Bartender's Hand Balm

A few weeks ago, I was experimenting with a simple recipe to make a wax for bow strings (meaning the kind of bow you hunt with). I ended up with a spur-of-the-moment recipe of 3 parts beeswax, 2 parts cocoa butter, and 1 part sweet almond oil. I made a little experimental batch and poured four small patties of the stuff about the size of a peppermint patty, if you're familiar with that candy.

This balm would be fine for waxing bowstrings if the bow owner likes a firm wax that is a bit softer than beeswax. In playing around with the cooled patty, I realized it was also kinda nice on the hands, even though all that beeswax and cocoa butter doesn't melt easily at body temperature. You really can't "slather it on" like a lotion or salve with a softer consistency, and it's not really soft enough to be applied to tender lips. Once it's on the hands, however, this balm is nicely dry and waxy feeling -- not goopy or greasy -- and it sticks really well to the skin for some time after application.

My day job is working with leather and light manufacturing. My hands are in water and solvents frequently, so I often get really bad hangnails and in winter the skin on the tips of my fingers sometimes crack. This balm feels like it might help with that problem, but I haven't used the stuff long enough for me to see a lot of benefit.

Which brings me to the next part of the story in which this odd little experiment took on an unintended life of its own....

My twentysomething stepson asked me for a patty to give to a friend who has ugly-looking dermatitis on his hands. The skin of this guy's hands is always so irritated and dry that it will crack and bleed if he just flattens his hands out. He normally sleeps with his hands slathered with petroleum jelly. The friend told Dear Stepson that the balm I made is the only product he's found that lets him sleep through the night without waking up from the itching and pain.

But that's not all....

This guy let some bartender friends try out the balm ... and they loved it too, according to DS. I did a little reading about "bartender rot" -- the dermatitis and infection that is triggered by working with citrus, having wet hands, and frequently getting small nicks and cuts. Bartenders apparently want a product that sticks to the skin, is food safe, has little or no odor or taste, and doesn't make the hands overly slick so the bartender can grip knives and wet barware securely.

So, um, I'm really rather bemused and amused to find that this guy and his friends are clamoring for me to make more of this stuff. I don't sell, but it seems as if people are eager to buy. I told DS to pass on the information that I am looking for guinea pigs who will give me feedback on recipes, not money.

Has anyone else ventured into making products for bartenders and folks like that? If you do, what general types of products seem to be popular with this kind of clientele in your area? Are your observations similar to mind about the kind of products they need? If not, what are the differences? I'm very curious to know more about this niche area of B&B products.

I've no idea about what bartenders need, DeeAnna, but found your story fascinating! They always say that some of the best developments happen through serendipity ..... and it sounds like you may be onto something here. So I'm really interested to see whether anyone else has any similar experience.


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Your stepson's friend's hands sound just like mine. I'm going to try out your recipe tonight, I'm always looking for new things to try. Thanks for sharing.


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Thanks for the encouragement, Saswede. I like the idea of being open to an opportunity when it finds me. And I was also hoping y'all would enjoy the story -- it certainly has taken on a life of its own!

Hey, Greenmountainwife -- If you do try the recipe, remember to let the patty warm up for a minute or so in your hands, then it will get warm enough so a thin layer will rub off on your skin.

The beeswax is occlusive, meaning it forms a barrier to moisture loss, and increases the resistance to the product being rubbed or washed off. The cocoa butter is also occlusive, but it also promotes healing and reduces itchiness. The sweet almond is soothing and increases the flexibility of the skin.

More unintended consequences -- I found out this afternoon after I wrote my original post, that the balm is just waxy enough to make it easy to flip through sheets of paper. It works like those gum rubber finger-cover thingies the people in the post office use. ;-)

I think it's a great reminder of the untapped markets in which people really would want/need our products. Fantastic story, love it!

Might i suggest that you add essential oils to your product for skin issues? there are a ton out there that will add that much more healing power to what you have created. But dont use it on the bar.... the bar tender may not be happy with you good job coming to other peoples aid!

I do use essential oils in my other products and think they might be good in this type of thing too. Tea tree obviously comes to mind, especially coupled with a medicinal lavender (meaning a lavender that has strong healing properties vs. one chosen purely for its scent). Helichrysum would be another possibility, and it would have less odor than tea tree or lavender. Thyme is another antimicrobial EO, but it does have a distinct scent.

Using infused oils -- calendula comes to mind with its healing, anti-itch properties (and low odor) -- would also be an option. I have been studying the healing properties of carrier oils themselves -- I think the healing aspect of these oils tends to be under-rated. For DS's friend, the EOs and infused botanicals might be good, but for the bartenders, maybe not so much. Perhaps carefully chosen carrier oils are the key for them.

Even without the EOs, it sounds like the balm is doing a surprising job of soothing and protecting -- especially considering it was supposed to be a bow string wax, not a B&B product.

...bump...

I hate to sound plaintive, but I'm bumping this thread with the hope of gaining some insights from others:

"...Has anyone else ventured into making products for bartenders and folks like that? If you do, what general types of products seem to be popular with this kind of clientele in your area? Are your observations similar to mine about the kind of products they need? If not, what are the differences?..."

This is probably quite a bit different than you're describing, but your friends with chapped hands (and heels, and feet, etc) would probably love this one that I make!

I call it "my salve" and I've used it on minor scars, chapped hands, even my face, but it started out as a rich cuticle cream.

First, I picked rosemary and lavender from my garden and infused that in my olive oil.

Then, the recipe:
1/2 cup of the infused (strained) olive oil
.35 ounce cocoa butter
1.25 oz beeswax
7 vit E capsules (pricked and squeezed out)

I used teatree oil, rosemary EO, lavendar EO, and just enough rosewood EO to create a more favorable aroma (teatree oil sort of stinks). I used approximately .16 oz of tea tree EO and the same amount of lavendar, and then just added the rosemary EO and rosewood EO "to smell" (ie "to taste, in cooking!).

I melted the beeswax and cocoa butter, added the olive oil and then cooled it a bit and added the EOs.

I love it! It may be a little less occlusive than your friends would want, and if that's the case more beeswax would fit well. But this salve is something that you can store in a little jar and just scoop out with a finger or q-tip, and it spreads nicely. It's a little oily but not like a body butter and it's not really greasy. I put it on my chapped face in the winter, and it's very soothing and rich.

I don't know anything about the bartender market, but I wonder if this would also be good for people in other professions where they have to wash their hands a lot - doctors, nurses, dentists, veterinarians.

I made something similar for a friend of mine who is a hairdresser - similar problem, lots of time with hands spent in water and strong cleaning solutions. Bad hangnails, cuticles, and red scaly patches. Kind of a liability for a hairdresser to have nasty looking hands.

It had a consistency somewhere between a firm lotion bar and a salve, maybe like a lip balm? I used calendula infused OO for my liquid oil. It really helped clear up her problem.

what a great idea! my mom is a hairdresser, and she often gets cracked hands. I was going to make a lotion bar for her hands for Christmas when she visits, but maybe now i'll up the beeswax content and add some healing EOs for her.

I work in a hospital and sell a lot of my lotion bars. I make them softer than a typical lotion bar but hard enough to keep in their pockets. They've been a huge hit. I make them in tubes and tins.

My husband is a bartender. His hands are constantly getting wet and drying them while working and his hands get extremely chapped and dry, especially in winter. He gets little cracks at the nail bed that can be extremely painful and annoying at times. His knuckles also get very rough too. Holding his hand in the winter isn't always pleasant. :sad:
I have only made one batch of balm/salve that was okay for him but not great. It's on my list of things to do, but I haven't really experimented any more as I mostly only make soap with what little time I do have make anything. In the mean time he uses either O'Keefes Working Hands or Aquafor to help relieve his hands. But after this thread, I will probably move it up in priority.
Thanks!

I'm a SAHM, doing dishes all the time, washing hands after diaper changes, making soaps/candles/b&b products my hands are in water A LOT! My hands have been getting SO chapped and dried out, and I don't like the feel of lotion on them, I think I'll give this a shot and see how it goes, thanks so much for sharing!

I've been trying out various percentages of beeswax, cocoa butter, and oils. I'm up to recipe #7 as of yesterday. My husband thinks I'm crazy (but he's being a willing tester and a good sport about it!)

What I'm looking for is a balm that sticks tenaciously to the hands so it creates a long lasting barrier to repeated wetting and drying and irritants. This seems to be a recipe with a high percentage of beeswax and cocoa butter. The downside is a balm like this is more difficult to apply than a typical "lotion bar" with a higher % of soft butters and oils. I have to warm the balm a bit in the hands first to soften the product, then I can gently rub on a thin layer. If my hands are cool, the balm doesn't warm up and soften as much, so it can take a bit of patience to apply.

The skin feel after application is waxy and relatively dry. This type of balm, once it's on the skin, is pleasant and long lasting. It's too hard and "dry" for general skin use or as a lip balm, however. It's a special purpose product, definitely. If I increase the oil percentage, I get a balm that is nicer to apply and works better as an all purpose product ... but it tends to feel greasier or oilier and rubs off quicker. I'm trying to find the proportions of ingredients that produce a balm that is tenacious and not overly greasy, yet is reasonably easy to apply. Finding that fine line is harder than I first thought it would be, but the journey has been fun so far.

Another interesting thing I've found is that I need to wait before I evaluate each recipe. It seems as if a product like this should be ready for testing/use right after it cools to room temperature, but I'm finding that it takes at least a day for the product to harden fully. Go figure!

I wonder if using a softer wax would still give you the result you're looking for but would be easier to apply? I'm not really sure about the different melt point of waxes but I'd imagine like oils they're all slightly different. So something with a lower melt point might apply easier..?

You make some good points, Krystal. I agree -- a balm/salve with lower melt-point ingredients will apply easier.

When I test various blends when I'm working at my day job, I'm finding the softer product has a greasier skin feel, and it washes off and wears away easier. One of the goals of my quest is to find a formulation that is tenacious, so one doesn't have to apply it quite as often and still get some protection.

Also bartenders need a good grip and can't be leaving oily smears on the glassware, so a non-greasy "dry feeling" concoction seems to be best. I work with scary sharp tools a lot, so I appreciate a non-slip grippy quality as well.

This is going to be a rather specialized product that won't fit everyone's needs. I think a softer non-industrial-strength version would be a nice addition, and I'm working on that too. A few of my softer product that didn't make the grade are good candidates for developing an easier to use hand balm.

DeeAnna I'm working on a simikar product I take pole fitness so I'm looking for a sticky product that moisturizes in the end. Ive found a lotion bar made out of 5 parts beeswax, 2 part shea butter1 part coconu oil to be pretty good. Its still a little too oily for my purpose. So I'm trying to add isotropy alcohol to make it drier. What o you think.

As a former bartender myself, you are so right with the constant washing, drying, dishsoap, opening beer bottles, and other wear and tear on your hands! I had to take my wedding ring off because under my ring would stay wet and I would get a little rash...not good! I think that that balm sounds fantastic for bartenders and other food service workers as well. You spend a lot of time washing hands or wearing drying rubber gloves. I was thinking plumbers or electricians too, especially if they are exposed to the weather elements. You could drop off your balm at a couple of bars within a restaurant to a bartender and ask them to keep it behind the bar for everyone even when they finish their shift. You never know they just may get addicted and need lots more!