I am a walking injury. Clumsiness runs in my genes; as a child, it wasn’t so bad, but the older I get the more I can relate to my father’s numerous bruises and occasional yelps of pain while doing things around the house. He always had banged-up shins, presumably from running into things with them. The evidence of my own personal klutziness tends to show up not on my shins, but on my forearms. I have this nasty habit of burning myself on my left forearm whenever I reach into our oven to retrieve something I’ve cooked or baked, which is often. As a result, my left arm bears several burn marks at any given time, all of them in varying stages of healing and disappearing. When one fades away, another will inevitably take its place. My scars are like guppies that way.
So, I’m constantly looking for things to put on these scars that will help with the healing process, as well as take away the initial sting. Last month I was sent samples from a company called Climb On!, whose three core products are based around a similar recipe, and come in the form of a bar, a creme, and a lip lube. The company makes other products in addition to these, but I really wanted to try the bar and the creme, the latter in particular. Climb On!’s Creme is made of the same ingredients as their bar, with the addition of certified organic aloe vera and unrefined shea butter, both of which I desired for my many burns. The full list of ingredients for Climb On!’s Creme are as follows:
INGREDIENTS: Unrefined Texas Beeswax, Apricot Kernel Oil, Grapeseed Oil, Unrefined Wheatgerm Oil, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Shea Butter, Organic Aloe Vera Gel, and Climb On!’s Proprietary Blend of Essential Oils.
You might notice that only one of the creme’s ingredients is certified organic, and I wondered why. When I posed the question to company co-founder Amy Reynolds, she explained that the company’s blends created by her sister Polly, co-founder and Clinical Aromatherapist, contain such large quantities of the oils that using organic would drive the cost up significantly. The two sisters had decided to keep the costs of the products reasonable in order to sell a higher volume, so they opted to use high-quality food-grade base oils and therapeutic-grade essential oils instead of certified organic oils.*
I’m not sure if these oils are pesticide-free, I’ll have to email Amy again to find out. I do know that what goes onto your skin gets absorbed into your system, though I’m not sure of the degree to which topical products are absorbed through the skin (more information forthcoming). So, if you choose to use these products, you should weigh the options and decide what feels comfortable for you. Personally, I do wish the products were organic, but I use the creme on such a regular basis that if the price increased greatly I’m not sure I would continue to use it. I think this is exactly why the company decided not to go organic, which makes it a good business decision. From what I’ve read so far, the jury’s still out on the validity of their decision in terms of health.
Certifications aside, I can tell you that the creme works as promised. I’ve been using it on my burn marks, as well as my heels, elbows, under my eyes… Pretty much everywhere. I have also used the bar, which is kind of like a tiny bundt cake for your skin. I like using this thicker formula on the roughest parts of my skin, but I hate the act of scraping off bits of product with my fingernails. That’s due to a personal dislike of things being lodged under my nails, though I’m sure the less-clumsy of you wouldn’t have this problem. For now, I’ll stick with the creme.
See that rock? I’d probably hurt myself on it.
Oh, I forgot to mention the scent of the creme. It’s like part aloe, part earth, part flower… Overall, I love the way the creme smells. Another thing to note about this product is its name. Climb On! is named for its origins. I already mentioned the co-founders, sisters Amy and Polly Reynolds. Here’s the short version, as I understand it: Amy, an avid rock climber, was experiencing severely chapped hands, and turned to her sister for help, and Climb On! was born. When I first heard about the company, I’ll admit to being more than a little intimidated by the name and climbing culture surrounding it. Though I’m pretty active, I’m no rock climber, mainly because I’d just end up hurting myself (See beginning of post). But I had nothing to fear, because these products could be beneficial to virtually anyone, and now Climb On! Creme has a special place in my medicine cabinet. And in my hiking backpack. And in my purse. And my car. And in the bag of dog medicines I carry around, you know, just in case.
*UPDATE: After I put this post up, I received some emails from Amy Reynolds. She wanted me to further highlight some of the product’s benefits, such as the fact that it doesn’t contain any parabens, propylene glycol, petrochemicals, fillers, or any other synthetic chemicals. The product is also 100% biodegradable. However, Amy’s further assertion that her product is 100% organic because all of its ingredients are carbon-based is false, according to USDA organic certification standards. Read this post to see how I responded to her claims.
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