/oss/taxonomy/term/1129/all en /oss/article/quirky-science-you-asked/what-shania-twains-secret-soft-and-supple-skin <p style="text-align:justify"><a href="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/?p=5569"><img alt="Vaseline" height="150" src="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/files/2013/07/Vaseline-150x150.jpg" width="150" /></a>According to Shania, her secret is “udderly” simple. It has nothing to do with liposomes, pentapeptides, collagen or ceramides. She uses Bag Balm, a product originally developed to keep cow udders from chapping. May not sound very romantic, but it works. Why? Because the basic ingredient is Vaseline which prevents moisture in the skin from evaporating.</p> <p style="text-align:justify">Newspapers got all excited when Shania Twain revealed that the secret behind her soft, supple skin wasn’t some complex, highly touted product but a simple concoction that has been around since 1908. It was back then that the small Dairy Association Company in Lyndonville, Vermont decided to take the bull by the horns and tackle the chronic problem of chapped cow udders.</p> <p style="text-align:justify">Cow teats do not have an easy life. They are constantly tugged, washed, disinfected and wiped. This leads to moisture loss from the skin which leads to cracking which leads to infections which leads to problems. Enter Bag Balm. Massaging it into udders helps seal in moisture, prevents chapping and reduces infections. The chemistry is pretty simple.</p> <p><a href="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/2013/07/10/what-is-shania-twains-secret-to-soft-and-supple-skin">Read more</a></p> Thu, 11 Jul 2013 03:30:18 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1981 at /oss