The trendiest skincare product isn’t a serum or cream in sexy packaging — it’s a drug store balm meant for cow udders sold in a lime green tin.
Bag Balm, originally formulated to soften and soothe cow udders, has suddenly become the hottest complexion hack among the “skinfluencers” of TikTok, such as Gen Z creator Alix Earle, and has even earned a mention in Vogue.
Madison Bailey, a 28-year-old Boston-based social media strategist in the beauty industry, is a staunch proponent of the balm, which she slathers all over her face for less than $12.
“I have turned so many friends on to it,” she told The New York Times, adding that her mom inspired her to always keep an 8-ounce container at home and a 1-ounce tin handy in her purse.
Bag Balm, celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, was initially intended to soothe cracked, dry udders, billed specifically as “for veterinary use only.” But more than a century later, the product has evolved into something much more: A slave for dry skin, chapped lips, wind burn, tattoo care, chafing, cuticle care, pets’ paws and, of course, skincare.
“Our whole brand ethos is simplicity and versatility,” Libby Parent, the president of the Vermont brand, now called Original Bag Balm, told The Times.
The company was founded in 1899 when John Norris — who ran the Dairy Association Co. and marketed Kow Kure, a “tonic and conditioner” for cattle at the time — bought the rights to the udder salve from a local pharmacist.
It wasn’t until the ’60s that farmers realized the balm could be used on their skin as well, and two decades later the product caught the eye of national media, prompting the company to alter their hallmark formula in 1988 and market the product for humans as well.
But when the Norris family later sold Bag Balm to private equity investors about a decade ago, the product’s marketing shifted away from animals, per Parent. Animal-specific products were discontinued and verbiage about treating “sore teats” was removed from the label as more products, such as lip balm and soap, were added to the brand’s arsenal.
Cue: the “skinfluencers” as the buzzy balm became a chic must-have.
“Our longtime users were introduced to us on the farm,” said Parent. “So to be in Vogue, they can think, ‘This isn’t my Bag Balm.’”
Despite the broadening of its description, Bag Balm remains true to its rural roots, its formula largely unchanged and still produced on the same street in the small town of Lyndonville, Vermont.
The plant — down the street from the original — churns out 9,000 8-ounce cans of Bag Balm daily with the help of just seven employees, one of them being production manager Mark Perkins, 47, who has worked for the company since 1997.
“We have something unique — why disrupt it?” Parent added.
While some longtime fans refer to the legacy balm as “the juice,” per one letter sent to the company, other consumers can’t shake Bag Balm’s link to animals.
“Some people said, ‘I use that on my dogs, I’m not going put that on my face,’” 23-year-old Faith Allison told The Times, referencing viewers’ reactions after she revealed that she “slugs” with the stuff.
Bailey also uses the balm for “slugging,” a nighttime skincare regimen that involves sealing products into the skin with Vaseline, or, in this case, Bag Balm.
“You don’t need a lot when you slug it on your face,” she noted.
And these beauty gurus aren’t the first to praise the humble balm, seemingly the unsung hero among celebrities.
Country artist Shania Twain once revealed in a 1999 interview that she uses a generous scoop of the salve all over her face and hair, resulting in soaring sales. It was also hawked by the late actress Raquel Welch, who attributed her youthful glow to Bag Balm.
“Bag Balm is kind of a silly thing,” Welch, who died last year, previously said in a 2017 interview.
“It’s used when they milk cows on their udders. It is something you can put on overnight and when you wake up you don’t have a dry, cracking mouth. Believe me there are a lot of mummies walking around with Bag Balm.”
The “slugging” craze online proved to be a boon for business at Bag Balm, inspiring the brand to create its own TikTok account, where it now boasts more than 41,000 followers.
An estimated 10% of sales, however, still come from the agricultural sector, in which generations of dairy farmers like Mindy McGrew have relied on the salve for their livestock.
“It really is a household staple for many families,” McGrew, who uses the Bag Balm on her cows, told The Times. “Grandma had it at her house, then Mom had it at her house.”
