Summer time. Lots of sun and heat. Yard work… swimming… bare feet… chafing from running and bike riding… what have you… It can lead to dry hands, elbows, feet, knees. I was reminded in the last week or so of where I grew up and how we took care of rough dry skin.
I remember back when I was a kid, there was a green can (usually somewhat the worse for wear from sitting out in the elements for so long) sitting high on the barn wall… Bag Balm. I hated it when I was a kid. I didn’t like the way it felt or smelled. The cows liked it especially when they were being treated for mastitis. It never took long for the sore udders to heal.
Now, I don’t mind the smell so much and how it makes my hands feel makes up for how it feels going on. Now, the smell takes me back to when I was a kid mucking out barn stalls and feeding cows.
Who knew, back in the day, that Bag Balm would leave the Agway store and into CVS, Walmart and Target? Yesterday I used my CVS points (there is something to be said for having to use the pharmacy for all medication refills… every month or so I get free $5) to buy a cute little 1oz tin that I can toss in my bag and take with me wherever I go. It joins my Tiger Balm in my bag so I always have what I need. I still use the good smelling stuff because, well, I like the smell… but Bag Balm (and occasionally Corn Husker’s Lotion) is my go to for really rough dry skin.
I didn’t know that it is good for Tattoos… and I never thought of using it for chafing but given what it is in it (lanolin and petroleum jelly and just a little antiseptic) I guess it really isn’t any surprise. I also didn’t realize you could use it for chapped lips.
I did a little googling around (and went to the Bag Balm website) and found out that you can get it (now) in anything from “on the go” tubes that look a lot like popular lip fix tubes to the neat new 1oz tin I got to the ones I remember as a kid to a tub of almost 5 pounds (pretty sure this is still destined for cows and other livestock on farms).
The website is really kind of nifty, too, because there are ideas on how to use it, success stories, even a page on how to make ornaments out of the tins
Love and Light
April Wells
6/14/17
A Figment Of Fitness 