What is Bag Balm? All about beauty TikTok's latest viral skincare hack

Why is beauty TikTok suddenly obsessed with an ointment originally used to lubricate cow udders? Here's the ultra-moisturizing scoop!

Why is beauty TikTok suddenly obsessed with an ointment originally used to lubricate cow udders?
Why is beauty TikTok suddenly obsessed with an ointment originally used to lubricate cow udders?  © Collage: Screenshots/@sofloridagirl & @originalbagbalm

We previously dove into TikTok's recent obsession with skin slugging – or sealing one's skin with an intensely moisturizing agent, usually something petroleum-based.

Most slugging aficionados were using Vaseline, Aquaphor, or CeraVe – but now, they've discovered a product so insanely hydrating that it was first formulated for chapped cow udders in 1899.

Its history and packaging aren't necessarily the most glamorous on the market, but that hasn't stopped influencers from going wild for Bag Balm!

Of course, it doesn't help that it's pretty cheap at less than $12 per 8 oz. tin.

"Our whole brand ethos is simplicity and versatility," Libby Parent, president of Original Bag Balm, told The New York Times.

"Our longtime users were introduced to us on the farm," she continued, "So to be in Vogue, they can think, 'This isn't my Bag Balm.'"

Bag Balm has long been an under-the-radar skincare favorite for celebs like country singer Shania Twain and actor Raquel Welch, both having praised the salve in interviews from 1999 and 2017 respectively.

Cover photo: Collage: Screenshots/@sofloridagirl & @originalbagbalm

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