Working outside and being an active participant in outdoor sports such as trail running, hiking, cycling, climbing and water sports is an amazing way to live. (In our humble opinion!) It keeps us fit, active and healthy and allows us to nurture our appreciation for nature and the Great Outdoors.
With the outdoor lifestyle though, comes some challenges in the form of skin problems. Sweat, salt, friction from our active or work wear, mud and dirty water create the perfect sore skin storm. Then before we know it, chafing, blisters and irritation gets in the way of us enjoying ourselves.
That’s why we developed the Balmy Fox range of anti-chafing creams, repair balms and muscle rubs. We knew we wanted them to be as natural and as kind to our skin and to the environment as possible. So we made them using naturally derived botanicals and other plant based ingredients.
One of the most important ingredients in our products is arnica. So here we’re going to talk about this hero ingredient, what it does and why it’s so beneficial.
Arnica is produced from the yellowy orange flowers of the Arnica montana plant, which is native to the mountainous areas of Central Europe and Siberia. Because of its look, it’s sometimes (quite beautifully) referred to as the mountain daisy. (It’s also weirdly known as mountain tobacco, but we much prefer the daisy reference.)
As arnica is a herb, it’s often used in homeopathic remedies, and has been so for thousands of years in folk medicine. Arnica creams and ointments are used to help treat bruising, swelling, inflammation and muscle soreness.
Arnica has mild antimicrobial properties, meaning that it has some capability of killing or inhibiting the growth of bacteria and fungi. Many skin conditions caused by being outside in the elements are caused or made worse by these microorganisms. So it made total sense for us to include it in our Balmy Fox antibacterial skin creams and balms. Included in our range, are arnica foot cream, arnica hand cream, and a number of other arnica skincare formulas.
Absolutely it can! We added arnica to our formulations for that very reason – it makes for an excellent anti-inflammatory skin cream. Studies show that arnica based creams and balms are really effective at reducing the bruising and swelling caused by inflammation.
It’s thought that it may do this by possessing the ability to influence the genes responsible for cell repair and renewal. This helps to promote the tissue repair process necessary to reduce pain, swelling and inflammation. However, the jury is still out on exactly how arnica helps to reduce inflammation.
Either way, it seems that even without the science to back it up, our ancient ancestors were onto something. When they started using arnica preparations to help soothe painful swellings, bruising and inflamed skin, they simply knew and trusted in its powers.
Like so many influences from our forebears, sticking to what nature does best, is well, best. Best for us, and best for nature. And that’s the kind of virtuous cycle of serendipity that we love. Next time you’re out and about, can you afford not to have a Balmy Fox tin with you?
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