Reviews May 30, 2007

I Hope It’s Not Too Early to Get Cocky

Today is day five of my IvyBlock trial and so far I am utterly rashless and unitchified.

Normally, even despite my best efforts to cover myself from head to toe in old pants, long-sleeved shirts, ragg socks, hiking boots, a bandanna, a floppy grumpy old man hat and a burka when I’m working around poison ivy, invariably some urishiol oil manages to penetrate the perimeter and give me a couple of weeks of itchy discomfort. The IvyBlock website swears that scratching doesn’t spread the rash, but usually I end up with outbreaks in all the places that I can’t reach or shouldn’t scratch in polite company.

But not this year! I didn’t go out of my way to cover every inch of exposed skin before I headed out into the woods to do battle with Mother Nature. Instead, I applied IvyBlock to all the same places I would spread sunblock if I was headed out fishing. You know, the “farmer’s tan” area. Following the directions on the bottle, I waited at least 15 minutes after application before I risked exposure to the poison ivy (and before I went back in water after eating. Thanks, Mom.)

Continuing to follow their advice, I immediately washed off in the shower as soon as I was finished so as not to spread any urishiol oils to other surfaces in my house where someone else who wasn’t lucky enough to be slathered in IvyBlock might encounter them.

How did it work? In a word: great! The product applied easily and smoothly and wasn’t at all greasy. It washed off with no mess afterwards and it did its job. The active ingredient in IvyBlock (Bentoquatam) served as a barrier that blocked the allergenic oils. It is the only product that is FDA-approved to protect you from the irritants of poison ivy, oak and sumac. It is available without a prescription at many grocery and drug stores. There’s even a coupon available for you here.

So you’ve run out of excuses. If you’d rather avoid the rash completely instead of treating the itch later with calamine, go out and get yourself some IvyBlock. You can thank me later.

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About Chris Chamberlain

View all posts by Chris Chamberlain

Chris is a native of Nashville, TN and an honors graduate from Stanford University (where it should have occurred to him in the late `80's that maybe this computer business thing was gonna take off.) After 25 years in the business of selling flattened dead trees to printers who used them to make something which the ancients called "books," somebody finally slapped Chris over the head with an iPad whereupon he became the Director of Business Development for an internet services company that works with US retailers to help them sell their products overseas. His other day gig is as a food and drink writer for several regional newspapers, magazines and blogs. Chris has a travel/restaurant guide/cookbook coming out next fall which he is sure your mother would just love as a holiday present.

arebelspy

The question is: is having to go buy it, pay for it, apply it, and wash it off any more convenient than just covering up exposed areas?

Seems throwing on some clothes would be easier than slathering on lotion and washing it off…
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