me said that it was more of a mint chocolate chip scent. Either way, it is light and refreshing.

I immediately Googled the name of it, which was "Life To Go" hand sanitizer, only to find out that it was totally sold out on their website. I wasn't giving up that easy. I asked the manager where he got the hand sanitizer, expecting that he had bought it in bulk from a restaurant distributor. I was shocked to find out that he bought them at Stop & Shop in Fairhaven!

I just visited. They are still there for sale, $3.99 a pop.

I left some for you.

You're welcome.