My childhood corner drugstore kept a display of Smith’s Rosebud Salve on the counter. Packed in tins – it’s made with cottonseed oil and essential oils in a petrolatum base with a light rose scent and color. I have kept a tin in my pocket for decades. It’s great for lips and cuticles, or anything else that gets dry – like elbows and knees. I also dab on sunburns. The tin can be a challenge to open the first time, but you’ll get the hang of it soon enough.
Originally formulated by Dr, George Smith in Woodsboro, Maryland in 1892 for the relief of diaper rash, skin irritation, hemorrhoids, itchy skin, eczema, alopecia, razor burn and chapped lips, it has been experiencing a renaissance as celebrities like Beyonce and make up artists laud its attributes.
You can buy Smith’s Rosebud Salve at major beauty and fashion retailers including Sephora, Ulta, Urban Outfitters, Amazon and Anthropologie. You can also buy it at C.O. Bigelow – who also makes their own Rose Salve, which is sort of a copycat and has some synthetic ingredients.
C.O Bigelow Rose Salve contains the following ingredients, petrolatum, lanolin Oil, Squalene, Flavor (Aroma), Octyldodecanol, Gossypium Herbaceum (Cotton) Seed Oil, Rosa Canina Fruit Extract, Bisabolol, Jojoba Esters, Red 30 Lake (CI73360).
C. O. Bigelow is the oldest apothecary in the United States and still occupies it’s original Manhattan location on 6th at West 9th Street as well as a website
Whichever one you choose, you are in for a winter treat – assuming you like the rose scent 🙂