Balms

I received a post from my friend Nicka that I needed to write about her favorite Boots balm, so here it goes. Boots, as many of you know, is a UK brand that started selling in the U.S. several years ago. Boots is equivalent to our CVS, but apparently a bit more Sephora, Whole Foods, etc., the ultimate shop. Nicka sent me the Mediterranean Olive, Almond & Sage Wonderbalm about 6 months ago and I really do enjoy it. The smell is wonderfully therapeutic, and the almond and sage is a soothing fragrant experience. It is also an organic product, which I definitely appreciate. I like it mostly for my lips and cuticles, but it can also be used on any dry skin patch you've got! It's light in consistency, so it absorbs very quickly. This product sells at CVS and Target for less than $10 a jar.

Though I prefer the aroma of Wonderbalm, I am addicted to old fashioned Bag Balm, a product created in Wells River, VT in 1899. Bag Balm, recognized by its green and red can, which the product has been packaged in for over 100 years, is still a staple in many a medicine cabinet. Bag Balm smells like what it is, Petrolatum and lanolin, but it's healing value is immense (its consistency is more like that of Vaseline). The product was created to soften cow udders and its use has evolved in to under eye cream, lip, cuticle, heel and feet balm, etc. I adore this universal balm and you can buy it at Drugstore.com for less than $7 a tin - what a deal!

My co-worker Julie mentioned a product she prefers over Bag Balm, which I figured I should include. It is called Lansinoh (which also sells on Drugstore.com for about $7 a tube) created for nursing mother's. Lansinoh is a topical nipple treatment with no preservatives or additives, which means it does not need to be removed before a child feeds. Julie made a good point, "Bag Balm was created for cow udders, Lansinoh for a nursing mother .. what is more natural than that?" I looked it up and the main ingredient is ultra-pure medical-grape lanolin and its consistency is a bit lighter in color and texture than Vaseline or Bag Balm. Julie uses this product universally, as well, on her lips and dry elbows, and she said it works great on her son's cracked heels. I'm gonna head to CVS at lunch and give it a shot (I'm such an easy sell)!!

Some times a chapped lip (or chapped anything) screams for relief and I'm confident that one of these salves/balms will do just the trick for you!