Neem oil salve – your grandmother would have called it an ointment – has long been one of our most popular products. It’s far more concentrated even than our extra-rich lotion because there is no water in it. (That also allows us to make it without any preservatives.)
The problem with neem salve, though, is that you have to stick your fingers in the jar to use it and that can be messy. And, speaking from experience, it can be challenging to spread neem salve over a large part of your body without either missing an area or having it glob up in another.
The neem salve sticks solve both those problems.
They look like push-up deodorant bars and they go on the same way. You get a thin layer of neem salve over a large section of skin without requiring that you get your fingers in the salve. We make the neem salve sticks in two versions: the Anti-Itch salve stick which includes our signature blend of lavender, lemongrass and cedar essential oils, and a Nothing but Neem stick that is “nothing but” neem and beeswax.
The Anti-Itch salve stick is your best choice for bug bites or minor dings that aren’t near your eyes. It smells great (even non-neem fans like it!) and it’s concentrated enough that the inflammation will be soothed almost immediately. Some people even use it before they go outside where bugs might bite to prevent the itching before it has a chance to start.
The plain neem stick, of course, smells neemy. It does have a couple of advantages though. The concentration of essential oils that make it smell good in the Anti-Itch stick can burn broken skin and irritate eyes if it gets too close. (Read more about essential oils here. Although we stay under those recommended dilution rates, people who use neem tend to have very sensitive skin.)
You can use the neem salve stick to soothe even chronically broken skin without worrying about a potential burn from essential oils. You can also use it on your face – even your eyelids – without burning.
I wash my face with the extra-cleansing charcoal resin soap every night, and then put a thin layer of Nothing But Neem Salve Stick on before bed. (It helps that hubby has learned to like the smell of straight neem oil because he knows how well it works on his own sensitive skin.) I’ve either avoided – or at least postponed – eyelid surgery that my ophthalmologist began recommending five or six years ago.
And like our salve, neem salve sticks contain no gluten, aloe or synthetic ingredients that may irritate sensitive skin.