Ancient willow is Paul's secret

4:16pm Friday 12th October 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Helen Perkins, Reporter

A KIRKBY Lonsdale businessman has launched an anti-aging skin care range which sources its unique selling point from the Lake District.

His luxury Salix Alba day cream uses water from a Cartmel Valley spring, used since the 12 century, which contains a natural form of Salicin.

Paul Arnold, 52, hopes the anti-inflamatory agent, which is found in water filtered through willow bark, will prove a hit with customers seeking younger looking skin.

His new range, which launched this month, in Manchester, has been manufactured in Staveley and is set to be retailed at a price of £95 per 50ml.

Mr Arnold, who is originally from Ulverston, said: “We named the company Salix Alba because that is Latin for ‘white willow’. That is where the Salicin comes from.

“The water picks up the ingredient from the composite layers of willow underground in the Lake District.

“It is filtered through a subterranean aquified that was once a prehistoric white willow forest.

“It has been a long road to get our products on to the market and has taken four years. However, the feedback we have received so far has been great and we are in talks with major national retailers.

“We are proud of the product now. I feel we have got a world beater.”

His new skin care range, which features creams for women and men, also contains blackberry leaf extract, green tea and rosehip oil, and calcium and magnesium.

For more information visit: www.salixalbauk.com

Comments(16)

Ms Happ says...
5:08pm Fri 12 Oct 12

I got some of this at the Manchester Show, and i have to say it is the best product i have ever used. I'm pretty sure there was an article on the BBC radio this morning..

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WilliamT says...
9:32am Sat 13 Oct 12

Hilarious!, although I suppose anyone who buys this type of rubbish deserves what they get. The majority of people with knackered skin get it from smoking and sun exposure.

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Ms Happ says...
1:01pm Sat 13 Oct 12

:-)) Personally Mr T I don't see the problem in looking after your skin and this may come as a surprise but there are even men out there that look after themselves :-) My body is a temple etc..

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WilliamT says...
2:57pm Sat 13 Oct 12

I suspect Ms Happ is not unknown to the 'Kirkby Lonsdale businessman'. I am all in favour of looking after skin- the method is described in comment #2. For those who want to rub something in, they could dissolve a few aspirins in a small amount of water and blend it with some nice cheap bland skin cream.

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Ms Happ says...
4:39pm Sat 13 Oct 12

Actually Mr T I did state that i met them at the show where i purchased my product. regardless aspirin is not natural and salicin is "natures aspirin". Another aspect i liked is the no animal testing, lots of big companies have actually reverted back to animal testing to enter the chinese market. I find this abhorrent! The other point about the salix alba is it uses things like green tea, apricot, shea butter to name a few ingredients. There are more but i can't remember them. As i said I like to know what i put on my skin! My choice is natural!

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lastair says...
7:31pm Sat 13 Oct 12

I love the Maximus name, it means the greatest, so i could not help but order the Maximus and i will let you know how i get on, as love anything natural and this seems like it has some really good special ingredients in it.

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craggy says...
9:54pm Sat 13 Oct 12

Ms Happ wrote:
I got some of this at the Manchester Show, and i have to say it is the best product i have ever used. I'm pretty sure there was an article on the BBC radio this morning..
The kind of misleading,blatant and underhand advertising methods clearly being demonstrated here do real harm to any new product.
A producer that feels the need to resort to such measures is either desperate or assuming that the general public are idiots. What a pity.

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craggy says...
9:56pm Sat 13 Oct 12

lastair wrote:
I love the Maximus name, it means the greatest, so i could not help but order the Maximus and i will let you know how i get on, as love anything natural and this seems like it has some really good special ingredients in it.
Somebody really does believe the great British public to be stupid. More harm that good I feel.

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Ms Happ says...
11:13am Sun 14 Oct 12

Actually craggy, BBC doesn't advertise but in particular my partner found the story interesting on our way to work as he is a geologist. Do you not buy any papers, magazines, watch tv or listen to radio... subliminal advertising is everywhere.

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Jules30 says...
6:02pm Sun 14 Oct 12

Thank you Westmorland Gazette for featuring this product as I had not heard of it before and it really interests me. Ms Happ I could have written your comment myself as I am looking for pure ethical products not tested on animals and my Husband is also a Geologist! The initial outlay for the cream may seem a lot but if you put it in context it will last several months. I don't drink alcohol and it is only the equivalent of having a bottle of wine each week. Good luck with your business.

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WilliamT says...
11:16pm Sun 14 Oct 12

This 'boosting' or 'puffery', as bogus advertising was termed a couple of hundred years ago, seems to be so inept that it could actually be placed by someone who has a grudge against Mr Arnold. There are 3 separate names that no-one has ever heard of before which were probably created for this topic, with such a similar crazed style that they seem to be the work of one person.

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truefact says...
9:07am Mon 15 Oct 12

Disregarding peripheral matters like marketing and semantics - what the heck is all that about - I would like to record that I am actually USING the cream and, woman to women, can tell you that it is genuinely first class. I was taken aback at how good it is. I gave it to a friend to try and all we said to each other was, "this is really good", no drawbacks. This is unheard of!! I have used it and it is great.

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jazzactivist says...
10:56am Mon 15 Oct 12

It sounds appealing to me, as I also only use genuinely natural products. I can see how it might work, as we have all seen the Willow bottled water from the area and it has a really nice, fresh taste. I've also been on willow weaving workshops, and certainly felt better from working with it all day. I'll look out for this product, although £95 for 50ml of face cream would be a luxury for me. Perhaps for Christmas...

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Jules30 says...
11:15am Mon 15 Oct 12

I can assure you WilliamT that I am a genuine person who read about this product for the first time here. The only other time I have commented on here was during the Windermere Canada Geese Cull so I set my account up then. I have posted on Salix Alba's facebook page too.

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Born septic says...
8:12pm Mon 15 Oct 12

After visiting this products website I could not find anything to convince me to buy this water based cream.
Their biggest selling point it seems is using the words 'The Lake District' to add some cachet to the product. The Lake District = Water and some pretty scenery, that's all. When Willow Water was first marketed I tried in vain to see the results of any clinical trials to verify its claims. Have there been any independent trials for this cream? If so where can I obtain the results.
If anyone is mug enough to by this product then Mr Arnold deserves some success and to be placed along with other 'Snake Oil' salesmen of old.

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WilliamT says...
8:46pm Mon 15 Oct 12

I hesitate to aid the people who are trying to hype this rubbish, but a visit to the above mentioned Facebook page is entertaining:
1 To see why time on Facebook and Twitter is time wasted
2 To see a fantastic photo of a woman involved with the product who has spent too much time in the sun, and for whom the product has clearly not worked.

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