As most of you know, my wife, Patsy, is a marvel at sport massage and does wonderful things to a tired and aching body. She is also always on the lookout for new and interesting creams, balms and lotions to use in her trade. So when a range of ClimbOn skincare products landed on my desk, she elbowed me out the way and ripped open the package to check out the contents before I could say, wax me up baby! She honed straight into the Ridiculous! Paste – a ‘tension soothing massage balm’ – and I just happened to be in close proximity, so I was lucky enough to be the trial bunny.
In her words: ‘One of the most important things about a massage balm is its spreadability. It should have a nice continuous spreading feel, without having to re-apply too often. I found with the Ridiculuous! Paste, the balm spreads very well over local areas, like shoulders, knees, hands or feet and when it came to large surface areas like backs and legs, then a few drops of my standard grape seed oil was a perfect catalyst to help the balm spread smoothly and easily.’
While massaging me, she kept on going on about all the wonderful ingredients in the product (of which there are many) but identified three, which she thought were integral in a good massage balm: clove bud oil – a pain reliever; turmeric – soothes tired muscle and helps recovery, and sea buckthorn – prevents dryness and inflammation.
After she finished, I felt so good, I ran a half marathon and sent my 6-month 8a project – I wish! But seriously, my muscles did feel somewhat relaxed and I smelt all herby.
The Crème Lite is a ‘soothing and moisturising’ salve, which nourishes your skin and protects it from the harsh conditions of continuous climbing and bouldering. It is also 100% plant based, with some very cool ingredients, like apricot kernel oil, grape seed oil, shea butter, lemon oil, lavender and geranium. It is light and absorbs quickly, so you can climb fairly soon after use.
ClimbOn’s all-purpose Mini Lotion Bar is the perfect skincare balm to keep in your pack alongside your Black Diamond skincare kit. This little miracle balm is really kind to your skin. It helps prevent cracking and flappers, aids with rejuvenation of tender fingertips between sessions, and the added beeswax facilitates the healing of abrasions. A really handy tool to have.
And of course, being out in often dry conditions with lots of sun, the other skin product that we must all have in our packs whether we are climbing, hiking, or just spending some chill time in the hills, is lip balm, and ClimbOn’s Lip Tube is just the ticket. Also loaded with a wonderful blend of skin loving ingredients and essential oils, including beeswax, this lip balm will soothe your lips, keeping them moist and soft in harsh conditions and help revitalize split, dry and chapped lips. It is also great for soothing cold sores and insect bites.
All ClimbOn products are plant based (although some have beeswax) and contain no synthetics, water or alcohol. Made from natural ingredients, all products are non-toxic and biodegradable, which helped it win Natural Solutions Magazine’s ‘Beauty with a Conscience’ award in 2009. And they are totally cruelty free!
ClimbOn says: ‘We use real ingredients for real skin and emotional issues, because we are all real people; our product line is created to nourish your skin as well as your mind & body.’
What I really liked, besides the obvious benefits of all these wonderful skin products, was the little Italian proverb that came on a small piece of paper slipped into the Mini Bar tin. It read, ‘After the game, the King and the Pawn go into the same box.’ – That should give many pause for thought.
Lip Tube (4.25 g) – R89
Mini Bar (14 g) – R150
Créme Kite (37 g) – R220
Ridiculous! Paste – (56 g) R520
