Hand Sanitizer Brand Touchland Just Launched Its First Fragrance, and We Tried Them All—Reviews, Photos

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No one turns their head when you pull hand sanitizer out of your bag. The mundane household item isn't a product that draws excitement. Unless, of course, you pull out a Touchland hand sanitizer. I’ve experienced, firsthand, how the small, square-shaped sanitizer can prompt intrigued reactions like, “What is that?”, Where’d you get that?”, and most notably “Is that designer?” That’s the Touchland effect. The hand-care brand, which first hit the market in 2018, found a way to transform a product as boring (but practical!) as hand sanitizer into something trendy.

Now, Touchland is setting out to do the same with perfume. The brand is introducing a new category to its personal-care product lineup with its latest launch: a hair and body mist! And because Allure editors happen to think the Power Essence Mist is easily more exciting than hand sanitizer (no shade—we still love Power Mist), we selected it as our first One to Watch honoree of 2025.

Touchland

Power Essence Mist

$20

Touchland

Overview

If you’re like me and are wondering where a body mist fits into the hand sanitizer family, according to Touchland’s CEO Andrea Lisbona, fragrance was always a part of the plan. The brand was founded in Barcelona in 2010, but it only began crafting the Power Essence Mist three years ago. “When we [launched], we knew that we would start with hand sanitizer,” Lisbona tells Allure. “But again, the connector between all of the categories that we have is that fragrance component.”

In those three years, Touchland was presented with 84 scents—in a variety of scent families—by fragrance partner Givaudan (the noses behind YSL Opium, Angel by Mugler, and Good Girl by Carolina Herrera), which the brand then narrowed down to eight scents: Lush Tropicale, Vanilla Velvet, Peachy Lychee, Mango Mojo, Sparkling Bergamot, Golden Amber, Cashmere Woods, and Rich Pistachio. “To create eight different scents and eight different moods felt like an accomplishment,” says Lisbona. “And to have created a fragrance collection where each one of them is as thoughtful as the next, it really feels like each one delivers a different sort of mood when you apply it.”

The base formula—alcohol denat, water, fragrance, niacinamide, panthenol, and sodium hyaluronate—went through 23 iterations, and each fragrance went through up to nine variations before the collection was complete. “We're perfectionists, that’s why it takes so long,” says Lisbona. For the body and hair mist, Lisbona wanted to find the perfect balance between a formula that was “hydrating but non-sticky; refreshing but not creating any grease; at the same time, we needed to make sure that people enjoy using it,” she says.

As mentioned above, the Power Essence Mist boasts a few skin-care ingredients in its formula—hydrating hyaluronic acid, soothing panthenol, and brightening niacinamide—which sound more like the ingredient list of your favorite moisturizer. Surprisingly, those ingredients aren’t novel for multi-use mists.

"Hair perfumes or mists usually contain hydrating properties like hyaluronic acid and other natural ingredients that cover odor, have UV ray protection, and give your hair just the right texture and shine," New York City- and Columbus-based hairstylist Mia Santiago previously told Allure. Hair perfumes are more likely to be alcohol-free compared to their standard counterparts (eau de toilette and eau de parfum) because regular perfumes "would be very drying to your hair,” due to the alcohol content.

With that in mind, it was surprising to learn that the Touchland Power Essence Mist is formulated with alcohol, but according to Lisbona, the hyaluronic acid and niacinamide present in the formula are meant to “compensate for the effects of alcohol and fragrance.”

Cosmetic chemist Amanda Lam, who is not affiliated with the brand, echoes this idea. “Since there is a high amount of alcohol, these skin-care ingredients should help to, at least, reduce some of the dehydration while using the product,” she says. However, Lam doubts that “there are high concentrations of these ingredients for there to be huge improvements to the skin while using this product.” Though, when compared to other body mists, “this one may feel a little nicer,” she says.

That being said, team Allure tried them all—here are our honest thoughts on each of the eight scents.

Packaging

The hair and body mist comes in the same unique square-shaped packaging as the hand sanitizer, though a bit longer and slimmer than its predecessor. “We designed this body mist to really have this ergonomic shape—it's taller, less wide, and deeper,” says Lisbona.

Though slightly different in design, making sure the bottle’s build didn’t stray too far from the original hand sanitizer model was essential for the team. “We've built great recognition on the shape of the brand—when you pull it out, people recognize it immediately because they've seen it in social media, or they've seen a celebrity using it,” she says. “So for us, it was very important to balance that brand identity we’ve built with our shape.”

We think the brand succeeded, but…maybe a little too much. “I think it's cute and kitschy,” says commerce writer Jennifer Hussein of the packaging. “It makes the bottle stand out more, but I will say there was one moment I mistook it for my hand sanitizer on the train.”

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Like the hand sanitizers, the bottle has a white rim with a clear rectangular shape in the middle so you can see the color of the juice. Each mist has a color that corresponds with the vibe of the scent—Golden Amber is a fiery red, Mango Mojo is a mellow orange, and Rich Pistachio is a calming green.

The Scents

Golden Amber

Golden Amber feels like the older sister to Vanilla Velvet. It’s a warm gourmand, that feels more mature and woodier than your average vanilla perfume—with notes of jasmine, pink lavender, ruby, and golden musk.

As a gourmand lover, I appreciate how subtle this fragrance is. It doesn’t have a fake sugary scent that some sweet fragrances can have (often leaving a headache). It has just enough depth to make it noticeable and works really well with my skin.

While I like this scent, it doesn’t top my current favorite hair and body mist, Phlur Vanilla Skin. It’s admittedly hard to put my finger on exactly why my nose prefers Phlur over this formula, but the Phlur mists I own (Vanilla Skin and Amber Haze) smell more sophisticated and leave a longer-lasting scent on my skin. Whereas, on me, the Touchland mists lose their smell after about an hour. Wear time for my colleagues, on the other hand, was much longer, so keep in mind that everyone’s fragrance experience will vary.

Lush Tropicale

Envision yourself on a beach surrounded by bright green palm trees, foamy ocean waves, and the brightest sunshine you’ve ever felt—that’s what this scent smells like. With notes of bergamot, papaya, amber, and apple blossoms, Lush Tropicale will transport you to your (very warm) happy place.

Vanilla Velvet

If you’re already a vanilla lover, you’ll want to add this to your fragrance collection. If you’re a skeptic, it just may be the scent that convinces you to give the popular gourmand note a chance. You can expect classic vanilla, almond, and cream notes but with a hint of coconut, musk, and sandalwood that make this mist a little sexier.

Peachy Lychee

A refreshing yet flirty scent, Peachy Lychee smells just as fun as it sounds. “It’s so light and sweet smelling,” says editorial assistant Jennet Jusu. The notes of fruity peach, lychee, and orchid are balanced out by warm amber and musk so you don’t end up smelling like the cocktail. “It’s perfect if you want your hair to smell fresh and fruity,” says Jusu. “Plus, it’s not overpowering or artificial-smelling.”

Mango Mojo

“When it comes to fruity fragrances, the subtle, honey-like sweetness of mango always attracts me, and Mojo Mango is filled with juicy goodness,” says Hussein. Its hyper-sweet combination of the fruit—candied pineapple, peach puree, and strawberry—can rival the mouthwatering sugariness of BonBon's very best Swedish treats.

Sparkling Bergamot

Eucalyptus, bergamot, and hinoki form a fresh, herbaceous team while amber and vetiver keep this scent from veering too grassy. “This has become my favorite new way to freshen up on the go,” says closet assistant Edward Horgan, who loves that the compact shape and lightweight bottle makes it easy to throw in most bags.

Cashmere Woods

Lisbona’s mission was to create scents that evoke a specific mood, and of all eight Power Essence scents, Cashmere Woods does the best job at this. In a word, this scent will make you feel cozy—you can thank the blend of sweet cream, vanilla, and cashmere woods for that.

Rich Pistachio

This desert-like mist has grounding notes of cedar oak that complement the round sweetness of the pistachio top notes. After wearing the mist for eight hours, associate director of special projects Hunter Lacey concluded that though the scent is soft, it has an “impressive” wear time. “As a hair mist, it’s substantially lighter than a traditional eau de parfum, making it a user-friendly, delectably delicate introduction to ever-trendy gourmand fragrances,” says Lacey.

You can shop the Touchland Power Essence Hair and Body Mists on February 3 for $20 each on Touchland.com, Sephora, and Ulta Beauty.

Touchland