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BEAUTY, STYLE AND LIFE OVER 50

Natural Skincare

The Best Balm for Your Poor Cuticles (Repost)

BeautyLiza HerzComment
This originally ran last summer in response to all our frenzied hand-washing, but add seasonal dry air  to the mix and your cuticles are once again in dire need of attention. Since that original post, Lano has repackaged their healing Gold Dry Skin …

This originally ran last summer in response to all our frenzied hand-washing, but add seasonal dry air to the mix and your cuticles are once again in dire need of attention. Since that original post, Lano has repackaged their healing Gold Dry Skin Salve, so here it is in its new, shiny tube.

Twice now, during lockdown, I have squeezed some Lano Golden Dry Skin Salve into a mini pot and run it over to a friend whose cuticles were in dire need. Apparently our desire to treat friends during these tough times is called caremongering — a play on ‘scare-mongering’ that I just love.

Lanolin, the heavy, natural coating on sheep’s wool makes the best occlusive protectant for cuticles that, because of repeated washing or nervous picking, are raggedy and cracked. Lanolin on its own is rather sticky, which is fine for lips, but rather unpleasant on fingers. This salve blends lanolin with honey, beeswax and vitamin e, making it more lightweight but no less effective at reversing what anxiety, dry air and relentless hand-washing have done to our fingertips.

The salve is also an excellent lip balm and while the new tube isn’t as massive as the former 50 gram one, it costs less (always a nice surprise) and still contains enough to last a long time (it should be applied sparingly anyway.)

Heavenly-Smelling Weleda Sheer Hydration Moisture Mist Fights Inescapable January

BeautyLiza Herz2 Comments
Weleda+mist.jpg

I love Tiktoks of men showing off the beer fridges built into the sides of their man-cave couches. I want tricked-out seating too, but I’d prefer a Montauk 'Scarlett' armchair, with a hidden fridge stash of Weleda Sheer Hydration Moisture Mist, bottled water and some cubed watermelon.

New from Weleda (and perfect timed to counteract January’s moisture-free air and general awfulness) Sheer Hydration Moisture Mist, $19.99, contains prickly pear cactus extract which helps winter-ravaged skin retain water. Prickly pear cactus leaves are full of mucilage, (the same ingredient in kindergarten glue), which is loaded with water-bonding polysaccharides. Add aloe vera juice, skin-plumping betaine and water-attracting glycerine and you have a near-perfect moisture delivery system.

It smells wonderful, its green mandarin and palmarosa scent providing an olfactory jolt of happy along with the moisture surge. Palmarosa smells like a field of roses took a beach vacation: lightly rosy, sunny and energizing.

The range also includes moisturizing lotion, cream and unscented eye gel that could live in your couchfridge to soothe Zoom-weary eyes. But for instant gratification, the hydrating mist is it. When you are too lethargic to open tubes and moisturize, you can always manage to lift an arm and spritz.