It started with a sunburn.
I don’t tan easily out in the sun – I burn. I’ve heard it’s a common trait amongst the fair-skinned, but considering my consistent sunblock application, getting burnt at all is a rare feat for me. So there I am on the bed, lying in my second day of sunburn agony, when my mum walks in and nearly knocks me out with a little white pot she hurls in my direction.
“Nah, try this. It’s for old ladies but it’s good for sunburns.”
You definitely recognise this – Hazeline Snow; it’s sat on your mother’s or even grandmother’s shelf of weird drugstore beauty products, seemingly never opened or used, ever. But here’s the weird truth: it works. Mother Dearest left the room and I proceeded to smear the product on my face, and here’s what I discovered:
1. It’s cooling – which is obviously awesome for sunburns
First off, the cream is packed hard (like snow, presumably); though digging it out with your fingers reduces it to a more spreadable and powder-like consistency. The minute the white paste hit my face I felt a cooling sensation – even more instantaneous than aloe vera. The formula doesn’t actually contain aloe vera, which everyone knows has natural cooling properties to treat burns, but the snow delivers what its name promises in soothing and reducing the heat. Also, Hazeline has apparently been around since 1892 (my god), and was advertised as being able to “melt” onto your skin to cool sunburns and prickly heat. Rad.
2. It has whitening properties
Part II of being “good for sunburns” is that Hazeline actually whitens your skin, reducing the angry redness of your burn in the process. It might just be a defect of the make of the cream, but applying it to your face leaves a white, powdery residue that takes firm fingers to blend it all in. At first I didn’t realise this and ended up with a white face mask, but on rubbing the snow into my skin it instantly made it brighter, whiter, and smoother – which brings me to my next point:
3. It mattifies!
That sunburn was a few weeks back, but I’ve become slightly addicted to Hazeline Snow since. Our grandmothers sure knew what they were doing – when you rub the cream entirely into your skin it instantly lends your complexion a matte, clean look; as if you’d just gone crazy with your regular powder. For days I’d be able to walk out of the house with only Hazeline and concealer on. Just between us, it felt amazing knowing that I was so close to being completely barefaced and yet still confident enough to leave the house.
4. It works like a pimple cream
It’s a miracle product, that’s what it is, born out of the curiosities of weird, unbranded drugstore beauty. A colleague mentioned that she actually used Hazeline to build over and cover pimples in her nightly routine; and that the redness and swelling would be significantly reduced the next morning. So lucky me, blessed with a stubborn red zit for the last few weeks, decided to try it out. The result? It’s true, which is insane. Just like you would for a regular pimple cream, simply smear the white stuff over the affected area – but this time, don’t rub it in. As the cream can be a little drying after being rubbed into the face (hence the mattifying effect, I presume), it won’t work instantly in drying out the pimple. I caked up a nice white dome over my evil zit and called it a night; the next morning, the pimple was harmless enough that concealer could take care of it.
So, tried and tested, we’ve found that this grandma-era baby works. How and why we have no idea. A word of caution though – as much as I’m in awe of the multiple makeup-like properties this cream boasts, I wouldn’t recommend anyone add it to their daily makeup routine. The ingredients are explicitly stated to include certain types of acid, like stearic acid, benzoic acid, and other chemicals. Basically, Hazeline cream isn’t natural – but then again neither are its mattifying, whitening, or cooling properties. Nevertheless, it’s been a cult favourite of ladies from generations before us, and there have been no cases of deteriorating skin complaints (yet). For now, it’s still a handy product to have and to use, every once in a while.
Available at… Erm, just ask your mum.
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